The Ionospheric anomaly is one of the most promising precursory phenomena for large earthquakes. Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling (LAIC) model has been proposed to explain these phenomena. To examine the possibility of the chemical channel of LAIC model through the monitoring of atmospheric electricity parameters, we have installed sensors for the atmospheric electric field (AEF), atmospheric ion concentration (AIC), radon concentration, radon exhalation quantity (REQ), and weather elements. To detect signals related to earthquakes, variations caused by non-tectonic activities should be removed. In this aim, we performed Multi –channel Singular Spectrum Analysis (MSSA) for observed time series of REQ and climatic parameters and investigated correlation among them. By this method, we could extract components which has clear diurnal and semidiurnal variation. We also could discriminate REQ signals related to variation in weather components by evaluate the correlation between them for each component. Then we researched relations between residual REQ variation and crustic activity such as earthquakes or surface deformation. Data observed during different periods should be researched for detail consideration of these relations.


Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) glycoproteins K and B (gK and gB) are intimately involved in virus-induced fusion of cells. Certain mutations in the UL27 (gB) and UL53 (gK) genes confer a syncytial (syn) phenotype characterized by extensive fusion of infected cells and giving rise to multinucleated cells. We have used HSV-1 syn mutants in conjunction with transfected cells or adenovirus vectors to overexpress wild-type gK or gB, in order to study the role of these proteins in virus-induced membrane fusion. Transient expression of wild-type gK inhibited fusion induced by HSV-1 encoding a mutant form of gK (syn gK) but not by viruses encoding a mutant form of gB (syn gB). Stably transformed cells expressing relatively high levels of gK suppressed cell fusion induced by HSV-1 mutants with lesions in the gK gene but not an HSV-1 with a syn mutation in the gB gene. In addition, there were marked reductions in the plaquing efficiencies and yields of HSV-1 on these cell lines. Cell fusion caused by HSV-1 syn20, a mutant encoding syn gK, was suppressed when cells were coinfected with an Ad vector, AdgK, which expresses wild-type gK. AdgK did not suppress fusion induced by HSV-1 KTTS.1, which expresses syn gB. Conversely, cells coinfected with AdgB, an Ad vector expressing a wild-type form of gB and HSV-1 KTTS.1 (syn gB) were not fused, whereas cells coinfected with AdgB and HSV-1 syn20 (syn gK) were fused. Expression of a number of other HSV-1 glycoproteins using Ad vectors did not reduce membrane fusion induced by syn gK or syn gB. Together, these results support models in which gK and gB participate directly in the fusion of HSV-infected cells. Mutant forms of gB and gK apparently disregulate the fusion process, whereas wild-type forms of gB and gK can act to suppress membrane fusion induced by their mutant counterparts.


Abstract : In translating from Chinese to English, tense and other temporal information must be inferred from other grammatical and lexical cues. Tense information is crucial to providing accurate and fluent translations into English. Perfective and imperfective grammatical aspect markers can provide cues to temporal structure but such information is optional in Chinese and is not present in the majority of sentences. We report on a project that assesses the relative contribution of the lexical aspect features of (a)telicity reflected in the Lexical Conceptual Structure of the input text versus more overt aspectual and adverbial markers of tense, to suggest tense structure in the English translation of a Chinese newspaper corpus. Incorporating this information allows a 20% to 35% boost in the accuracy of tense relization with the best accuracy rate of 92% on a corpus of Chinese articles.


The use of molecular beacons is a versatile method to detect RNAs. Typically, a single-stranded region of RNA is selected as a target sequence for molecular beacons. Therefore, the detection of highly structured short RNAs, such as tRNAs, seems to be difficult. In this study, as an example of highly structured target RNA, we used human tRNALys3, which is known to have functions in protein synthesis and the reverse transcription of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1. No long single-stranded region more than 8 nt is present in this tRNA, which is much shorter than the standard target length of molecular beacons (∼20 nt). This study showed that sensitive detection of highly structured RNAs using molecular beacons was much more difficult than that of unstructured or less structured RNAs. However, efficient detection of the tRNALys3 was achieved by selecting the best target region, i.e., the region around the D arm, probably due to the ease of unfolding of this arm. Accordingly, our findings suggested that molecular beacons may have applications in the detection of highly structured RNAs related to various biological functions and diseases.


This collection of heritage stories has been created by Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth, a British Council programme taking place in Vietnam as well as Colombia and Kenya.

In Vietnam, the in-country Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth project – known as Heritage of Future Past – works with communities, heritage bearers and contemporary artists to safeguard and promote music and film heritage which are under-represented or at high risk of disappearing.

Music and film heritage – especially that of under-represented groups - including ethnic minority groups located in remote, rural areas – are becoming increasingly less visible in Vietnam's contemporary culture and society, against the backdrop of rapid economic growth. Within this context, efforts in safeguarding valuable and at-risk intangible cultural components have received very little attention and support. The situation affects the capacity of communities surrounding said components to develop their human capital and contribute to national development.

The ten stories within this publication are told through the view of people and places involved in the programme so far – to document, highlight and share the value, beauty and opportunities cultural heritage can bring from a diverse range of perspectives. Each story holds its own identity, creativity and uniqueness, yet all are inspired by a common sense of purpose; to promote the importance and relevance of cultural heritage in celebrating the past, further understanding our present and creating a shared future.

When knitted together these stories both reveal and raise awareness for the transformational power of cultural heritage and its ability to develop cross-cultural understanding in today's society. As demonstrated through the lens of Vietnam's rich cultural heritage in this collection, it is uniquely positioned to do many things; from acting as a conduit for the exchange of ideas across generations to providing a pathway for building a collective, sustainable livelihoods.

Our sincere thanks to the authors: Barley Norton from Goldsmiths, University of London, and Hoang Văn Chung from Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, who travelled to many locations and interviewed many participants to make sure that the stories really capture the essence of the people at the heart of the project and their worlds. We believe these stories should be kept and shared for the benefit of people who tell their stories, and those who will listen and share these stories further.


Question Classification is an important stage in Question Answering, and it has been a hot topic in the field of Information Retrieval in recent years. In this paper we explore the role of semantic features and propose two separate tree kernel functions incorporating the semantic features into the Support Vector Machine model. Then Multiple Kernel Learning approach is proposed to combine the two kernels and gather their advantages together. Experimental results show that using the method proposed in this paper is very effective and the accuracy reaches 95.8% which significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches.


OBJECTIVE
This study compared the safety and efficacy of the Supreme Laryngeal Mask Airway (S-LMA) with that of the ProSeal-LMA (P-LMA) in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Sixty adults were randomly allocated. Following anaesthesia induction, experienced LMA users inserted the airway devices.

RESULTS
Oropharyngeal leak pressure was similar in groups (S-LMA, 27.8±2.9 cmH2O; P-LMA, 27.0±4.7 cmH2O; p=0.42) and did not change during the induction of and throughout pneumoperitoneum. The first attempt success rates were 93% with both S-LMA and P-LMA. Mean airway device insertion time was significantly shorter with S-LMA than with P-LMA (12.5±4.1 seconds versus 15.6±6.0 seconds; p=0.02). The first attempt success rates for the drainage tube insertion were similar (P-LMA, 93%; S-LMA 100%); however, drainage tubes were inserted more quickly with S-LMA than with P-LMA (9.0±3.2 seconds versus 14.7±6.6 seconds; p=0.001). In the PACU, vomiting was observed in five patients (three females and two males) in the S-LMA group and in one female patient in the P-LMA group (p=0.10).

CONCLUSION
Both airway devices can be used safely in laparoscopic cholecystectomies with suitable patients and experienced users. However, further studies are required not only for comparing both airway devices in terms of postoperative nausea and vomiting but also for yielding definitive results.


This paper summarises the evidence from recent research relating to the British Planning system's impact on the supply of development. Planning serves important economic and social purposes but it is essential to distinguish between restricting development relative to demand in particular places to provide public goods and mitigate market failure in other ways, including ensuring the future ability of cities to expand and maintain a supply of public goods and infrastructure; and an absolute restriction on supply, raising prices of housing and other urban development generally. Evidence is presented that there are at least four separate mechanisms, inbuilt into the British system, which result in a systematic undersupply of land and space for both residential and commercial purposes and that these have had important effects on both our housing market and the wider economy and on welfare more widely defined.


In this paper, a shape sampling approach is proposed for CAD products that can be used to suggest innovative product shapes to designers and consumers. These shapes are intended to inspire designers and can be employed during the design process. For a given set of geometric parameters defining the product shapes, parameter relationships (i.e., geometric constraints), and parameter ranges, a particle tracing (PT) algorithm is proposed to find product shapes that satisfy the defined geometric constraints in the shape space. Particles are placed at points in the shape space by minimizing the Audze-Eglais potential energy of the particle positions using a permutation genetic algorithm. They then move until one of the predetermined stopping criteria is met. Particle movement is achieved using a cost function that favors movement towards feasible shapes. By iteratively running the PT algorithm, feasible shapes are obtained. Representatives of these shapes are identified using a k-medoids clustering approach, and such representatives can be used by designers or shown to consumers to customize the product according to their preferences. In this paper, eight CAD models (e.g., car hood, yacht hull, wheel rim) are utilized to validate the performance of the proposed sampling technique. We also compare our technique with related methods.


In an earlier paper (Gottschalk 1977) analytical expressions were given for the time correlation of hydrologic processes from the linearized equations of motion for these processes. In this paper space correlation is similarly treated. Comparison is made with empirical space correlation functions of hydrologic and physiographic elements.


