Background Little is known about men who commit sex offences in the context of psychosis. Aims To examine the relationship of illness and psychotic symptoms to sex offending in men with schizophrenia. Method A search of Home Office records was completed for all 84 male restricted hospital order in-patients with schizophrenia, resident in any hospital in England and Wales during May 1997, with an index conviction for a contact sex offence against a woman. Results At the time of their index offences 80 men were psychotic and half of them had delusions or hallucinations related to the offences. Specific delusional or hallucinatory drive was pertinent in only 18 men but the majority of men committed their first sex offence after onset of schizophrenia. Exclusive sex offending was uncommon. Conclusions When a man with schizophrenia commits a serious sex offence the illness is, more commonly than not, relevant to that offence even though a direct symptom relationship may be relatively unusual.


Typewritten sheets in cover.
Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University
Bibliography: 6 p. at end
This item was digitized by the Internet Archive.


When Shakespeare gave up tragedy around 1607 and turned to the new form we call romance or tragicomedy, he created a distinctive poetic idiom that often bewildered audiences and readers. The plays of this period, Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, as well as Shakespeare's part in the collaborations with John Fletcher (Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen), exhibit a challenging verse style - verbally condensed, metrically and syntactically sophisticated, both conversational and highly wrought. In Shakespeare's Late Style, McDonald anatomizes the components of this late style, illustrating in a series of topically organized chapters the contribution of such features as ellipsis, grammatical suspension, and various forms of repetition. Resisting the sentimentality that frequently attends discussion of an artist's 'late' period, Shakespeare's Late Style shows how the poetry of the last plays reveals their creator's ambivalent attitude towards art, language, men and women, the theatre, and his own professional career.


Abstract Shaanxilithes ningqiangensis is an enigmatic ribbon-shaped fossil from the upper Ediacaran Gaojiashan Member of the Dengying Formation, southern Shaanxi Province, South China. This taxon has also been reported from Ediacaran successions in North China and possibly in Siberia, making it a potential index fossil for interregional biostratigraphic correlation of upper Ediacaran successions. At Gaojiashan, Shaanxilithes ningqiangensis is often preserved along bedding planes of phosphate-rich silty and calcareous shale, with no evidence of vertical intrusion into adjacent beds and containing little to no carbonaceous material. Here, through detailed microstructural and microchemical investigation using a combination of analytical techniques, taphonomic details of Shaanxilithes ningqiangensis and potentially related forms are revealed, showing that these enigmatic fossils are preserved as clay molds. Together with other taphonomic features, such as abruptly bent ribbons, overlapping but not crosscutting ribbons, and co-occurring discoidal structures interpreted as disarticulated sections of the original organism, the new data suggest that Shaanxilithes ningqiangensis is a body fossil consisting of serially arranged units that are discoidal, lensoidal, or crescentic in shape. Shaanxilithes ningqiangensis is not a trace fossil as some previous researchers have suggested.


Israel is perceived in the international environment as a one of the top leaders in innovation. This is proven by the progressively high position of this country in international rankings and the participation of Israeli scientists and technologists in prestigious international programs. In this article we claim that the aims of Israeli innovation policy, which has the biggest impact on the shape and content of the innovation ecosystem, are highly politicized. The status quo driven by the key assumption of the state strategy, according to which obtaining a competitive predominance in the political international environment will be achieved through economic instruments, primarily technological innovation. Therefore the aim of this article is to critically analyze Israeli innovation policy and the innovation ecosystem, paying special attention to the state interest and the government activities in this realm. For the purpose of this analysis some basic assumptions of the neoliberal economy redefined by Arie Krampf will be utilized. Furthermore to better describe and explain the link between politics and economy in the Israeli innovation ecosystem we will refer to the K.N. Waltz considerations on mechanisms of the political and economic system in a globalizing world.


Motivation Existing methods for estimating copy number variations in array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) data are limited to estimations of the gain/loss of chromosome regions for single sample analysis. We propose the linear-median method for estimating shared copy numbers in DNA sequences across multiple samples, demonstrate its operating characteristics through simulations and applications to real cancer data, and compare it to two existing methods. Results Our proposed linear-median method has the power to estimate common changes that appear at isolated single probe positions or very short regions. Such changes are hard to detect by current methods. This new method shows a higher rate of true positives and a lower rate of false positives. The linear-median method is non-parametric and hence is more robust in estimating copy number. Additionally the linear-median method is easily computable for practical aCGH data sets compared to other copy number estimation methods.


Widely distributed Bottom-Simulating Reflectors (BSRs) have been observed in the area offshore of southwestern Taiwan where the active accretionary complex meets with the passive China continental margin. In order to clarify the link between seismic site response and sedimentary properties of submarine slope, we evaluate the response of seafloor sediments in regard to passive dynamic loads. The local site effect produced by shallow marine sediments was characterized by estimating the horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral ratios of data recorded by the short-period Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs). The results show that the maximal H/V ratios appeared in the range of 3.66 9.28 Hz, suggesting that the fundamental frequency is dominated by the effect related to the very shallow sediments. For most stations, the H/V ratios estimated based on the earthquakes and noise records were characterized by different patterns. Relatively broad H/V pattern was obtained when the signals were extracted from earthquakes. This phenomenon may be related to soil nonlinearity when a stronger motion applies. In comparison with the available geological structures and bulk density distribution obtained from coring experiments, we found a relatively higher fundamental frequency of about 8 9 Hz for the more rigid material, such as mud diapir and folding axes. For most of the area along the slope, the fundamental frequency shows a relatively low value, about 6 8 Hz. Finally, when a site is characterized by thick or lowest bulk density sedimentary layer, we observed a fundamental frequency lower than 5 Hz, which is the lowest in our assessment. Article history: Received 30 September 2016


Sentiment analysis (also known as opinion mining) is an active research area in natural language processing. It aims at identifying, extracting and organizing sentiments from user generated texts in social networks, blogs or product reviews. A lot of studies in literature exploit machine learning approaches to solve sentiment analysis tasks from different perspectives in the past 15 years. Since the performance of a machine learner heavily depends on the choices of data representation, many studies devote to building powerful feature extractor with domain expert and careful engineering. Recently, deep learning approaches emerge as powerful computational models that discover intricate semantic representations of texts automatically from data without feature engineering. These approaches have improved the state‐of‐the‐art in many sentiment analysis tasks including sentiment classification of sentences/documents, sentiment extraction and sentiment lexicon learning. In this paper, we provide an overview of the successful deep learning approaches for sentiment analysis tasks, lay out the remaining challenges and provide some suggestions to address these challenges. WIREs Data Mining Knowl Discov 2015, 5:292–303. doi: 10.1002/widm.1171


This work resolves the brain-based consciousness as an Open Quantum Information Field, created and influenced via the environmental sensory information and operating under the full control of quantum mechanics. The external sensory information, modelled as quantised electromagnetic waves, is assumed to feed the cortical neurons and eventually construct the brain-based consciousness Hamiltonian. Any external energy/information, instantly reaching to the Hamiltonian of brain-based consciousness, is taken into account as a perturbation. In order to obtain instantaneous wave functions and probability amplitudes well known time dependant perturbation theory is employed. Quantum field theory is finally used to resolve the overall brain-based consciousness and some important conclusions are underlined.