This paper examines the effect of synergy at the geographical, technological, and organizational levels on the structure of the innovative system in Spain. Using a unique dataset of more than one million firms in 2010 across geographic regions in Spain, it empirically estimates the synergy within and across regions and sectors. The key findings indicate that Spain's innovation system is largely decentralized into more regionalized systems with the strongest role played by the metropolitan areas. The results have policy implications for Spain as well as other nations and intra-country regions. The paper contributes to the extant literature related to innovation systems in three ways: first, by using a more novel approach adapting the triple helix context; second, by providing empirical evidence on the importance of synergy in influencing the structure of a national innovation system; and third, by providing a case study of Spain.


The International Ergonomics Association (IEA) was founded in the Netherlands 50 years ago, and because of its 50th anniversary the 2006 world congress of ergonomics will be held in Maastricht. The results of this assignment and the succession thereof (the execution) will be handed to the congress organization as an anniversary present.
In 2006, the general theme of the congress is "meeting diversity in ergonomics".
The main idea is that ergonomics must be viewed in a very wide perspective. In the context of this project, "meeting diversity" must be interpreted as meeting new people with all kind of specializations and interests. All congress participants and other ergonomists must be able to meet people of their interest.
The goal of this assignment is to design a main idea and an interface concept for an online application, with design guidelines for optional offline components, by analyzing the criteria from the involved parties and generating ideas and concepts based on these criteria and based on creativity. These ideas and concepts lead to a final design.
Easy Ergonomist Finder is the name of this project, similar to the name of the designed online application.
Everybody who practices or researches ergonomics falls within the target group of this project. There is no restriction to certified ergonomists.
Researching the web shows that there are numerous ways to display information comparable to the information on the Easy Ergonomist Finder. But there are a lot of similarities in the analyzed websites. These similarities can often be applied to the Easy Ergonomist Finder.
A competition analysis shows that there are websites with similar activities.
However, there are significant differences between these websites and the Easy Ergonomist Finder. The Easy Ergonomist Finder takes advantage of these differences optimally to outrun the competition, based on a SWOT analysis.
The above leads to a clear set of criteria that the design must comply with. These criteria can be used to evaluate the concepts.
People are being asked to participate on the congress, both by addressing them plenary and by asking them individually in the hallways. To convince people to register several ergonomic gurus are approached to be in the first few registrants and act as role model.
The main function of the online application is to search for other ergonomists, based on the information they provided about themselves. It is up to the ergonomists to decide what information they want to publish. They have the choice of filling out a lot of information fields. The parts that are left empty won't be displayed.
For the ergonomists it is interesting to enter one or more kinds of contact information. Thereby they can be contacted both during and after the congress.
As mentioned above, searching on the website and viewing other ergonomists' profiles is the most important functionality of the online application. Both these things can only be done when a user is logged in, to protect the information to the outer world.
The only functionalities that can be used without logging in are the register function and viewing ergonomic news. The news section's intention is to make the site more interesting to visit on regular bases.
The graphical user interface complies with a lot of ergonomical demands. It is very important when designing an interface with ergonomists as target group that the interface is ergonomically all right.
The prototype of the online application can be found on the Cd-Rom that comes with his report.
The visitors of the congress are confronted with the Easy Ergonomist Finder. When they enter the congress they are being informed of its existence. They have the possibility to register directly, and to have their photograph taken and put on their profile.
To bring the Easy Ergonomist Finder more to people's attention, ergonomists' picture, name, slogan and country are projected onto a large screen.
This happens at the meeting point situated in the trajectum in the MECC congress centre in Maastricht. The meeting point consists of a lounge where people can chill and talk, and some space where people can work with their laptop.
The meeting point is dressed up with elements that support the meeting point's "contact" theme. One of the elements that can be found at the meeting point is a large telephone.
This telephone controls the slide show mentioned above. Pressing a button changes the type of transition between the slides. Goal hereof is to trigger people's interest. This is strengthened by the "un-ergonomic illustrations" on the telephone's buttons.
The "datacloud", an application invented by Axis Media Ontwerpers, is an interesting way to implement all the ideas. The datacloud has a lot of functionality that can be used for the Easy Ergonomist Finder. It has a graphic user interface that encourages people to use it and browse around in the Easy Ergonomist Finder.
The datacloud does have two disadvantages. It is unknown how the datacloud will function with large amounts of people and companies. Furthermore it requires someone to enter or change information. With up to ten thousandth ergonomists that is going to be a lot of work.
All together and with the recommendations from chapter 7 taken into account, there's a clear concept for both the website and the introduction on the congress.


A study team headed by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center analyzed the feasibility of developing a water transportation system to serve the national parks of New York Harbor. This assessment was designed to address two principal objectives: (a) determine the viability of water transportation as an access mode serving the parks and (b) develop a preliminary ferry service concept plan. An analysis of market (demand) and site (supply) factors was critical to the assessment. The standard methods of demand forecasting could not be used in the market analysis, however, because most of the necessary data were lacking. Thus, an alternative approach was developed to perform this essential part of the assessment. Necessary market thresholds were estimated by applying a cost model. These thresholds were compared with ridership scenarios that were considered to be reasonable and conservative. From this analysis, the financial viability of the proposed ferry services was determined. For the particular application, the analysis results were sufficiently persuasive to suggest that proposed services should be implemented on a trial basis. This approach recognizes the practical limitations of demand forecasting in an environment in which data characterizing existing travel behavior are deficient and proposed services may attract substantially new markets with different socioeconomic and travel behavior characteristics. Because these limitations frequently apply to the planning of ferries and land-based modes serving parks and other recreational facilities, the described approach may have widespread applications.


This paper provides cross-country empirical evidence on term premia, inflation uncertainty, and their relationship. It has three components. First, I construct a panel of zero-coupon nominal government bond yields spanning ten countries and eighteen years. From these, I construct forward rates and decompose these into expected future short-term interest rates and term premiums, using both statistical methods (an affine term structure model) and using surveys. Second, I construct alternative measures of time-varying inflation uncertainty for these countries, using actual inflation data and survey expectations. I discuss some possible determinants of inflation uncertainty. Finally, I use panel data methods to investigate the relationship between term premium estimates and inflation uncertainty measures, and find a strong positive relationship. The economic determinants of term premia remain mysterious; but this evidence points to uncertainty about intermediate- to long-run inflation rates being a substantial part of the explanation for why yield curves slope up.


We reconstruct from lake-sediment archives atmospheric Hg deposition to Arctic Alaska over the last several centuries and constrain a contemporary lake/watershed mass-balance with real-time measurement of Hg fluxes in rainfall, runoff, and evasion. Results indicate that (a) anthropogenic Hg impact in the Arctic is of similar magnitude to that at temperate latitudes; (b) whole-lake Hg sedimentation determined from 55 210Pb-dated cores from the five small lakes demonstrates a 3-fold increase in atmospheric Hg deposition since the advent of the Industrial Revolution; (c) because of high soil Hg concentrations and relatively low atmospheric deposition fluxes, erosional inputs to these lakes are more significant than in similar temperate systems; (d) volatilization accounts for about 20% of the Hg losses (evasion and sedimentation); and (e) another source term is needed to balance the evasional and sedimentation sinks. This additional flux (1.21+/-0.74 microg m(-2) yr(-1)) is comparable to direct atmospheric Hg deposition and may be due to some combination of springtime Arctic depletion and more generalized deposition of reactive gaseous Hg species.


Trenbolone, an anabolic androgen, and flutamide, an antiandrogen, are prototypical model compounds for agonism and antagonism of the androgen receptor. We hypothesized that 48 h exposures of female fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) to environmentally relevant concentrations of these chemicals would alter genes regulated by the androgen receptor and that a mixture of the two compounds would block the effects. Gene expression in the ovaries was analyzed using a fathead minnow-specific 22,000-gene microarray. Flutamide altered abouttwicethe number of genes astrenbolone, most of which appeared to be through pathways not associated with the androgen receptor. A group of 70 genes, of which we could identify 37, were reciprocally regulated by trenbolone and flutamide. These are candidates for specific biomarkers for androgen receptor mediated gene expression. Four genes stand out as specifically related to reproduction: sperm associated antigen 8 (SPAG8), CASP8 and FADD-like apoptosis regulator (CFLAR), corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), and 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (3beta-HSD). Three notable transcriptional regulators including myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homologue (MYC), Yin Yang 1 (YY1), and interferon regulator factor 1 (IRF1) may function as early molecular switches to control phenotypic changes in ovary tissue architecture and function in response to androgen or antiandrogen exposure.


Mutations in the VHL tumor suppressor gene result in constitutive expression of many hypoxia-inducible genes, at least in part because of increases in the cellular level of hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF1alpha, which in normal cells is rapidly ubiquitinated and degraded by the proteasome under normoxic conditions. The recent observation that the VHL protein is a subunit of an Skp1-Cul1/Cdc53-F-box (SCF)-like E3 ubiquitin ligase raised the possibility that VHL may be directly responsible for regulating cellular levels of HIF1alpha by targeting it for ubiquitination and proteolysis. In this report, we test this hypothesis directly. We report development of methods for production of the purified recombinant VHL complex and present direct biochemical evidence that it can function with an E1 ubiquitin-activating enzyme and E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme to activate HIF1alpha ubiquitination in vitro. Our findings provide new insight into the function of the VHL tumor suppressor protein, and they provide a foundation for future investigations of the mechanisms underlying VHL regulation of oxygen-dependent gene expression.