The central question in this paper is how many private law systems there are in Europe. That question is located at the crossroads of a variety of pluralities. There is a plurality of epistemological claims including the claim of epistemological (or 'foundational') pluralism, a plurality of legal materials (coming from different law makers, private and public) and the related claim of legal pluralism, and a plurality of normative theories (most of which lend support, albeit in different ways, to pluralities of values) including the theory of normative pluralism. Moreover, there is a multiplicity of senses of belonging held by different individuals and the related claim of incommensurability of the these allegiances. Further, different types (and visions) of autonomy play a role, i.e. public and private, the latter subdivided in formal and substantive versions. Finally, the internal and external perspectives are distinguished, and different visions on these including the rejection of the distinction.At first sight, this plurality of pluralism seems to strongly suggest that the answer to our question has to be pluralist of some sort, epistemological pluralism, normative pluralism, legal pluralism et cetera. What all these pluralist theories (in their strong forms) have in common is their claim of incommensurability: the idea that there is no viable standard for comparison, no common denominator, i.e. that the different legal systems (or values) have nothing in common, and that there is no way of establishing their relative importance, priority or hierarchy because one cannot compare apples and oranges. Given the fact, however, that radical pluralism is neither logically inevitable nor normatively appealing, at least as far as the world of private law is concerned, we must look for a more attractive alternative. Instead, this paper has argued for the viability of monism in the face of multiple pluralities.During our journey through the world of private law in this paper we encounter nihilist, nationalist, Europeanist, cosmopolitan, dualist and pluralist views on how many systems of private law there are in Europe. None of them prove to be convincing in their purest forms. As models, which are necessarily abstract, they provide us with a clear picture of the private law world from only one perspective (one view of the cathedral). As agendas they have to face the inevitable distance between individual and collective aspirations. In our interpretative reconstruction of the private law world, both for fit and for justification, therefore we will have to borrow from more than one of these views. Thus, the result of our reconstruction of the private law world (always tentative) will be a composite. The one big, integrated system of private law is a mixed system, a colorful mosaic composed of many different elements.In very practical terms, this means that we do not have a final answer to our question of how many private law systems there are in Europe, only preliminary answers. However, that condition of uncertainty and provisionality is fundamentally different from the certainty that pluralists claim to have that there is no unity of national, European and international law.


T'ai Chi Chih (TCC) is a moving meditation positively associated with physiological and psychological conditions, such as immunity to shingles virus, reduction in inflammatory markers, decrease in sympathetic nervous system, geriatric depression and chronic diseases in cancer survivors. Consisting of 19 repetitive movements and one pose, TCC is easy to learn and particularly accessible to the aging population. It is taught by accredited instructors who have completed an intensive training that is standardized worldwide. This review includes all published randomized controlled trials (RCT) studies focused on TCC to date. Results are summarized and methodology is described. Of particular interest is researchers' notes stating why TCC was selected as the control intervention and how the study participants responded. As an accredited teacher of TCC, the author comments on the usefulness of the practice as an evidence based mindfulness practice. Furthermore, ongoing studies are suggested using TCC for quality of life and lifestyle issues, social, emotional and psychological conditions, and research on specific populations that may benefit from TCC.


This paper surveys the extensive literature that seeks to estimate the effect of the initiative and referendum on public policy. The evidence on the referendum uniformly finds that requiring voter approval for new spending (or new debt) results in lower spending (or lower debt). The initiative process is associated with lower spending and taxes in American states and Swiss cantons, but with higher spending in cities. The initiative is consistently associated with more conservative social policies. Policies are more likely to be congruent with majority opinion in states with the initiative process than states without the initiative, suggesting that direct democracy allows the majority to counteract the power of special interests in policy making.


ObjectiveTo examine the existing literature concerning venous air embolism. Causes, patho-physiology, and management are emphasized. Data SourcesThe literature that was reviewed was retrieved from the MEDLINE System under the headings "venous air embolism," "air embolism," "therapy of air embolism," "etiology of venous air embolism," and "pathophysiology of venous air embolism" for the years 1970 to 1991. A manual search, derived from the references of these papers, was performed to obtain relevant citations for the years preceding 1970. Study SelectionExperimental (animal) data, case reports, case series, and clinical investigations are included. ConclusionsVenous air embolism is an infrequent complication of invasive diagnostic and therapeutic maneuvers. The cardiovascular, pulmonary, and central nervous systems may all be affected, with severity ranging from no symptoms to immediate cardiovascular collapse. Therapeutic interventions include mechanical measures, such as positioning, withdrawal of air from the right atrium, and measures aimed at reducing bubble size. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy holds some promise in accomplishing the latter, but randomized, controlled trials demonstrating efficacy have yet to be performed. (Crit Care Med 1992; 20:1169–1177)


Analyses of path-dependence that consider explicitly the linkages between dynamics present at different levels of analysis are needed to improve current understandings of the evolution of industrial sectors. This paper undertakes such analysis in the Console Games sector, articulating the impact of the innovation activities of video games studios producing complementary inputs on its technological trajectory and dominant design. The recent introduction of a new dominant design in the sector constitutes a natural experiment that indicates the presence of inertias in the innovation behaviours of these agents. These inertias are explored through an in-depth study of 7 UK games studios, which identifies self-reinforcing organisational, management and recruitment practices linked to the culture and values of the communities involved in games development, resulting in cultural homogeneity in both workforce and management positions. This homogeneity favours incremental innovation and obstructs the exploration of alternative dominant designs, thus impacting on the outcomes of market competition, and shaping the sector's technological trajectory


What is known about Aboriginal mental health and mental illness, and on what basis is this 'knowing' assumed? This question, while appearing simple, leads to a tangled web of theory, method, and data rife with conceptual problems, shaky assumptions, and inappropriate generalizations. It is also the central question of James Waldram's Revenge of the Windigo. This erudite and highly articulate work is about the knowledge of Aboriginal mental health: who generates it; how it is generated and communicated; and what has been - and continues to be - its implications for Aboriginal peoples. To better understand how this knowledge emerged, James Waldram undertakes an exhaustive examination of three disciplines - anthropology, psychology, and psychiatry - and reveals how together they have constructed a gravely distorted portrait of 'the Aboriginal.' Waldram continues this acute examination under two general themes. The first focuses on how culture as a concept has been theorized and operationalized in the study of Aboriginal mental health. The second seeks to elucidate the contribution that Aboriginal peoples have inadvertently made to theoretical and methodological developments in the three fields under discussion, primarily as subjects for research and sources of data. It is Waldram's assertion that, despite the enormous amount of research undertaken on Aboriginal peoples, researchers have mostly failed to comprehend the meaning of contemporary Aboriginality for mental health and illness, preferring instead the reflection of their own scientific lens as the only means to properly observe, measure, assess, and treat. Using interdisciplinary methods, the author critically assesses the enormous amount of information that has been generated on Aboriginal mental health, deconstructs it, and through this exercise, provides guidance for a new vein of research.