Background. Risk assessment scales are considered essential tools in pressure ulcer prevention, but none of them have been tested for predictive validity (sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive value) in intensive care, especially in the South African context.
Purpose. To compare the sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of a pressure ulcer risk assessment scale developed for intensive care unit patients (research scale) with the one that was currently being used in the research unit (control scale).
Method. Sixty-six patients were assessed over a period of 3 months. Pressure ulcer risk was calculated on a weekly basis using both assessment scales. Predictive risk was compared with the actual outcome (pressure ulcer development) in order to determine the sensitivity and specificity of each scale.
Results. Twenty-five (38%) of the sampled patients developed pressure ulcers. There was significant asymmetry (p < 0.05) between the two scales, with the control scale having a tendency to classify more patients as being at risk. The two scales matched well for sensitivity, but the research scale had a higher specificity (71% v. 29%) and positive predictive value (63% v. 44%).
Conclusion. It was concluded that the research scale is superior to the control scale, as it was able to predict risk with more accuracy.


Examination of all available data on Precambrian granulite rocks centered around the Indian portion of Gondwanaland reveals the possible existence of a paired metamorphic belt that can be traced from the Ceylon–south India area west to Madagascar and possibly to Uganda, and east to southwest Australia and east Antarctica. This belt appears to be formed of low-pressure–high-temperature (Abukuma-type) rocks with an adjacent complementary belt with rocks formed by intermediate pressure and intermediate temperature (Barrovian-type). The belt of low pressure and high temperature is characterized by cordierite in pelitic, intermediate, and even mafic rocks, some of which are associated with sapphirine. Andalusite is present locally, coexisting with sillimanite, and wollastonite is found in some calc-silicate assemblages. The belt of intermediate-pressure and intermediate-temperature rocks contains sillimanite-garnet in metapelite, and scapolite-diopside with calcite-quartz in the calc-silicate rocks. This relation seems common to the granulite rocks of Gondwanaland and serves to illustrate geologic continuity of these segments when brought together in their suggested pre-drift positions. From the scant information available concerning these rocks, a gross metamorphic-structural-chronologic unity may be recognized. Highly deformed granulite rocks of at least Archean age (about 3,000 m.y.) are characteristic; these rocks were metamorphosed and (or) remobilized at about 2,500, 1,300, and 1,000 m.y., ending with a widespread metamorphic event at about 600 m.y. These paired belts form a pattern on models of reconstructed Gondwanaland, which suggests that plate tectonics processes between Indian, Antarctic-Australian, and African protoplates were in operation in Precambrian time.


ABSTRACT:Sexuality scholarship demonstrates the historical production of the male/female sexual binary in scientific discourse. While some scholars have applied the insights of this scholarship to modern Islamic contexts, studies on intersex persons (khuntha) in premodern Islamic societies often underestimate the nonjudgmental character of legal and medical discourse. Based on analysis of medical, lexicographical, and juridical discourse from the eighth to the eighteenth centuries, this article argues that the dominant strand of this discourse tolerated ambiguity and flexibility regarding nonbinary sex embodiments. This discourse widely recognized three to five sexual categories, including khuntha mushkil, a "medial sex" with intersex physical characteristics difficult to categorize as predominantly male or female. Jurists and physicians treated such persons as indeterminate or complex, even when assigning them a "provisional" legal sex. Premodern Islamic experts largely understood intersex as ambiguous and mutable when addressing inheritance, prayer, burial, dress, travel, and marriage.


Tackling the Sicilian woody vegetation as a case-study, this work aims to verify the correspondence between Rivas-Martínez's bioclimatic units and the main vegetation series in the Mediterranean region. Following this approach, one macrobioclimate and 25 bioclimatic type belts can be recognized in Sicily. By means of a geostatistical analysis based on WorldClim data sets, cartographic models of the distribution range of each single bioclimatic unit were obtained and combined with vegetation data, in order to develop a new regional spatial framework, integrating climatic and vegetation data. Fidelity of each vegetation unit to a given climatic range was then evaluated as percent distribution of the occupied surface within a given bioclimatic unit, while the predictive power of the WorldClim data sets was tested by using half of the spatial data of the processed vegetation units as independent variables. Our results suggest that: (1) any kind of numerical threshold used to define bioclimatic units is not effective a priori, but only after it has been adjusted to the territory and to the spatial scale used to set the model; (2) bioclimatic indices being an empirical tool, the model can be trained and eventually adjusted when applied to different territories; (3) fidelity of vegetation units to a given bioclimatic unit is highly variable; (4) the mechanistic pitfall that climatophilous vegetation has to be necessarily linked to a single bioclimatic unit should be avoided.


In this paper, we present a method to improve video OCR with multiple character hypotheses. The text regions in video need to be binarized before work as the input of current OCR system. Tranditional binarization do not use any structural information about the text. Based on a certain statistic model, we define a binarization method, which is called observation function, that should satisfy a certain condition. We then present a method to construct an observation function by computing binarization results according to multiple hypotheses of characters obtained by an OCR system..


Genetic factors play a significant role in the development of cocaine addiction. Catechol-Omethyltransferase (COMT) is a major enzyme for the metabolism of dopamine, the neurotransmitter most directly related to the reinforcing properties of cocaine. In the present study, we genotyped three COMT SNPs [Val 108/158 Met (rs4680), rs737865, and rs165599] in a Brazilian sample comprised of 711 cocaine dependents and 862 healthy controls. Significant case-control differences were not observed for any individual SNP. Haplotype analyses showed that the haplotype comprised of alleles G-A-A of markers rs737865, rs4680 and rs165599, respectively, was over-represented in the cases (4%) compared to the controls (2%) (z=2.99; p=0.02). Moreover, when the markers rs737865/rs4680 were analyzed separately, the haplotype containing only alleles G-A was also significantly associated with cocaine abuse (z=3.46; p=0.006). 71 markers for genetic admixture analyses were also performed in the whole sample, and no difference was observed in case and controls, indicating that there is no significant population stratification in the sample. This study suggests that genetic variation in COMT might play a role in development of cocaine addiction in the Brazilian population.


A characteristic, though not necessary, property of so-called pitch accent languages is the existence of unaccented words. Work on unaccentedness in Japanese has found a concentration of such words in very specific areas of the lexicon, defined in prosodic terms. While unaccentedness might be some kind of default, the prosodic rationale for the way it is distributed over the lexicon is far from clear. This article investigates the underlying structural reasons for the distribution and develops a formal Optimality Theory account, which involves two well-known constraints: RIGHTMOST and NONFINALITY. The tension between the two, usually resolved by ranking (NONFINALITY ≫ RIGHTMOST ), finds another surprising resolution in unaccentedness: no accent, no conflict. Besides providing a more detailed analysis of Japanese word accent, which takes into consideration other mitigating phonological and morphological factors, the article aims to gain an understanding of the similarities and differences between pitch accent and stress accent languages.


Phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) N-terminal extension (NTE) activates myosin in thick filaments. RLC phosphorylation plays a primary regulatory role in smooth muscles and a secondary (modulatory) role in striated muscles, which is regulated by Ca(2+)via TnC/TM on the thin filament. Tarantula striated muscle exhibits both regulatory systems: one switches on/off contraction through thin filament regulation, and another through PKC constitutively Ser35 phosphorylated swaying free heads in the thick filaments that produces quick force on twitches regulated from 0 to 50% and modulation is accomplished recruiting additional force-potentiating free and blocked heads via Ca(2+)4-CaM-MLCK Ser45 phosphorylation. We have used microsecond molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of tarantula RLC NTE to understand the structural basis for phosphorylation-based regulation in tarantula thick filament activation. Trajectory analysis revealed that an inter-domain salt bridge network (R39/E58,E61) facilitates the formation of a stable helix-coil-helix (HCH) motif formed by helices P and A in the unphosphorylated NTE of both myosin heads. Phosphorylation of the blocked head on Ser45 does not induce any substantial structural changes. However, phosphorylation of the free head on Ser35 disrupts this salt bridge network and induces a partial extension of helix P along RLC helix A. While not directly participating in the HCH folding, phosphorylation of Ser35 unlocks a compact structure and allows the NTE to spontaneously undergo coil-helix transitions. The modest structural change induced by the subsequent Ser45 diphosphorylation monophosphorylated Ser35 free head facilitates full helix P extension into a single structurally stable α-helix through a network of intra-domain salt bridges (pS35/R38,R39,R42). We conclude that tarantula thick filament activation is controlled by sequential Ser35-Ser45 phosphorylation via a conserved disorder-to-order transition.


In many areas of regulation, rules require one person to act with loyalty to another person, or at least constrain one person's pursuit of self-interest by restricting the extent to which that person may act in conflict with the interests of another person. These rules are typically justified on the basis of reducing (economic) agency costs. However, recently-adopted provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which include the so-called Volcker Rule, impose such conflict of interest rules on underwriters selling securities to investors, including sophisticated investors - a context in which agency costs do not arise. This article draws on the extensive literature on gatekeeper liability theory to develop a justification for imposing conflict of interest rules in these arm's length relationships between underwriters and investors. The article argues that conflict of interest rules provide incentives to underwriters (as gatekeepers) to take greater precautions to deter disclosure errors by their clients, the issuers of the securities sold by underwriters, than underwriters would take otherwise and that these rules thus supplement, or serve as an alternative to, rules of gatekeeper liability. The article assesses whether this justification applies to the Volcker Rule.The article also uses as a case study a deal involving alleged conflicts of interest by Goldman Sachs in marketing the ABACUS 2007-AC1 collateralized debt obligation. That deal became the subject of highly publicized enforcement action by the SEC in 2010 and provided significant impetus in the adoption of the Volcker Rule. The article shows how the justification developed in this article for imposing conflict of interest rules informs our understanding of the propriety of Goldman Sachs' conduct in the ABACUS deal and assists in applying and interpreting the Volcker Rule.