Background and purpose Disease specific quality of life measures have been validated for patients with ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage, but not for patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). The aim of this study was to validate the Stroke Specific Quality of Life (SS-QoL) scale for patients with SAH. Methods Cross sectional survey of 141 aneurysmal SAH patients. Construct and criterion validity were studied and various ways to merge the 12 SS-QoL domains into a limited number of subtotal scores were explored. Statistics included assessing score distributions, Cronbach's α, principal components analysis (PCA) and Spearman correlations between SS-QoL and the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ), Life Satisfaction-9 (LiSat-9) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results PCA revealed two components reflecting physical health and psychosocial health with a mutual correlation of 0.73. A ceiling effect was present for 10 out of 12 domains and for the physical component. Internal consistency was good for all 12 domains (α ≥0.80), two components (α ≥0.95) and the total score (0.97). Physical SS-QoL scores showed weak to moderate correlations (0.24–0.32) with the GOS. All SS-QoL scores showed moderate to strong correlations (0.35–0.72) with the CFQ, LiSat-9 and HADS. Conclusions The SS-QoL is a valid measure to assess quality of life in patients after aneurysmal SAH. Using physical and psychosocial SS-QoL summary scores simplifies the use of this measure without concealing differences in outcomes on different quality of life domains.


This paper describes a collaborative project to research and develop a computer based decision support system for the construction industry. The system is intended primarily for use during the construction phase of a project. The first steps towards producing a system which links Project Management (PM) with Quality Assurance (QA) using a hypermedia-based computer application called Microcosm are described. The new system is designed to replace any paper based QA system and, in addition, open they way to producing new analyses of performance hitherto considered either impossible or impractical.


Biologists are constantly looking for new knowledge about biological properties and processes. Bio-molecular interaction networks model dependencies among proteins and the processes they participate. By studying patterns of interaction in these networks, it may be possible to discover implicit information embedded in the network topology. In this thesis we improve existing and develop new methods for investigating similarities between proteins, and for discovering protein interaction sub-patterns. Cytoscape (Shannon et al., 2003) is a tool for visualization and analysis of interaction networks used by biologists. We have developed an extension to Cytoscape that lets biologists perform the following tasks: - Compare proteins based on neighborhood information - Find interaction sub pattern in an interaction network. - Discover sub patterns in one or several networks. Our main contributions are improvements to graph mining algorithms gSpan by Yan and Han (2002) and Apriori by Inokuchi et al. (2003) whose original task was the discovering of frequent sub-patterns in a very large set of networks. We have enabled mining a single network and enabled less exact matches. The graph mining algorithm runs on labeled graphs, and we have used various clustering techniques for this task. The clustering is done through similarity measures between proteins, which we have based on Gene Ontology annotations and experimental data obtained from a ChIP-chip experiment. Our plug-in may easily be extended by adding other cluster techniques or similarity measures. We verify the results of our implementations and test them for speed. We find that of the two mining algorithms gSpan shows the most promise for mining biological graphs.


The principal aim of the work within this thesis was to investigate the fundamental problem of how the frictional heat generated by lubricant shearing at a rolling/sliding elastohydrodynamic contact is divided between the contacting bodies. In elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL), a knowledge of the temperatures of the contacting bodies is important due to the effects of temperature on lubricant viscosity in the inlet zone and hence on film thickness. A two-disc test rig previously used to study scuffing was subject to extensive modifications to allow the measurement of disk temperatures at six sub-surface locations in each disk using carefully calibrated embedded thermocouples. A series of experiments using a synthetic gas turbine engine oil was conducted at a range of sliding speeds from 10 ms'1 to 20 ms1 and loads equivalent to maximum Hertzian contact pressures between 1.0 GPa and 1.6 GPa. In each experiment, the speed was fixed and the load applied. Once the temperatures had reached steady-state conditions, the load was removed and the disks separated. The disks were run whilst they cooled until they returned to ambient temperatures. The data recorded dining these experiments were analysed using a transient two-dimensional conduction model of the outer region of the disks, which attempted to obtain an optimal agreement between calculated and measured temperatures. This was achieved by adjusting the partition of heat between the disks and the level of forced convection from the disk surface until the temperatures during the loaded phase of the test (governed by heat partition and cooling) and the cooling phase of the test (governed by the disk surface convection only) were in closest agreement with experimental measurements. Whilst the data recorded from the slow disk was found to be repeatable, there were some errors and lack of repeatability noted with the fast disk data. However, using the slow disk data, it was found that approximately 40% of the frictional heat flows into the slow disk, with the remaining 60% flowing into the fast disk. A series of thermal EHL analyses was performed, using a range of viscosity and rheological models. It was found that the heat partition predicted by the thermal EHL analysis only approached that measured during experiment when the majority of the heat was dissipated by slip at or near to the fast surface. These conditions only occurred when using a limiting shear stress rheological model in conjunction with the Bams viscosity model. The thesis also contains details of finite-element modelling carried out to study elastic-plastic deformation of asperities during the running-in process. It was found that the residual deformation following loading beyond the elastic regime always followed the same shape, with characteristic 'piling up' of material around the boundary of the contact. A series of non-dimensional relations for the shape and magnitude of the residual deformation were developed, and their potential for use in an EHL rough surface solver in order to take into account plastic deformation was noted.


PURPOSE
To compare measured and calculated doses using Pencil Beam (PB) and Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm on a CIRS thorax phantom for SBRT lung treatments.

METHODS
A 6MV photon beam generated by a Primus linac with an Optifocus MLC (Siemens) was used. Dose calculation was done using iPlan v4.1.2 TPS (BrainLAB) by PB and MC (dose to water and dose to medium) algorithms. The commissioning of both algorithms was done reproducing experimental measurements in water. A CIRS thorax phantom was used to compare doses using a Farmer type ion chamber (PTW) and EDR2 radiographic films (KODAK). The ionization chamber, into a tissue equivalent insert, was placed in two position of lung tissue and was irradiated using three treatments plans. Axial dose distributions were measured for four treatments plans using conformal and IMRT technique. Dose distribution comparisons were done by dose profiles and gamma index (3%/3mm).

RESULTS
For the studied beam configurations, ion chamber measurements shows that PB overestimate the dose up to 8.5%, whereas MC has a maximum variation of 1.6%. Dosimetric analysis using dose profiles shows that PB overestimates the dose in the region corresponding to the lung up to 16%. For axial dose distribution comparison the percentage of pixels with gamma index bigger than one for MC and PB was, plan 1: 95.6% versus 87.4%, plan 2: 91.2% versus 77.6%, plan 3: 99.7% versus 93.1% and for plan 4: 98.8% versus 91.7%. It was confirmed that the lower dosimetric errors calculated applying MC algorithm appears when the spatial resolution and variance decrease at the expense of increased computation time.

CONCLUSIONS
The agreement between measured and calculated doses, in a phantom with lung heterogeneities, is better with MC algorithm. PB algorithm overestimates the doses in lung tissue, which could have a clinical impact in SBRT lung treatments.


This paper attempts to summarize what is currently known about the History of Basque Linguistics. The first section tries to explain what is precisely meant by the term �euskalaritza" (Bascology) and proposes a provisional periodization of the History of Basque Linguistics. The second section outlines the factors which triggered the development of Basque Linguistic Historiography from the mid 80's -mainly the new interpretation of the 18th century Jesuit M. Larramendi's works- and shows some of its consequences. The third section carries out the chief goal of the paper; the principal authors� works, and ideas emerging from the History of Basque Linguistics are there briefly noticed, and historiographical works concerning each one of them are mentioned along; special emphasis is laid on the most recent findings. Finally, a bibliographical appendix is provided containing the works by the old authors referred to throughout the paper.