The study reports on the associations of infant and childhood anthropometric measurements, early growth, and the combined effect of birth weight and childhood body mass index with older age physical functioning among 1,999 individuals born in 1934-1944 and belonging to the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study. Physical functioning was assessed by the Short Form 36 scale. Anthropometric data from infancy and childhood were retrieved from medical records. The risk of lower Short Form 36 physical functioning at the mean age of 61.6 years was increased for those with birth weight less than 2.5 kg compared with those weighing 3.0-3.5 kg at birth (odds ratio (OR) = 2.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.57, 4.72). The gain in weight from birth to age 2 years was associated with decreased risk of lower physical functioning for a 1-standard deviation increase (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.75, 0.94). The risk of lower physical functioning was highest for individuals with birth weight in the lowest third and body mass index at 11 years of age in the highest third compared with those whose birth weight was in the middle third and body mass index at age 11 years was in the highest third (OR = 3.08, 95% CI: 1.83, 5.19). The increasing prevalence of obesity at all ages and the aging of populations warrant closer investigation of the role of weight trajectories in old age functional decline.


Design of locally optimal fault tolerant manipulators has been recently addressed via using the constraints of the desired null space for the Jacobian matrix of the manipulators. In the present paper the Jacobian matrices for optimal fault tolerance are presented based on geometric properties of column vectors instead of the null space. They are equally fault tolerant to a single joint failure from the worst-case relative manipulability and worst-case dexterity points of view. The optimality is achieved through a symmetric distribution of points on spheres.


Cosmopolitan or anxious? In order to test the influence of conflicting aspects of identity, German respondents were asked about their attitude towards a Syrian refugee the description of whom was varied in various domains (N=662). Once the refugee is described as being aware of as well as open towards concerns in the German population - regarding cultural change, arising costs and increasing violence - reported levels of sympathy and trust increase substantially, especially for risk averse people. Additional data from a second questionnaire (N=118) show that a German person expressing such concerns is perceived as less cosmopolitan and more likely to vote for the emergent populist right-wing. Combining these findings, we argue that acknowledging concerns of the host population relieves the tension between the anxious and cosmopolitan part of peoples' identities and, therefore, allows them to respond more openly since an aspect of identity that is acknowledged by context (expressing anxieties) has less influence on actual behavior (expressing sympathy). Apart from that, we find that personal experience and the higher willingness to take risks are important for the individual willingness to interact. Our findings highlight the importance of context, identity and individual characteristics for host populations' attitudes towards of refugees.


The challenge of associating entities across multiple domains is a key problem in social media understanding. Successful cross-domain entity resolution provides integration of information from multiple sites to create a complete picture of user and community activities, characteristics, and trends. In this work, we examine the problem of entity resolution across Twitter and Instagram using general techniques. Our methods fall into three categories: profile, content, and graph based. For the profile-based methods, we consider techniques based on approximate string matching. For content-based methods, we perform author identification. Finally, for graph-based methods, we apply novel cross-domain community detection methods and generate neighborhood-based features. The three categories of methods are applied to a large graph of users in Twitter and Instagram to understand challenges, determine performance, and understand fusion of multiple methods. Final results demonstrate an equal error rate less than 1%.


Chronic myeloid leukaemia in children and young people is a relatively rare form of leukaemia that shows increased incidence with age and some evidence suggests that the molecular basis differs from that in adults. Significant advances in targeted therapy with the development and use in children of tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the ability to monitor and understand the prognostic significance of minimal residual disease by standardized molecular techniques has shifted the management of this condition from bone marrow transplantation as the main therapeutic modality to individualized treatment for each patient based on achieving specific milestones. The physiological changes occurring during childhood, particularly those affecting growth and development and the long‐term use of treatment, pose specific challenges in this age group, which we are only beginning to understand.


This study was conducted to identify risk factors that influence the probability and severity of unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) and to consider gender difference. Data were obtained from a national survey. The study population was composed of 66,068 adolescents in grades 7–12 at 400 middle schools. The effect of the independent variables on UWCBs was analyzed using zero inflated negative binominal regression. Higher body mass index group, overweight perception, appearance stress, and depressive mood were found to be risk factors of UWCBs' probability in both genders. For boys, older age, underweight, accurate or under-perception of weight, and depressive mood influenced severity of UWCBs. For girls, older age, appearance stress, and depressive mood influenced severity of UWCBs. The new findings mean to consider the range of UWCBs experienced, which can offer more sensitive and predictable information. Further interventions should be developed to consider gender specific risk factors.


Minimalist object representations or shape-proxies that spark and inspire human perception of shape remain an incompletely understood, yet powerful aspect of visual communication. We explore the use of planar sections, i.e., the contours of intersection of planes with a 3D object, for creating shape abstractions, motivated by their popularity in art and engineering. We first perform a user study to show that humans do define consistent and similar planar section proxies for common objects. Interestingly, we observe a strong correlation between user-defined planes and geometric features of objects. Further we show that the problem of finding the minimum set of planes that capture a set of 3D geometric shape features is both NP-hard and not always the proxy a user would pick. Guided by the principles inferred from our user study, we present an algorithm that progressively selects planes to maximize feature coverage, which in turn influence the selection of subsequent planes. The algorithmic framework easily incorporates various shape features, while their relative importance values are computed and validated from the user study data. We use our algorithm to compute planar slices for various objects, validate their utility towards object abstraction using a second user study, and conclude showing the potential applications of the extracted planar slice shape proxies.


The stress, fear, and uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic can wear anyone down, but teens may have an especially tough time coping emotionally. In this study, we aim to highlight the impact of this pandemic on the mental health of teens, who account for almost 50% of the population in Pakistan. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in Islamabad, Pakistan. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Pakistan, we collected data through a validated online questionnaire from the students at private schools enrolled only in Cambridge Assessment International Examination (CAIE) system. The study included a total of 289 students, comprised of 116 males and 173 females within the age range of 13–19 years. Our study showed that the prevalence of signs of mental illness was quite high amongst teenagers, with slightly higher prevalence in female respondents. These signs included feeling socially disconnected, frequent mood swings, constant worry, self-dissatisfaction, change in eating habits, and change in sleep cycle. Since there is evidence that significant burden of mental illnesses originates at a young age, we assert that close attention to mental health of young people in quarantine is warranted to avoid any long-term consequences.


Cytokine effects on permanent cell lines of transformed mouse pancreatic α- and β-cells were compared. The β–tumor cell 1 (βTC1) line (from an adenoma created in transgenic mice expressing the SV40 large T-antigen oncogene under control of the rat insulin II promoter) produced insulin predominantly, although small quantities of intracellular glucagon (100:1 insulin to glucagon) were detectable by radioimmunoassay. The αTC1 line (from an adenoma created in transgenic mice expressing the SV40 large T-antigen oncogene under control of the rat preproglucagon promoter) produced not only glucagon but also considerable quantities of insulin (4:1 glucagon to insulin) and preproinsulin mRNA. We therefore cloned αTC1 cells and obtained 12 glucagon-producing clonai cell lines that did not produce levels of insulin detectable by radioimmunoassay. Analysis by Northern blotting of total RNA from two lines, αTC1 clones 6 and 9, confirmed the absence of preproinsulin mRNA. No somatostatin or pancreatic polypeptide was detected by immunohistochemical staining in αTC1 clones 6 or 9 or βTC1 cells. Rat recombinant γ-interferon (IFN-γ; 5–250 U/ml) or mouse recombinant interleukin 1 (IL-1; 1–25 U/ml) individually inhibited DNA synthesis in βTC1 cells after 3 days of treatment. The two cytokines in combination acted synergistically to further depress DNA synthesis and increase cytotoxicity. In contrast, αTC1 clone 9 cells were not sensitive to inhibition of DNA synthesis by each cytokine individually, although glucagon synthesis was inhibited. The combination of these cytokines caused marked inhibition of DNA and glucagon syntheses in αTC1 clone 9 cells. αTC1 clone 9 cells were somewhat more resistant to the cytotoxic action of the combined cytokines than were βTC1 cells. Incubation with 50 U/ml IFN-γ induced class II MHC molecules (I-Ab, I-Ad, and I-Ed) and enhanced the constitutive expression of class I molecules (H-2Kb and H-2Kd) on the cell surfaces of βTC1, uncloned αTC1, and αTC1 clones 6 and 9. Thus, these cell lines are heterozygous for MHC alleles derived from both parental strains used in the construction of the transgenic mice [C57BL/6J (H-2b) and DBA/2J (H-2d) ]. Class II gene transcription induced by IFN-γ was confirmed in βTC1 and αTC1 clone 9 cells by Northern blot analysis with Aα-, Aβ-, Eα-, and Eβ-DNA probes. The differences in sensitivity to the cytotoxic action of cytokines may relate to the preferential destruction of β-cells in the early stage of insulin-dependent diabetes. Because class I and II MHC expression was enhanced or induced by IFN-γ in both the α- and β-cell lines, the ability to induce MHC molecules in itself is not sufficient to explain β-cell– specific autoimmune recognition associated with insulin-dependent diabetes.


A key to improving urban science and mathematics education is to facilitate the mutual understanding of the participants involved and then look for strategies to bridge differences. Educators need new theoretical tools to do so. In this paper the argument is made that the concept of "boundary spanner" is such a tool. Boundary spanners are individuals, objects, media, and other experiences that link an organization to its environment. They serve critical communicative roles, such as bridges for bringing distinct discourses together, cultural guides to make discourses of the "other" more explicit, and change agents for potentially reshaping participants' discourses. This ethnographic study provides three examples of boundary spanners found in the context of an urban public high school of science, mathematics, and technology: boundary media, boundary objects, and boundary experiences. The analysis brings to the foreground students' and teachers' distinct discourses about "good student identity,""good student work," and "good summer experience" and demonstrates how boundary spanners shaped, were shaped by, and sometimes brought together participants' distinct discourses. An argument is made for boundary spanners' practical and theoretical utility: practically, as a tool for enhancing meaning-making between diverse groups, and theoretically, as a heuristic tool for understanding the reproductive and transformative aspects of urban science education.


Grandmother Andre told stories in front of a campfire. Elizabeth Goudie wrote a memoir in school scribblers. Phyllis Knight taped hours of interviews with her son. Today's families rely on television and video cameras. They are all making history. In a different approach to that old issue, 'the Canadian identity,' Gerald Friesen links the media studies of Harold Innis to the social history of recent decades. The result is a framework for Canadian history as told by ordinary people. Friesen suggests that the common peoples' perceptions of time and space in what is now Canada changed with innovations in the dominant means of communication. He defines four communication-based epochs in Canadian history: the oral-traditional world of pre-contact Aboriginal people; the textual-settler household of immigrants; the print-capitalism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; and the screen-capitalism that has emerged in the last few decades. This analysis of communication is linked to distinctive political economies, each of which incorporates its predecessors in an increasingly complex social order. In each epoch, using the new communication technologies, people struggled to find the political means by which they could ensure that they and their households survived and, if they were lucky, prospered. Canada is the sum of their endeavours. .Citizens and Nation. demonstrates that it is possible to find meaning in the nation's past that will interest, among others, a new, young, and multicultural reading audience.


American firms are subject to tax and civil penalties for participating in international boycotts (other than those sanctioned by the U.S. government). These penalties apply primarily to American companies that cooperate with the Arab League's boycott of Israel. The effectiveness of U.S. antiboycott legislation is reflected in the fact that American firms comply with only 30 percent of the 10,000 boycott requests they receive annually. The cross-sectional pattern is informative: the U.S. tax penalty for boycott participation is an increasing function of foreign tax rates, and reported compliance rates vary inversely with tax rates. Tax rate differences of 10 percent are associated with 6 percent differences in rates of compliance with boycott requests. This evidence suggests that U.S. anti-boycott legislation significantly reduces the willingness of American firms to participate in the boycott of Israel, reducing boycott participation rates by as much as 15-30 percent.


This paper discusses the variation and validation of the precision, or estimated random error, associated with the ESA Level 2 products from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS). This quantity represents the propagation of the radiomet- ric noise from the spectra through the retrieval process into the Level 2 profile values. The noise itself varies with time, steadily rising between ice decontamination events, but the Level 2 precision has a greater variation due to the atmo- spheric temperature which controls the total radiance re- ceived. Hence, for all species, the precision varies latitu- dinally/seasonally with temperature, with a small superim- posed temporal structure determined by the degree of ice contamination on the detectors. The precision validation involves comparing two MIPAS retrievals at the intersections of ascending/descending orbits. For 5 days per month of full resolution MIPAS operation, the standard deviation of the matching profile pairs is computed and compared with the precision given in the MIPAS Level 2 data, except for NO2 since it has a large diurnal variation be- tween ascending/descending intersections. Even taking into account the propagation of the pressure-temperature retrieval errors into the VMR retrieval, the standard deviation of the matching pairs is usually a factor 1-2 larger than the preci- sion. This is thought to be due to effects such as horizontal inhomogeneity of the atmosphere and instability of the re- trieval.


Trading in commodity derivatives on exchange platforms is an instrument to achieve price discovery, better price risk management, besides helping macro-economy with better resource allocation. Since the inception (2003) of national online trading on multi-commodity exchange platforms, the trade volumes have grown exponentially. In the union budget 2008-09, the government has proposed to impose a commodity transaction tax (CTT) of 0.017%. Though the stated rationale for imposing higher taxes is to contain price rise and volatility, to generate revenue, and to increase transparency, these arguments are debatable and not much rooted in the available literature. In this context, we examine the relationship between trading activity, volatility and transaction cost using a three-equation structural model for five top selected commodities namely Gold, Copper, Petroleum Crude, Soya Oil and Chana (Chickpea). Results suggest that there exists a negative relationship between transaction cost and liquidity, and a positive relationship between transaction cost and volatility. Therefore, if the government imposes CTT, it would lead to higher volatility and lower trading activity affecting market efficiency and liquidity.However, agricultural commodities such as refined Soya oil and Chana are least affected in terms of volume and volatility in response to the imposition of transaction tax. Increased volatility may lead to more speculative activity and fail to achieve the price discovery and resource allocation objectives of the commodity markets. Further, the granger causality results reveal the efficiency of futures markets but do not provide any conclusive evidence about the nexus between price rise and futures trading.


The role of stakeholders is integral to corporate sustainability as society increasingly demands that corporations play a role in achieving environmental objectives in addition to building shareholder wealth. In the first book to gather cutting-edge research on the interactions between stakeholders and organizations within the context of corporate sustainability, the contributors to this volume provide a diversity of perspectives from North America, Europe, and Oceania.


Purpose. Clinicians commonly assess posture in persons with musculoskeletal disorders and tend to do so subjectively. Evidence-based practice requires the use of valid, reliable and sensitive tools to monitor treatment effectiveness. The purpose of this article was to determine which methods were used to assess posture quantitatively in a clinical setting and to identify psychometric properties of posture indices measured from these methods or tools. Methods. We conducted a comprehensive literature review. Pertinent databases were used to search for articles on quantitative clinical assessment of posture. Searching keywords were related to posture and assessment, scoliosis, back pain, reliability, validity and different body segments. Results. We identified 65 articles with angle and distance posture indices that corresponded to our search criteria. Several studies showed good intra- and inter-rater reliability for measurements taken directly on the persons (e.g., goniometer, inclinometer, flexible curve and tape measurement) or from photographs, but the validity of these measurements was not always demonstrated. Conclusion. Taking measurements of all body angles directly on the person is a lengthy process and may affect the reliability of the measurements. Measurement of body angles from photographs may be the most accurate and rapid way to assess global posture quantitatively in a clinical setting.


Background. While neuropathological studies indicate a high risk for Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down's syndrome, neuropsychological studies suggest a lower prevalence of dementia. In this study, cognitive deterioration in adults with Down's syndrome was examined prospectively over 4 years to establish rates and profiles of cognitive deterioration. Methods. Fifty-seven people with Down's syndrome aged 30 years or older were assessed using a battery of neuropsychological tests on five occasions across 50 months. Assessments of domains of cognitive function known to change with the onset of Alzheimer related dementia were employed. These included tests of learning, memory, orientation, agnosia, apraxia and aphasia. The individual growth trajectory methodology was used to analyse change over time. Results. Severe cognitive deterioration, such as acquired, apraxia and agnosia, was evident in 28·3% of those aged over 30 and a higher prevalence of these impairments was associated with older age. The rate of cognitive deterioration also increased with age and degree of pre-existing cognitive impairment. Additionally, deterioration in memory, learning and orientation preceded the acquisition of aphasia, agnosia and apraxia. Conclusions. The prevalence of cognitive impairments consistent with the presence of Alzheimer's disease is lower than that suggested by neuropathological studies. The pattern of the acquisition of cognitive impairments in adults with Down's syndrome is similar to that seen in individuals with Alzheimer's disease who do not have Down's syndrome.


One reason for the recent proliferation of empirical studies addressing the role of education in promoting individual and social welfare has been the emergence of high-quality, micro-level data on education. In this paper, we discuss three broad types of data sets: data on educational institutions, data on educational outcomes at the individual level, and data sets from school reforms and experiments. In each section, we summarize some of the leading surveys, discuss the general availability of the data, and identify some, but certainly not all, of the research that has utilized these data. This review is by no means exhaustive. We have restricted our attention to analyses of data sets describing primary and secondary education. Moreover, we emphasize data sets that are excellent sources of information but are less well known and utilized by economists.


Continuous education is a vital factor which contributes towards the professional development in nursing and it is directly associated with the health of a country. Continuous education is essential to maintain and improve the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of nurses and provide better health care. The objective of this study was to assess the attitudes and perceived barriers towards continuous education in nursing among the front-line nurse managers in Sri Lanka. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 555 front line nurse managers in Sri Lanka using a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. SPSS 25 version was used as the data analysis tool. Thirty-one special grade nursing officers and 524 grade 1 nursing officers participated in this study. The majority (73%) had more than 20 years of working experience as a nursing professional. Most of the nurse managers were diploma holders (83%), 3% undergraduates, 14% graduates, and 1% were reading for Masters. Attitudes towards continuous education were good among all the nurse managers, while 92% were willing to continue their education. The majority (96%) has perceived that continuous education is vital for professional development in nursing, and 91% has stated that the opportunities and facilities for continuous education and nursing research should be improved. The attitudes borne by the front line nurse managers towards the continuous education, were considered to have been very positive. Further, continuous education was perceived by them as a vital part of professional development. Therefore, it could be surmised that the opportunities and facilities for continuous education and research on continuous nursing education should be improved in order to facilitate the provision of better health care.