Epidemic disease has decimated populations and caused great suffering all over the world - and continues to do so, despite the availability of advanced medical treatments. While once life-threatening diseases such as polio, smallpox and cholera have been virtually eliminated, other epidemics have taken their place, posing an equal, if not greater, threat. This encyclopedia traces the roles that diseases have played throughout world history and offers information on more than 700 epidemics and their effects on civilization. Listed alphabetically by location of the outbreak, each entry includes when and where a particular epidemic began, how and why it happened, who it affected, how it spread and ran its course and its outcome and significance. Additional coverage includes information on the factors contributing to the spread of new epidemics and the growing problem of drug-resistant diseases, a foreword written by an expert on infectious diseases, and an appendix listing the entries alphabetically by disease. Diseases and epidemics covered include: smallpox (France, 580); black death (Europe, 1347-1380s); yellow fever (Philadelphia, 1973); Congolese sleeping sickness (Congo, 1895-1906); anthrax, (Russia, 1979/United States, 2001); Malaria (Madagascar, 1987-1988); HIV/AIDS pandemic (worldwide-present); hantavirus (United States, 1993); onchocerciasis (river blindness) (Brazil, 1996); and ebola (Uganda, 2000).


This is the first comprehensive history of the campaign that determined control of Germany following Napoleon's catastrophic defeat in Russia. Michael V. Leggiere reveals how, in the spring of 1813, Prussia, the weakest of the great powers, led the struggle against Napoleon as a war of national liberation. Using German, French, British, Russian, Austrian, and Swedish sources, he provides a panoramic history that covers the full sweep of the battle for Germany from the mobilization of the belligerents, strategy, and operations to coalition warfare, diplomacy, and civil–military relations. He shows how Russian war weariness conflicted with Prussian impetuosity, resulting in the crisis that almost ended the Sixth Coalition in early June. In a single campaign, Napoleon drove the Russo-Prussian army from the banks of the Saale to the banks of the Oder. The Russo-Prussian alliance was perilously close to imploding, only to be saved at the eleventh hour by an armistice.


Advances in data collection and data storage techniques have enabled marketing researchers to study the individual characteristics of a large range of transactions and purchases, in particular the effects of household-specific characteristics. This 2001 book presents important and practically relevant quantitative models for marketing research. Each model is presented in detail with a self-contained discussion, which includes: a demonstration of the mechanics of the model, empirical analysis, real world examples, and interpretation of results and findings. The reader of the book will learn how to apply the techniques, as well as understand the methodological developments in the academic literature. Pathways are offered in the book for students and practitioners with differing numerical skill levels; a basic knowledge of elementary numerical techniques is assumed.


A new online tool highlighting the progress and pitfalls of girls' and women's education around the world. Imagine you are starting school in Mali. What are the chances you will complete primary school? How likely are you to go to university? Find out by playing UNESCO's new data game, Mind the Gap. Create an avatar and take a trip around the world to learn about inequalities in education. Education is a human right. Produced by UNESCO


In this paper, we introduce a new class of functions which are analytic and univalent with negative coefficients defined by using a certain fractional calculus and fractional calculus integral operators. Characterization property,the results on modified Hadamard product and integrals transforms are discussed. Further, distortion theorem and radii of starlikeness and convexity are also determined here.


XP provides efficient and flexible support for pretty printing in Common Lisp. Its single greatest advantage is that it allows the full benefits of pretty printing to be obtained when printing data structures, as well as when printing program code. XP is efficient, because it is based on a linear time algorithm that uses a small fixed amount of storage. XP is flexible, because users can control the exact form of the output via a set of special format directives. XP can operate on arbitrary data structures, because facilities are provided for specifying pretty printing methods for any type of object.


![Figure][1]

Keith Alverson

![Figure][1]

D. James Baker

Understanding human impact on the global environment requires accurate and integrated observations of all of its interconnected systems. Increasingly complex models, running on ever more powerful computers, are being used to elucidate dynamic links among the atmosphere, ocean, earth, cryosphere, and biosphere. But the real requirement for integrated Earth system science is a systematic, sustained record of observations, starting from as early as we can get quantitative information and extending reliably into the future. In particular, the ocean is critically undersampled both in space and time, and national and intergovernmental observational commitments are essential for progress.

Ocean basins cover most of the planet and are filled with circulating turbulent fluid whose behavior can be modeled only by approximation. For instance, we talk of a "conveyor belt," but this is an unrealistic cartoon of actual turbulent circulation, which by transporting heat and fresh water affects the planet's climate. Knowledge about the true variability of the circulation remains elusive because long-term systematic observations are lacking.

Any seafarer knows that although one can look up from the deck of a ship and see the Moon clearly through 100 km of atmosphere, one cannot look down and see further than 1 m. Because the ocean is opaque to all wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, Earth-observing satellites can't see below the surface either. Thus, much of the ocean must be observed from a patchwork of drifting and moored buoys, neutrally buoyant floats, coastal installations, and ship-based measurements.

![Figure][1]

CREDIT: FADLAN ARMAN SYAM/AP

Great recent progress has been made with each of these individual observing-system components. The launch of the 1250th drifting surface buoy in Halifax Harbor last year completed a network that is vital for tropical storm track prediction. The rapidly expanding international network of Argo floats has rewritten our knowledge of the temperature and salinity of the upper oceans. Moored buoy arrays in the tropics have made seasonal climate and El Nino prediction a real possibility. With tide gauges reporting in real time, not only can we predict coastal inundation hazards, but we can also disentangle the myriad processes involved in changing global sea level. Although observing the ocean is challenging, in particular cases it can be done well.

For 15 years, a global ocean-observing system under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United Nations' Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been meeting important needs of global society. However, surprisingly little progress has been made toward a truly global system with long-term funding commitments. Lacking such a system and commitments, critical scientific hypotheses will remain untested.

The IOC is now working with the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) to identify national focal points for ocean observation efforts and to integrate these efforts into a truly global system. Unfortunately, there is still no plan for sustaining individual measurement programs, for integrating them into a coherent observing system, or for supporting them with stable funding. With a few notable exceptions, substantial multilateral government support for coordination and integration remains elusive.

To address this flaw, we propose the development of a UNESCO convention that commits nations to sustaining an integrated ocean-observing system that will lead to better understanding of the ocean and at the same time enable the provision of hazard warnings, monitoring of climate change, and management of marine and coastal resources. UNESCO's IOC stands ready to broker the development of such a convention. Preliminary discussions, including completion of the initial GEOSS tasks in ocean observation, begin at the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Global Ocean Observing System in June 2007 in Paris. Will your nation be at the table?

 [1]: pending:yes


Purpose: Circulating tumor cells (CTC) have been recently accepted by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States as a prognostic tool in advanced prostate cancer. However, a number of questions remain about the use of the test. The optimal clinical cut-off has never been determined. Also, the predictive value of CTCs in the setting of low-burden advanced prostate cancer has not been evaluated. Herein we describe our experience with the CellSearch method of CTC enumeration. Experimental Design: CTCs enumerated from 100 patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer were correlated with clinicopathologic characteristics and conventional biomarkers, such as prostate-specific antigen and lactate dehydrogenase. Patients received ongoing medical oncologic follow-up for up to 26 months, and overall survival status was documented. Results: Forty-nine of the patients (49%) were alive at the end of the study. CTC counts correlate well with overall survival (P < 0.001) but are also tightly interrelated to other biomarkers. Threshold analysis identified 4 CTC/7.5 cc (compared with the approved value of 5) as an optimal cut-off value with respect to correlation with survival outcomes as well as predictive of metastatic disease. Univariate analysis confirmed a tight interrelationship between cut-off CTC values and biomarkers. Multivariate analysis with bootstrap sampling validation identified lactate dehydrogenase (P = 0.002) and CTCs (P = 0.001) as independently prognostically significant. Conclusions: Baseline CTC values provide important prognostic information and specific prediction of metastatic disease. Their presence correlates with classic biomarkers. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(6):1904–13)


This paper is concerned with the characterization methodologies of defects in conducting materials by an Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) testing system. It has been developed to create a virtual environment for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) before implementing it in real, to study the change effect on the defect geometry at the signal received. EMAT is a new technology, which provides a noncontact process of testing materials compared to ultrasonic testing technique. This work is based on the simulation of two-dimensional numerical model, using Finite Element Method, (FEM) like a simulator model forward analysis, which includes the calculation of induced eddy current, the Lorentz force, and mechanical displacement inside conducting material. Results obtained shows that the model is capable of detecting the depth, the width and the location of the surface defect in an Aluminum material, using the mechanical displacement amplitude.


School bullying is a complex social problem as it involves the characteristics of the perpetrator, the target, and the social context. Recognizing that bullying is relational―who bullies whom, this dissertation uses a social network perspective to study the impact of classroom characteristics on bullying and defending relationships, focusing on classroom structure and stability, and on social relations and social norms. Based on data from Dutch elementary school students, the findings from four different studies show that the examined classroom characteristics have a small impact on the formation of victim-bully as well as victim-defender relationships. No evidence was found that younger children are more likely to be victimized by older classmates, either in multigrade or single-grade classrooms. Bullying relationships were found to develop most easily between children in the same grade, more so in stable classrooms than in classrooms with changing classroom composition, with no clear evidence that newcomers are more at risk of becoming victimized. The finding that bullies tend to become friends and bullies influence their friends to bully, provided further evidence for group processes in bully-victim networks. Examining the relationships between victims and their defenders, it was found that regardless of the number of bullies in the classroom, defending is primarily driven by the direct positive relationship between victim and defender, and to a lesser extent by the shared relationships with other classmates. This dissertation provided more insights in the dynamics of network relationships and school bullying.


The "Good War" in American Memory dispels the long-held myth that Americans forged an agreement on why they had to fight in World War II. John Bodnar's sociocultural examination of the vast public debate that took place in the United States over the war's meaning reveals that the idea of the "good war" was highly contested. Bodnar's comprehensive study of the disagreements that marked the American remembrance of World War II in the six decades following its end draws on an array of sources: fiction and nonfiction, movies, theater, and public monuments. He identifies alternative strands of memory-tragic and brutal versus heroic and virtuous-and reconstructs controversies involving veterans, minorities, and memorials. In building this narrative, Bodnar shows how the idealism of President Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms was lost in the public commemoration of World War II, how the war's memory became intertwined in the larger discussion over American national identity, and how it only came to be known as the "good war" many years after its conclusion.


: Although the effects of habitat size and shape on ecological processes have been well studied, the importance of habitat orientation (i.e., the geometrical feature of habitat placement that describes how a habitat is placed in space) has been largely overlooked for decades. Here, we varied the orientation of cuboid chambers (with correspondingly small, medium and large sides as the chamber base) in a microcosm experiment involving a phytoplankton-zooplankton ( Chlorella pyrenoidosa-Ceriodaphnia quadrangula ) system at two volume scales (64 mL and 512 mL) to determine the effect of habitat orientation on the swimming activity and grazing rate of C. quadrangula . At a given chamber volume, the grazers spent more time in swimming vertically and swam slower (particularly in the horizontal direction) in the tall (small-based) chamber compared with the short (large-based) ones. Moreover, grazing rates of C. quadrangula were significantly lower in the tall chambers than short ones regardless of experimental time, consistent with the positive relationship between average swimming velocity and grazing rate. Our data indicate that habitat orientation may affect animal activity and foraging success, and we therefore suggest that habitat orientation deserves much more attention in future studies.


Attracted by the large, growing domestic economy in China, many U.S. companies have decided to enter China providing products and services in the business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) markets. Combined with traditional marketing channels, Internet marketing is rapidly evolving and becoming a critical strategic element in the marketing department's tool chest. While much is written about B2C markets and consumer preferences, little of the literature addresses the B2B Chinese customers' attitudes toward the disparate array of traditional and Internet marketing approaches. Even less addresses Chinese B2B purchasing agents' receptivity to Western companies soliciting them as new customers. This research compares Chinese B2B purchasing attitudes toward traditional and Internet based marketing solicitations with implications for both academic research and business practitioners. Utilizing an empirical survey of Chinese B2B businesses in Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, and other areas of Jiangsu province, it measures the receptivity and perceptions of marketing channels for solicitations. It finds that individuals' Internet use for business is pervasive throughout Chinese administrative and management groups regardless of age, education, or job title; however, those who can first be contacted through either traditional or Internet marketing channels are more receptive to additional solicitations through the same channel. Additionally, individuals with prior experience buying from U.S. firms are more receptive to new U.S. solicitations. Finally, the research ranks preference results based on whether prior relationships exist.


Since the late 1980s, studies in language and gender have been turning to the role of discourse as social practice which reflects as well as constitutes social reality (Litosseliti 2006). Discourse, hence, has the power of shaping gender relations as part of social reality. Turning to the context of Vietnam as an advanced country in terms of gender equality promotion, this study is concerned with what is the quality of that equality. The study analyses a number of Vietnamese media articles published on and related to the International Women's Day – March 8, 2010 to find out the gender ideologies that prevail. Adopting a feminist critical discourse analysis perspective (Lazar 2005), the study draws on a systemic functional framework for multimodal text analysis. The analytical framework includes aspects of the grammar of Halliday (1994), Kress and van Leeuwen (1996)'s visual grammar and van Dijk (1988)'s guidelines for news structure. The study finds that besides the progressive changes in Vietnamese women's roles in the public domain and their equal status in the society in liberal terms, traditional Confucian expectations on them in the domestic domain still persist. The ever-rising social responsibilities and the 'monolithic' traditional roles are blended to pose an unfair challenge for Vietnamese women.