Surgical site infection and postoperative leakage are complications that may develop following colorectal surgery and result in fatal consequences. Rapid, fluid-tight wound closure through laser tissue welding (LTW) can reduce postoperative leakage and thus decrease infection. Laser tissue welding involves generation of localized heat by exposing an exogenous chromophore to near-infrared (NIR) irradiation in order to seal wounds. In this study, we generated gold nanorod (GNR)-collagen nanocomposites (NCs) for laser-facilitated welding of ruptured intestinal tissue. The fluid content, stiffness, elasticity, and laser-induced temperature response of these nanocomposites were modulated to optimize laser-induced tissue fusion and minimize tissue damage. In addition, the effect of laser operating parameters including power density, femtosecond pulsed wave (PW) or continuous wave (CW) laser, and exposure duration were all studied. Laser power density and treatment duration significantly affected the temperatures reached during welding, as well as tissue weld strength and burst pressure. CW laser was found to induce significantly higher temperatures of the nanocomposites during treatment than PW laser, but the differences in weld strength and burst pressure for the two laser types were insignificant. This suggests that PW lasers can result in robust welds while minimizing potential thermal damage compared to CW lasers. The ultimate tensile strength of welded ruptured tissue was returned to as high as 68% of the native tissue strength through laser treatment, and laser treatment with these nanocomposites restored up to 64% of native tissue leak pressure and 42% of burst pressure. To the best of our knowledge, the laser power densities used (≤2.50 W/cm2) are among the lowest reported for laser tissue welding, and the laser configuration and use require very little surgical skill. Our results indicate that GNR-collagen nanocomposites are promising photothermal biomaterials in laser tissue welding applications.


This thesis is an investigation into the production of laccases by the phytopathogenic soil fungus Rhizoctonia solani. The fungus causes maceration of plant tissue by the production of a variety of plant cell wall degrading enzymes. Whilst most attention has focused on the role of pectinases in maceration, the laccases which degrade lignin are likely to be important in this process.

The production of laccase by the AG-11 isolate VR20 in V8 medium reached a maximum after 6 days incubation. Laccase activity was unaffected by variation in temperatures over the range 4-15 degrees C, but as the temperature increased the activity increased to a maximum at 25 degrees C. This high level activity was maintained as the temperature was increased to 37 degrees C. The effects of pH on laccase activity was also determined. Activity was stable over the pH range 4.5-6. Outside this range the activity decreased significantly.

The composition of the growth medium also had a significant effect on laccase production. Similar levels of activity were observed during growth in V8, apple pectin media, or in media containing ground up lupin hypocotyls as a carbon source. However, approx 20 fold higher levels were obtained after growth in Czapek-Dox medium.

Different laccase activity band patterns were obtained by zymogram analysis of culture supernatants. The production of the other cell wall degrading enzymes pectinase,xylanase and cellulase in these media was assessed for comparison. Whilst all three were produced in V8 and apple pectin media, cellulase was not produced in lupin medium, and none of these were produced in Czapek-Dox medium.

Attempts to increase laccase production by the addition of the reported laccase inducers CuSO4.5H2O, p-anisidine, ethanol, MnSO4.7H2O, resveratrol, and tannic acid to the growth medium showed mixed results. The only case where enhancement of synthesis was observed was with the addition of MnSO4 to Czapek-Dox medium. This compound did not enhance production in the other media tested. With the exception of p-anisidine, the other inducers had minimal effect in V8, apple pectin or lupin media. Para anisidine completely inhibited production in lupin medium. With the exception of MnSO4, all inducers inhibited laccase production in Czapek-Dox medium, with p-anisidine causing complete inhibition.

The production of xylanase and cellulase was also inhibited by these inducers but in a growth medium dependent manner. Cellulase production in V8 medium was inhibited by ethanol, MnSO4, resveratrol, and tannic acid whilst only the latter two inhibited xylanase production and none of these inhibited pectinase production. In contrast, p-anisidine had a greater inhibitory effect on pectinase and xylanase production in V8 medium than on cellulase production. Para-anisidine also inhibited xylanase (and laccase) but not pectinase production in lupin medium but not in apple pectin medium. Resveratrol and tannic acid also inhibited xylanase production in lupin medium. The effects of the inhibitory compounds EDTA and SDS on laccase activity was determined. With SDS the % inhibition increased as the concentration of inhibitor decreased from 5% to 0.5%. With EDTA the opposite trend was observed. The effects of arginine on laccase activity was also tested. At concentrations of 0.5 to 5% arginine, laccase activity was completely inhibited.

Laccase activity was purified from the culture supernatant by anion exchange chromatography, and by electroelution from a native-PAGE gel. The degree of purification by each method was greater than 50 fold. Electrophoresis of the purified protein on an SDS-PAGE gel followed by staining with Coomassie blue showed two protein bands of 66 and 38 KDa. Measurement of the absorption spectrum of the purified protein showed two absorbance maxima, at 240 and 340nm.

Laccases produced by isolates from different anastomosis groups were analysed by staining gels for laccase activity. Variations in the band pattern were observed both between and within anastomosis groups. Analysis of single spore isolates from AG-8 and AG-11 showed segregation of band patterns. However the sample sizes were too small to make conclusions about the numbers of laccase enzymes produced by or the number of genes in the parent field isolates.

The role of laccases in maceration of lupin radicle tissue was investigated. Microscopic staining showed the presence of lignin in radicle tissue, and when incubated in the fungal enzymes the tissue lost integrity, characteristic symptoms of maceration. Maceration wasreadily observed as discolouring when the radicle was incubated in a solution of fungal enzyme. The degree of maceration was quantified by measuring the length of the discoloured region. Enzymes from all of the isolates tested caused maceration of lupin radicle. The degree of maceration ranged from 80-100%. No maceration was observed when agrinine was included in the reaction mixture. Arginine does not inhibit the activity of pectinases, xylanases, or cellulases. In maceration assays with potato tuber tissue which does not contain lignin, the addition of arginine to the reaction did not inhibit maceration. The results show that laccases are required for maceration of lignified tissue, but not for non-lignified tissue. Laccase gene sequences were cloned from three isolates, SCR122 (AG-6), 11034 (AG-8), and VR20 (AG-11) using degenerate primers to conserved sequences to amplify the gene sequences. The amplicons were cloned and sequenced. A BLAST search of the NCBI database with the derived amino acid sequences confirmed that the sequences were from laccase genes.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to describe clinical and virological outcomes in therapy-naive HIV-1-positive patients treated in a routine ART programme in rural Cameroon.

METHODS
In a prospective cohort, 300 consecutive patients starting first-line ART were enrolled and followed for 12 months. Among 238 patients with available viral load data at Month 12, logistic regression was used to analyse risk factors for virological failure (≥1000 HIV RNA copies/mL) including clinical, immunological and virological parameters, as well as data on drug adherence. Population sequencing was performed to detect the presence of drug-resistance mutations in patients with virological failure at Month 12; minority drug-resistance mutations at baseline were analysed using next-generation sequencing in these patients and matched controls.

RESULTS
At Month 12, 38/238 (16%) patients experienced virological failure (≥1000 HIV RNA copies/mL). Patients with virological failure were younger, had lower CD4 cell counts and were more often WHO stage 3 or 4 at baseline. Sixty-three percent of patients with virological failure developed at least one drug-resistance mutation. The M184V (n = 18) and K103N (n = 10) mutations were most common. At baseline, 6/30 patients (20%) experiencing virological failure and 6/35 (17%) matched controls had evidence of minority drug-resistance mutations using next-generation sequencing (P = 0.77). Lower CD4 count at baseline (OR per 100 cells/mm(3) lower 1.41, 95% CI 1.02-1.96, P = 0.04) and poorer adherence (OR per 1% lower 1.05, 95% CI 1.02-1.08, P < 0.001) were associated with a higher risk of virological failure. Unavailability of ART at the treatment centre was the single most common cause for incomplete adherence.

CONCLUSIONS
Virological failure after 1 year of ART was not associated with minority drug resistance at baseline but with incomplete adherence. Strategies to assure adherence and uninterrupted drug supplies are pivotal factors for therapy success.


BACKGROUND
The therapeutic properties of cannabinoids are well-known since ancient years. Growing evidence exist on endocannabinoid system (ECS) modulation related with human tumorigenesis.

OBJECTIVE
Taking into account the substantial role of ECS on immune cell regulation, the present review is aimed to summarize the emerging evidence concerning cannabinoid receptor (CBR) expression and cannabinoid ligand effects on haematological malignancies.

CONCLUSIONS
Most of cannabinoid actions, mainly CB2R-mediated against haematopoietic malignant cells, seem promising, as inhibition of cell proliferation and apoptosis and paraptosis induction have been documented. Cannabinoid ligands appear to activate rudimentary pathways for cell survival, such as ERK, JNK, p38 MAPK, and to induce caspase synthesis, in vitro. Such data are strongly recommended to be confirmed by in vivo experiments with emphasis on cannabinoid ligands' bioavailability and phytocannabinoid psychotropic properties. The preliminary antitumoral ECS effects and their relative lack of important side effects render ECS a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of haematological malignancies.