The John Johnson Collection consists of 168 maps, surveys, and architectural
 drawings. The items included here represent every town in
 Chittenden County, as well as much of the rest of northwestern Vermont. The original items are in the Oversize Maps and Surveys series in the John Johson Papers, which
 also contain seven cartons of records divided into the following broad
 categories: correspondence; business papers; architectural plans and drawings; maps and surveys;
 bound manuscripts; and miscellaneous papers. More information about the John Johnson Papers is
 available here - http://scfindingaids.uvm.edu/repositories/2/resources/1249. John Johnson -- surveyor, millwright, master builder, civil engineer -- was born in
 Canterbury, New Hampshire on December 2, 1771. He moved to north-western Vermont in 1790 and
 eventually settled in Essex, where he helped build a dam and several mills at Hubbells Falls on
 the Winooski River. Johnson's practical versatility soon made him the most prominent surveyor
 and engineer in northern Vermont and Lower Canada, and the growing demand for his services led
 him to move to Burlington in 1809. He was named Surveyor General of Vermont in 1813, and four
 years later received the appointment of superintendent of the survey of the United States-Canada
 border from the Bay of Fundy to the head of the Connecticut River. Although the survey was
 suspended after two years, Johnson's work along the Maine-New Brunswick line in 1818-19 served
 as a partial basis for the final settlement of the border under the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in
 1842. Johnson maintained his several careers in the 1820's and 1830's. He
 designed or constructed many of the finest residences and public buildings in Chittenden County,
 served as a consultant on engineering projects as far away as North Carolina and Illinois, and
 continued to run surveys throughout northern Vermont. He also served again as Surveyor General
 of the state in the 1830's, and worked throughout that decade as an inspector for the Vermont
 Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Johnson died of sudden attack of erysipelas fever on April
 30, 1842 at the age of seventy.


Background
Neglecting the importance of adequate knowledge and correct performance of self-care practices are major causes of many complications that are experienced by T2DM patients. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of educational intervention on the level of knowledge and performance of self-care practices among patients with T2DM in selected tertiary hospitals.
Materials and Methods
A quasi-experimental design that utilized purposive sampling method was used. The study was conducted at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, (UNIMEDTH) Akure, Ondo-State and Ekiti-State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti. Participants in UNIMEDTH (58) and EKSUTH (31) formed the experimental and control groups respectively. A structured questionnaire, an educational package and a focus group guide were used. Performance of SCP was evaluated with checking of recorded blood glucose, recall, demonstration and inspection.
The study was conducted at University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Akure (UNIMEDTHA), Ondo-State and Ekiti-State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti. Ethical clearances were obtained from the Ethics and Research Committees of both hospitals. The inclusion criteria were; Patients that have been diagnosed of T2DM who were 18 years and above (both with fair and poor T2DM control), T2DM patients without diabetes complications like blindness, renal failure, and attending out-patient diabetes clinic in the study settings. The last one is that participants must not have attended any formal diabetes educational training in the last one year. The exclusion criteria were having serious mental challenges and being diagnosed less than three months before the commencement of the study. The participants in UNIMEDTHA formed the experimental group with 58 participants while those in EKSUTH formed the control group with 31 participants.
The total number of T2DM patients who attended the endocrine clinic of UNIMEDTHA between January and December 2018 was 2,833. This was the eligible population, this number was divided by 12 and it gave an average of 236 per month. Also, the total number of T2DM who were eligible at EKSUTH was 1,608, this number was divided by 12 and it gave an average of 134 per month. The number of participants in each group was calculated based on these. Initially, 82 and 48 participants were screened for the experimental and control groups respectively while 58 and 31 participants who met the inclusion criteria and consented to participate in the study after explaining all it entailed to them in both groups respectively were recruited.
Results
Results show that at the pre-intervention and six months post-intervention phases, 39.7% and 98.3% of the experimental group had good knowledge of SCP respectively. Similarly, 39.2% and 91.4% had good performance of SCP at the pre-intervention and six months post-intervention phases respectively. Lastly, the glycated hemoglobin (HBA1c) levels of participants in the experimental group improved significantly < 0.0001 with the intervention.
Conclusion
Adequate education and training on SCP of T2DM patients improved the level of knowledge and performance of SCP with satisfactory improvements in the levels of HBA1c of participants in the experimental group.
However, in order to achieve normal blood glucose level which is needed to forestall the numerous complications and deaths from the disease, it is necessary for a person who has DM to make a lot of daily self-care decisions and engage in complex self-care activities [8,9]. These are otherwise known as self-care practices, they are; self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), exercise, healthy eating, use of medications as prescribed, general body and foot care among others [10]. Self-care practices are activities engaged in on a daily basis with the aim of preventing the negative effects or complications of a disease that is affecting an individual [10]. At a broad level, it was defined as daily management of serious health conditions by individuals through adequate knowledge, abilities and skills' facilitation in diabetes self-care [8,11]. It further demands acquiring knowledge and necessary skills to be involved in the complex set of behaviours that are useful in health maintenance as individuals with a chronic disease in the context of day-to-day survival [10]. Diabetes self-care practices are considered key and very important in glyceamic control and individuals concerned use their resources, including personal attributes such as courage, skills, knowledge, determination, positive attitudes, will-power as well as optimism to make their health better [11-13].
Prevention of major and minor complications is one of the most valued goals in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) [14]. Positive health outcomes of T2DM are tied to the level of patients' knowledge of the disease through health education and self-management using the health resources of the nations' [15]. According to [16], a well-informed patient will have the best advantage to attain and maintain glycaemic and cardiovascular risk factors control. Consequently, poor knowledge of self-care can cause poor long-term metabolic disorder which may lead to the development of diabetic complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and atherosclerotic changes
Also, the results of the binary logistic regression showed that female participants were twice more likely to have performed SBGM and more likely to have had better medication adherence and engaged in healthy eating and exercise than males. This is in contrast with the finding that showed that males had more knowledge of SCP [48]. Also, participants who were 65 years and above were more likely to have had good levels of medication adherence, general body and foot care as well as exercise. The contrast may be as a result of the comprehensive intervention that was given on SCP to the experimental group in this study. It was also revealed that a higher income and higher level of education were associated the SCP domains to a large extent, these findings are consistent with those of these authors [32,48]. However, the level of knowledge of the control group was consistently poor with variations in the levels of performance of SCP.


Eleven model 1-[2-(methoxycarbonyl)phenyl]-3-(2-substituted phenyl)triazenes were synthesized and their cyclization kinetics examined in aqueous-methanolic buffer solutions (51 wt.% methanol) at various pH values. 3(2-Substituted phenyl)benzo[d][1,2,3]triazin-4(3H)-ones were identified as the cyclization products. The log kobs vs pH plot was linear with a slope of unity. Investigation of the steric and electronic effects of substituents in the ortho position revealed that substituents at the ring which is bonded to the N(3) nitrogen affect the cyclization rate through their steric effect only, while their electronic effects are statistically insignificant. This fact was explained in terms of the ring being tilted from the plane in which the remaining part of the conjugate base anion of the model substrate lies. The assumed and confirmed BAc2 mechanism involving specific base catalysis begins by deprotonation of the triazene giving rise to the conjugate base, continues with formation of a tetrahedral intermediate, and ends with elimination of the methanolate ion. Other mechanisms, such as the elimination-addition mechanism via a ketene intermediate or the mechanism involving general base catalysis, are unlikely.


The aim of this ethnographical study was to illuminate the experiences of mature part time degree students in the use of online social media. The media was used as a means of supporting students in their transition from their respective Further Education (FE) colleges to their 'on campus' University (HE) year. The transition involved students moving between institutions to study in a new location and in new peer groups which had historically contributed to dips in confidence and performance and sometimes led to students withdrawing from the programme. The open access, online network (NING) was introduced to allow students to engage with learning activities as a stimulus for online discussion and dialogue with each other through a series of non-assessed 'blog' postings (Olofsson, 2007; Dawson 2008; Knight & Rochan 2012). Its purpose was to encourage both the students and the teacher to share their ideas and views and begin 'talking' and 'listening' (Crawford 2009) to each other prior to meeting in the new term. Noddings (1984), Garrison (1997) and Pring (2004) recognise the importance of strengthening positive relationships between students and teacher and advocate that this is an essential element towards fostering conditions for learning and building a sense of community face to face just as Olofsson (2007) and Yang (2009) noted about online learning. It also aimed to address Oloffsson's (2007) suggestion for the design of online communities in the 21st century, that any pedagogical approach to online learning must rely on the '…social and collaborative and ethical aspects of learning as a starting point for design' (pg 28). A thematic analysis (Gobo, 2008; Bold 2012) was undertaken with the 'blog' postings over the course of the academic year, by a cohort of 35 students to identify signs of social ties, indicators of community, developing (Haythonthwaite (2005). This data was supported by conversational and thematic analysis (Bold 2012, Denzin 2000) of two video recorded focus groups, held at the end of the year with 15 students, to evaluate the online network and its effectiveness to support student's transition and develop relationships and community. Analysis suggested that students still stated issues of trust as being central to their level of engagement, however there was clear support for the informal and non-assessed nature of the online community. Students also spoke of an increase in their confidence to approach their assessed work.


The community emergency response team (CERT) program is an attempt to facilitate citizen response and preparedness across the United States. Predisaster planning and preparedness, as embodied in the CERT program, is becoming increasingly pertinent for those interested in decreasing the immediate and long-term, individual and community impacts of disasters. The study highlighted in this paper evaluated CERTs in the state of Illinois. In-depth interviews and short telephone surveys with local, county, and state CERT and Citizen Corps coordinators were conducted to understand the various roles that Illinois CERTs play in their communities. Programs varied from training active volunteer emergency responders to more supportive roles behind traditional first responders and nearly all saw roles for building community capacity in nondisaster programmatic functions. Rural CERTs differed from those in urban and suburban areas in their perceived need for self-sufficiency and lower reliance upon or availability of formal infrastructure and resources. Common challenges and future recommendations are discussed.


This paper proposes fault location model for underground power cable using microcontroller and the thing which is based on the internet means the information will transfer through the internet access. The aim of this project is to determine the distance of underground cable fault from the base station in the kilometer and also find the exact location of that faulty place. This project uses the simple concept of ohm's law. When any fault like short circuit occurs, voltage drop will vary depending on length of fault in cable, since the current varies. A set of resistor are therefore used to represent the cable, since the current end and the fault is detected by detecting the change in the voltage using analog to voltage converter and a microcontroller is used to make the necessary calculation so that the fault distance is displayed on the LCD display. This fault details after send to any access point through the internet.


Objective A high level of galectin-3-binding protein (G3BP) appears to distinguish circulating cell-derived microparticles in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of this study is to characterize the population of G3BP-positive microparticles from SLE patients compared to healthy controls, explore putative clinical correlates, and examine if G3BP is present in immune complex deposits in kidney biopsies from patients with lupus nephritis. Methods Numbers of annexin V-binding and G3BP-exposing plasma microparticles from 56 SLE patients and 36 healthy controls were determined by flow cytometry. Quantitation of microparticle-associated G3BP, C1q and immunoglobulins was obtained by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Correlations between microparticle-G3BP data and clinical parameters were analyzed. Co-localization of G3BP with in vivo-bound IgG was examined in kidney biopsies from one non-SLE control and from patients with class IV (n = 2) and class V (n = 1) lupus nephritis using co-localization immune electron microscopy. Results Microparticle-G3BP, microparticle-C1q and microparticle-immunoglobulins were significantly (P < 0.01) increased in SLE patients by LC-MS/MS. Three G3BP-exposing microparticle populations could be discerned by flow cytometry, including two subpopulations that were significantly increased in SLE samples (P = 0.01 and P = 0.0002, respectively). No associations of G3BP-positive microparticles with clinical manifestations or disease activity were found. Immune electron microscopy showed co-localization of G3BP with in vivo-bound IgG in glomerular electron dense immune complex deposits in all lupus nephritis biopsies. Conclusions Both circulating microparticle-G3BP numbers as well as G3BP expression are increased in SLE patients corroborating G3BP being a feature of SLE microparticles. By demonstrating G3BP co-localized with deposited immune complexes in lupus nephritis, the study supports cell-derived microparticles as a major autoantigen source and provides a new understanding of the origin of immune complexes occurring in lupus nephritis.


Proposals for a Legally Binding Global Convention on Forests, debated and rejected at the 1992 UNCED Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero, re-surface periodically at international fora. The case for concerted global action rests on the existence of 'international problems', where this is the only effective remedy, as conventions are unnecessary and inappropriate for national problems. The global values of forests are biological diversity and as a sink of carbon. There is also widespread international concern about forest clearance and degradation harming the lives and cultures of forest peoples and the loss of traditional knowledge about flora and fauna. This report argues that many of the expressed concerns about forests have local or national origins and consequences. National and sectoral policies have encouraged conversion of forests to alternative uses, and some forestry policies have encouraged overharvesting. The tenure of forest lands is often still unclear, or contested, and forests have frequently been mined as a quick source of capital, subsequently abandoned, or turned over to agricultural colonisers or plantation estates. Most 'global' aspects of the forests agenda are already covered in other UNCED Conventions. Improving the effectiveness of existing agreements and voluntary collaboration may be easier and more effective. Existing legal, economic and political instruments can address the issues. The report examines the feasibility, probability and costs of agreeing on a new instrument, and then of implementing that agreement; and the likely distributional impacts, both between and within countries. Even if not essential, a convention might consolidate existing fragments of international law bearing on forests and provide a forum for analysis and convergence of opinion. Or it could be an excuse for avoiding more effective actions.


We present a low-dimensional morphospace of fMRI brain networks, where axes are defined in a data-driven manner based on the network motifs. The morphospace allows us to identify the key variations in healthy fMRI networks in terms of their underlying motifs and we observe that two principal components (PCs) can account for 97% of the motif variability. The first PC corresponds to the small-world axis and correlates strongly with the networks' global efficiency. There is also some evidence that PC1 correlates with the average length of the 5% of longest edges in the network. Hence this axis represents the trade-off between the cost of long distance edges and their topological benefits. The second PC correlates with the networks' assortativity. Finally, we show that the economical clustering generative model proposed by Vértes et al. can approximately reproduce the motif PC space of the real fMRI brain networks, in contrast to other generative models. Overall, the motif morphospace provides a powerful way to visualise the relationships between network properties and to study the driving forces behind the topology of fMRI brain networks.


We evaluated a polarimetry method to enhance retinal blood vessels masked by the epiretinal membrane. Depolarized light images were computed by removing the polarization retaining light reaching the instrument and were compared with parallel polarized light images, average reflectance images, and the corresponding images at 514 nm. Contrasts were computed for retinal vessel profiles for arteries and veins. Contrasts were higher in the 514 nm images in normal eyes but higher in the depolarized light image in the eyes with epiretinal membranes. Depolarized light images were useful for examining the retinal vasculature in the presence of retinal disease.