At the 19th ICE Conference in Houston in 1984 an alternative concept for the design of rubble mound breakwaters was introduced. This concept has the objective of providing a leastcost structure by optimizing the use of locally available materials and utilizing simple construction procedures. Contractors' bids demonstrated that significant cost savings could be achieved, when compared to the cost of traditional designs. Considerable prototype experience has now been obtained with this concept of breakwaters. Breakwaters have been built using the concept in Canada, the United States, and Iceland since 1984 and have been subjected to storms and ice action. Prototype observations have supported the performance predicted during the design process. In this paper surveys of a breakwater taken after construction and after storm action are presented. In addition to wave action, this breakwater has also been subjected to extensive ice action. The response of the breakwater has been monitored and observed and is discussed.


BACKGROUND
Residents of more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to report poorer physical function, although the reasons for this remain unknown. It is possible that neighborhood-level perceptions of safety from crime contribute to this relationship through its association with walking for recreation.

METHODS
Data were obtained from the fourth wave (collected in 2013) of the HABITAT (How Areas in Brisbane Influence HealTh and AcTivity) multilevel longitudinal study of middle- to older-aged adults (46-74 y) residing in 200 neighborhoods in Brisbane, Australia. The data were analyzed separately for men (n = 2190) and women (n = 2977) using multilevel models.

RESULTS
Residents of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods had poorer physical function, perceived their neighborhoods to be less safe from crime, and do less walking for recreation. These factors accounted for differences in physical function between disadvantaged and advantaged neighborhoods (24% for men and 25% for women).

CONCLUSION
This study highlights the importance of contextual characteristics, through their associations with behaviors, that can have in explaining the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and physical function. Interventions aimed at improving neighborhood safety integrated with supportive environments for physical activity may have positive impact on physical function among all socioeconomic groups.


BACKGROUND
Lobeline is a partial nicotine agonist, which has been used in a variety of commercially available preparations to help stop smoking.

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this review was to assess the effects of lobeline on long term smoking cessation.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group trials register.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomized trials comparing lobeline to placebo or an alternative therapeutic control, which reported smoking cessation with at least six months follow-up.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We extracted data in duplicate on the type of subjects, the dose and form of lobeline, the outcome measures, method of randomisation, and completeness of follow-up.

MAIN RESULTS
We identified no trials meeting the full inclusion criteria including long term follow-up.

REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS
There is no evidence available from long term trials that lobeline can aid smoking cessation.


The Crucible of Race, a major reinterpretation of black-white relations in the South, was widely acclaimed on publication and compared favorably to two of the seminal books on Southern history: Wilbur J. Cash's The Mind of Jim Crow. Representing 20 years of research and writing on the history of the South, The Crucible of Race explores the large topic of Southern race relations for a span of a century and a half. Oxford is pleased to make available an abridgement of this parent volume: A Rage for Order preserves all the theme lines that were advanced in the original volume and many of the individual stories. As in Crucible of Race, Williamson here confronts the awful irony that the war to free blacks from slavery also freed racism. He examines the shift in the power base of Southern white leadership after 1850 and recounts the terrible violence done to blacks in the name of self-protection. This condensation of one of the most important interpretations of Southern history is offered as a means by which a large audience can grasp the essentials of black-white relations--a problem that persists to this day and one with which we all must contend--North and South, black and white.


Virtual reality is a trending, widely accessible, contemporary technology of increasing utility to biomedical and health applications. However, most implementations of VR environments are tailored to specific applications. We describe the complete development of a novel, open-source virtual reality environment that is suitable for multipurpose biomedical and healthcare applications. The developed environment simulates an immersive (first-person perspective) run in the countryside, in a virtual landscape with various salient features. The utility of the developed VR environment has been validated via two test usage cases: an application in the context of motor rehabilitation following injury of the lower limbs and an application in the context of real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback, to regulate brain function in specific regions of interest. The resulting test applications suggest that the implemented approach is robust, versatile and efficient. Both applications are publicly available via a GitHub repository, in support of the Open Science initiative. We anticipate our contribution to catalyze further progress and replicability with regards to the usage of virtual reality in biomedical and health applications. Index Terms— Motor rehabilitation, neurofeedback, virtual reality.


We discuss the orbital effect of a tilted magnetic field on the quantum Hall effect in parabolic quantum wells. Many-body states realized at the fractional 1/3 and 1/2 filling of the second electronic subband are studied using finite-size exact diagonalization. In both cases, we obtain the phase diagram consisting of a fractional quantum Hall fluid phase that persists for moderate tilts, and eventually undergoes a direct transition to the stripe phase. It is shown that tilting of the field probes the geometrical degree of freedom of fractional quantum Hall fluids, and can be partly related to the effect of band-mass anisotropy.


A Pilot Study of Quantitative Measurements of Nasal Function in Rhinitis and the Therapeutic Effects of Botulinum Toxin
Objective: Symptoms of rhinitis can be attributed to the stimulation of cholinergic nerve endings, which leads to mucosal hypersecretion and an increase in nasal blood flow. As botulinum toxin is a powerful cholinergic blocker, the application of this toxin intranasally may help to decrease the symptom complex associated with rhinitis. A pilot study was designed to evaluate the use of hot wire airflow, measurement of stimulated secretions, and the effect of botulinum toxin on both. A quantitative assessment of this use in humans has never been performed.
Study Design: Double-blind, placebo controlled randomized control trial.
Methods: Botulinum toxin was injected into the inferior turbinates of 8 human subjects. Patients were their own controls, with each side randomized to receive onabotulinumtoxinA (BTX-A) (four 2.5 unit aliquots) or equivalent volume of normal saline.. Airflow was measured at baseline and each visit using hot-wire airflow device. Baseline and stimulated nasal secretions were collected on filter paper then weighed. The patients were followed monthly for a total of 4 months.
Results: There was a statistically significantly greater airflow on the BTX-A treated sides compared with control sides at 4 months. There was also a statistically significant decrease in stimulated secretions at 3 months. There was a notable trend toward reduction of resting secretions and stimulated secretions in the BTX-A treated sides during the treatment period. There was also a trend toward greater airflow in the BTX-A treated sides during the treatment period.


To realize the design of multi-robot cooperative control based on wireless sensor networks, a large number of local control research experiments are carried out on a specific model of mobile robots. Combined with the kinematic model of mobile robot, the motion characteristics of this kind of mobile robot are grasped. On the basis of realizing the multi-target tracking and positioning of wireless sensor network, a multi mobile robot cooperative control system based on the feedback of wireless sensor network is developed, and the synchronous motion between the master and the robot is maintained through the feedback control of the network. Finally, a cooperative trajectory tracking control algorithm for mobile robot is introduced, and the principle of the controller design is mastered. A multi mobile robot cooperative trajectory tracking LQG controller is designed for mobile robot in wireless sensor network. The simulation results show that the algorithm can reach the cooperative control target. Key Words—wireless sensor networks, multiple mobile robots, cooperative control


Recently, there has been extensive development in remote communication technologies such as telephone, radio, and television. Haptic information is studied as the third type of multimedia information. Real-world haptics is getting attention not only for the feedback of real-world haptic information in teleoperation but also as the key technology for future human support. Most of the objects of study in haptics are stationary. Therefore, the moving range of such haptic systems is limited.This paper proposes a novel haptic device that receives force feedback of walking motion from a remote environment and manipulates remote system. Thus, its moving range is unrestricted. To drive this haptic system, the paper also proposes asynchronous multilateral control. By using this control, an operator can operate the remote system without changing his/her position. The proposed haptic system is expected to act as an effective interface for virtual reality applications and teleoperation.


Atherogenic low density lipoproteins are cleared from the circulation by hepatic low density lipoprotein receptors (LDLR). Two inherited forms of hypercholesterolemia result from loss of LDLR activity: autosomal dominant familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), caused by mutations in the LDLR gene, and autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia (ARH), of unknown etiology. Here we map theARH locus to a ∼1-centimorgan interval on chromosome 1p35 and identify six mutations in a gene encoding a putative adaptor protein (ARH). ARH contains a phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domain, which in other proteins binds NPXY motifs in the cytoplasmic tails of cell-surface receptors, including the LDLR. ARH appears to have a tissue-specific role in LDLR function, as it is required in liver but not in fibroblasts.


Researchers investigated the efficacy of hypericum extract (St John's wort) compared with paroxetine in patients with moderate to severe major depression. A randomised double blind, double dummy, multicentre non-inferiority trial study design of six weeks' duration was used. Treatment consisted of 300 mg hypericum extract WS 5570 three times a day or 20 mg paroxetine once a day for six weeks. The primary outcome was change in score on the Hamilton depression scale from baseline at six weeks.1

In total, 301 patients were recruited from psychiatric primary centres in Germany. After a screening examination patients underwent a single (patient) blind, double dummy, placebo run in period of three to seven days before the trial started. Subsequently, 251 patients aged 18-70 years were recruited to the trial, and 125 were randomised to the hypericum treatment group and 126 to paroxetine. The researchers reported that in the treatment of moderate to severe major depression, hypericum extract WS 5570 …


This monograph examines interpreters in early imperial China and their roles in the making of archival records about foreign countries and peoples. It covers ten empirical studies on historical interpreting and discusses a range of issues, such as interpreters' identities, ethics, non-mediating tasks, status, and relations with their patrons and other people they worked with. These findings are based on critical readings of primary and secondary sources, which have rarely been utilized and analyzed in depth even in translation research published in Chinese. Although this is a book about China, the interpreters documented are, surprisingly, mostly foreigners, not Chinese. Cases in point are the enterprising Tuyuhun and Sogdian interpreters. In fact, some Sogdians were recruited as China's translation officials, while many others were hired as linguistic and trading agents in mediation between Chinese and Turkic-speaking peoples. These idiosyncrasies in the use of interpreters give rise to further questions, such as patterns in China's provision of foreign interpreters for its diplomatic exchanges and associated loyalty concerns. This book should be of interest not only to researchers in Translation and Interpreting Studies, but also to scholars and students in ancient Chinese history and Sinology in general.


The ion-pair state emission spectra of I2 isolated in Ne, Ar, and Kr matrixes at 300-700 nm and vacuum UV spectra at 50,000-60,000 cm-1 are presented. Spectroscopic anal. of the UV and visible emission bands of the lowest-lying ion-pair state D'(2g) in Ne and Ar provides unambiguous evidence for both vertical (energy) and horizontal shifts (equil. distance) due to solvation in a rare gas matrix, and suggests that the ion-pair states maintain their distinct character. In Kr the previously reported broad emission band at 420 nm consists of 2 narrow bands, which have counterparts in the visible. They are assigned to emission from D'(2g) and a 2nd ion-pair states of I2, most probably the d(2u) state. Partial charge delocalization to the matrix can only play a minor role in Kr since similar emission is found for secondary sites in Ar. These findings should be highly relevant for a description of ion-pair states in nonpolar media. They are useful for the interpretation of time-resolved expts. that use the ion-pair state emission as probe signal. [on SciFinder (R)]


Perspectives on Discourse Analysis: Theory and Practice provides the student/reader with the basic theoretical knowledge and the empirical tools of some of the most relevant approaches to the analysis of discourse. It has been mainly conceived of as a general (university) course on Discourse Analysis, but it can also be useful for any person or group whose main concern is to acquire the basic necessary knowledge and skills for analyzing any type of discourse. The subject matter of the book could not only be of use for linguists or prospective linguists: given its interdisciplinary character, its findings can be (and in fact are) used and applied by practitioners and scholars from different fields, such as sociology, psychology, medical science, computer science, and so on. Thus the book can be used by any person who, having certain linguistic knowledge, is interested in exploring the fascinating world of discourse. All the chapters contain both a theoretical and an empirical section, the latter containing examples of analysis, as well as exercises (Practice) and self-evaluation questions, whose answers can be found at the end of the book (in the Practice key and Key to self-evaluation questions sections). The book is divided into 12 chapters. The first two introduce basic information about discourse analysis and text linguistics, as well as the necessary techniques for gathering data, including a very brief introduction to corpus linguistics. Chapters 3-11 present and discuss some of the most prominent and well-known approaches to discourse analysis, namely Pragmatics, Interactional Sociolinguistics, Conversation Analysis, The Ethnography of Communication, Variation Analysis and Narrative Analysis, Functional Sentence Perspective, Post-Structuralist Theory and Social Theory, Critical Discourse Analysis and Positive Discourse Analysis, and Mediated Discourse Analysis. Finally, Chapter 12 deals with crucial and further issues, such as the type of discourse chosen for the analysis, the strategies and functions of discourse, or the problem of choosing an appropriate unit of analysis which will suit the aims of research. Perspectives on Discourse Analysis: Theory and Practice may prove of value to all those who are professionally involved in the area of discourse and pragmatic studies, or simply to those who wish to acquire the necessary basic knowledge and techniques for analyzing any type of discourse, from medical, journalistic or political discourse to computer-mediated, humoristic, or hegemonic discourse (where the use and abuse of power is an important issue), just to name a few of the innumerable possibilities. A desirable and intended effect of this book is also the development of an open and tolerant mind, which will eventually lead to a better understanding of the different and varied manifestations of language, culture and communication in human society.


The retroviral-like transposable element mys has been identified in a limited group of new-world rodents, providing a unique opportunity to assess its evolutionary origin and activity within various rodent genomes. In the course of this investigation we identified an element that appears to represent a distinct, but related, group of elements in the Mexican volcano mouse that we refer to as mys-like. We have determined the presence of this mys-like element in related species of rodents, suggesting that it likely dates back to a common ancestor of the Reithrodontomyini rodent tribe. The mys-like element predates the previously identified mys element and presumably gave rise to mys. Continued molecular investigations will provide insights into the evolutionary origin and history of transposable elements and their potential impacts on the mammalian genome. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Biology First Advisor David Kass Second Advisor Marianne Laporte This open access senior honors thesis is available at DigitalCommons@EMU: http://commons.emich.edu/honors/309


High-quality software documentation reduces the maintenance burden and improves productivity by enhancing reusability. Well documented software systems are also needed for students to learn from designs and implementations of experienced engineers. Documentation is neglected in software education to a great extent. Neither documentation skills are taught, nor well documented systems are used for learning purposes. The availability of programming tools already plays a major role for choosing a programming language for software education. Usually and unfortunately, neither the availability of documentation tools nor the availability of documentation support in programming tools have an impact on this choice. Furthermore, conventional documentation does not seem to be very suitable and attractive for learning and teaching. This paper outlines how concepts like literate programming, hypertext and object-oriented documentation can be combined to improve software documentation quality and accessibility. This can result in a more effective education of our future software engineers. The Role of Documentation in Programmer Training Johannes Sametinger


The purpose of this project is to produce a complete and thorough notebook that may be used to supplement laboratory coursework. Its intent is to be used primarily by the students to aid them in understanding background information and the proper laboratory procedures involved in various types of experiments. The laboratory notebook is a summation of all the experiments and procedures used in the six-credit hour Advanced Microbial and Molecular Biology (BIOL 5160) course offered during the summer semester at the University of North Texas. This class is a team taught effort by Professors O'Donovan and Kunz. The course is constructed as an intensive practice exercise to teach the student about gene mutations, biosynthetic pathways, preparation and analysis of plasmid DNA, and many other topics included in the notebook.


This paper investigates the effects of ethnic violence on export-oriented firms and their workers. Following the disputed 2007 Kenyan presidential election, export volumes of flower firms affected by the ensuing violence dropped by 38 percent and worker absence exceeded 50 percent. Large firms and firms with stable contractual relationships in export markets registered smaller proportional losses and had fewer workers absent. Model calibrations indicate that, to induce workers to come and work over-time, operating costs, on average, increased by 16 percent. For the marginal worker, the cost of going to work exceeded the average weekly income by 320 percent.


Abstract Increasingly, information and communication technology (ICT) uses are transforming professional activities and interactions in ways that challenge traditional assumptions about professional identity. In this article, we consider the ways in which the professional identities of research scientists in oceanography and marine biology are shaped by the use of ICTs. We draw empirical data from an ongoing study of scientific research collaborations that examines uses of basic communication technologies, as well as scientific technologies with embedded ICT components. Our analysis suggests that development and use of ICT-enabled scientific technologies are identity enhancing for many scientists, facilitating their development of unique areas of scientific knowledge. ICT-related changes in data collection, collaborative coordination, and scientific interaction also challenge traditional definitions of expertise and professional identity. An examination of these challenges directs attention to the project identities that form around ICT-enabled scientific technologies and the ways that those project identities are enacted through ICTs.


This volume constitutes a commentary on Article 5 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is part of the series, A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provides an article by article analysis of all substantive, organizational and procedural provisions of the CRC and its two Optional Protocols. For every article, a comparison with related human rights provisions is made, followed by an in-depth exploration of the nature and scope of State obligations deriving from that article. The series constitutes an essential tool for actors in the field of children's rights, including academics, students, judges, grassroots workers, governmental, non- governmental and international officers. The series is sponsored by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office.


This paper analyzes the Supreme Court appointment process over the 10 year period from 2004 through the end of 2013. It conducts a democratic audit of the Supreme Court appointment process and not an evaluation of the judges appointed through this process.The paper has six parts. Part I is an introduction. Part II presents a short history of the Supreme Court appointments process between 2004 and 2013. Part III introduces the concept of a democratic audit and identifies the drivers of change to the appointments process. It argues that prior to 1992 proposed reforms to the Supreme Court amendment process were motivated by concerns about federalism: incorporating a role for the provinces in the appointment process. However, after the failure of the Charlottetown Accord (1992), the motivation changed to concerns about the "democratic deficit" so that reforming the Supreme Court appointment process became part of a democratic reform agenda proposed first by the opposition Reform Party, then by Liberal leader Paul Martin both in his leadership campaign and during his tenure as Prime Minister and finally by the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This part also addresses an issue that did not factor into the reforms: any perceived deficiency in the quality of past appointments or concerns about the legitimacy of the Supreme Court itself. Since 1992, the key factors that were articulated as the basis for changing the appointment process have been (1) transparency; (2) accountability: and (3) public knowledge about the Supreme Court and its judges. These are the factors that I use for evaluation through this democratic audit.In Part IV, I conduct the democratic audit and find that the reforms have largely failed to deliver on the promised transparency and accountability. Conversely, I also conclude that the reforms have been very successful in serving a public education function about the Supreme Court and the work that Supreme Court judges do. Part V offers my recommendations for "reforming the reforms" in order to achieve the goals of transparency and accountability in the appointment process. I argue that the government should publish a detailed protocol to be styled Guide to Appointment of Supreme Court Justices which would set out the qualifications, consultation to be followed, procedure for evaluation, etc. I propose a revamped advisory committee which would operate in a more open and transparent fashion and produce a report on their work. The public hearings of nominees should continue, but only if the Minister of Justice also appears to answer questions about the process and about why the nominee was selected. Finally, the paper ends with a brief conclusion in Part VI.