Summary For six of nine species of sexually dichromatic, insectivorous birds of eucalypt forest, there were significant intersexual differences in foraging ecology. The most pronounced differences between sexes were in foraging height distribution (five species). Three species showed differences between the sexes in the behaviour used to capture prey, while males and females of four species differed in their use of foraging substrates. Differences were most pronounced among bark-foragers and least among ground-foragers. Intersexual differences in foraging by eucalypt forest birds appear to be a general phenomenon and one that is not necessarily associated with morphological differences nor with differences in reproductive roles. Among species with little morphological difference between the sexes, divergence between the sexes in foraging is most easily accomplished by foraging at different heights. This exposes each sex to a different array of substrates and leads to the use of different prey-attack behaviours. Ground-foragers do not have these options and therefore show little or no difference between the sexes in foraging ecology. Foraging data were obtained from three plots which differed in vegetation structure and floristics. Often differences in foraging ecology between plots were more pronounced for one sex, and males and females did not always change their foraging behaviour to the same extent or in the same direction. Combining the data from the different plots reduced the differences between the sexes in foraging ecology. Differences in the response of males and females to changes in habitat structure or resource availability may be an attribute of male/female differences in foraging behaviour, but such differences cannot be quantified from studies at a single location or time.


Author(s): Sullivan, M; Collins, MT; Schellenberg, J; Larsen, PH | Abstract: Utilities are constantly making improvements to their infrastructure and operating protocols to maintain or enhance the reliability and resilience of the electric grid. Customer interruption cost (CIC) estimates are useful in assessing and monetizing the economic benefits customers receive from these improvements. This Guidebook for electric utilities explains how to conduct customer interruption cost studies and describes commonly-used, value-based planning methods. The authors intend that this Guidebook will serve as a reference for utility personnel, policymakers and experts in survey design and administration who may be planning to implement CIC studies. It brings the utility industry up-to-date using modern survey technologies, practices, and data analytics to estimate CICs and, ultimately, use the estimates to address both traditional and emerging planning needs.


In this article, Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC discusses the International Court of Justice finding against Japan in Whaling in the Antartic (Australia v Japan, New Zealand intervening). The discussion examines the rigorous standard of review taken by the ICJ in assessing whether Japan's scientific whaling programme was within the boundaries of the article of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling allowing whaling for the purposes of scientific research. The decision against Japan was unexpected in the view of many governments and is encouraging for international environmental law. The article considers Japan's future options for their scientific whaling programmes, as well as the implications of the reasoning and decision for the IWC.


This paper develops a model in which investors who are prohibited from short selling agree to disagree on the precision of a publicly observed signal. The model implies that the equilibrium price is a convex function of the public signal. The model predicts that (1) the stock price reacts more to good news than to bad news; (2) the skewness of stock returns is positively correlated with contemporaneous returns, but negatively correlated with lagged returns; (3) short sale constraints increase rather than decrease skewness; and (4) disagreement about information precision increases skewness. Empirical tests conducted find supportive evidence for all these predictions.


Sorghum stands out among other plants recommended for ensiling due to its forage composition, its resistance to drought, and its planting range. New cultivars of grain and sweet sorghum that can be used for silage production are available, but there is little information regarding their ensiling characteristics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fermentation characteristics at the ensiling of different purpose sorghum cultivars, at two crop periods. The trial was carried out at the Plant Production Department of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rondonia, Colorado do Oeste campus, Rondonia, Brazil, and chemical analyses were performed at the Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, at the Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiaba campus, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The experimental design used was a randomized block, in split-plot design, with four replicates. The plot treatments consisted of six sorghum cultivars grown for different purposes (grain sorghum: BRS 308 and BRS 310; forage sorghum: BR 655 and BRS 610; sweet sorghum: BRS 506 and CMSXS 647). Split-plot treatments consisted of two cropping seasons (first crop and second crop). The grain sorghum cultivar BRS 310 was the only one that had suitable dry matter content for ensiling; however, it was also the only one that did not show ideal water soluble carbohydrate content for ensiling. Nevertheless, all treatments presented pH below than 4.2 and ammonia nitrogen lower than 12% of total N, which indicates that the fermentation inside the silo had proceeded well. For sweet sorghum cultivars, higher ethanol and butyric acid content were observed for the first crop than for the second crop. All evaluated sorghum cultivars can be used for silage production, but the use of sweet sorghum is recommended at the second crop.


Antarctica isn't the only place with an ozone hole. Lingering atmospheric pollutants and frigid air have carved an unusually deep hole in Earth's protective ozone layer over the Arctic, and it threatens to get deeper this spring. Atmospheric scientists are analyzing data from weather balloons and satellites for clues to how the ozone will fare when sunlight—a third factor in ozone loss—returns to the Arctic. But they are already worrying about how extra ultraviolet light might affect humans and ecosystems below and wondering whether climate change will make such Arctic holes more common or severe. By next week, 25% of the Arctic ozone will be destroyed, scientists warn. But if the winds of the polar vortex persist in keeping the stratosphere cold for another month, ozone losses will become severe.


Background We investigated the association between chlamydia detection and stage in the menstrual cycle to investigate whether chlamydia detection was higher at different stages of the cycle. Methods Electronic medical records for women attending Melbourne Sexual Health Centre March 2011 – 31st December 2012, who were tested for chlamydia by nucleic acid amplification of high vaginal, cervical, or urinary samples, and who recorded a date of Last Normal Menstrual Period (LNMP) between 0–28 days were included in the analysis. Logistic regression was used to calculate OR (95% CI) for the association of chlamydia with menstrual cycle adjusted by demographics and behavioural variables. Results During the study period, there were 10,017 consultations with positive diagnoses in 417 of those with a valid recorded LNMP. Detection rates were 3.8% (233/6816) in the follicular and 4.8% (184/3831) in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (OR 1.29 95% CI 1.1 – 1.6, p = 0.01). Detection was significantly associated with the luteal phase (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.4 (95% CI 1.1–1.8) when adjusted for age, number of male partners, symptoms, inconsistent use of condoms, site of sample and sexual partners overseas/from overseas. Among women using hormonal contraception, there was no association with the luteal phase (aOR 1.3, 95% CI 0.9 – 1.8, p = 0.18; among women not using hormonal contraception, association with the luteal phase was significant (aOR 1.6, (95% CI 1.1 2.3, p = 0.007). The positive stored samples will undergo analysis to quantify bacterial load and determine if mean load differs across the cycle. Conclusions Chlamydia detection rates are substantially and significantly higher in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Hormonal and immune changes in the female reproductive tract may contribute to an increased burden of chlamydia infection in this phase, illustrated by the lack of association with the menstrual cycle in women using hormonal contraception.


The profitability of commercial banks in Kenya has been a subject of intense policy debate over the past two decades. This paper explores and adduces evidence that the perceived abnormal profitability in the industry is reflected in stock returns. The study utilizes time series data obtained from the NSE and five macroeconomic variables for the period 1996: 2015. We regress portfolio monthly excess returns, predict and graph these returns to determine if the banking sector outperforms other sectors of the economy. The empirical evidence presented here suggests that the banking industry outperforms other sectors of the economy in Kenya.


SUMMARY The buoyancy of lithospheric slabs in subduction zones is widely thought to dominate the torques driving plate tectonics. In late Cretaceous and early Paleogene times, the Indian plate moved more rapidly over the mantle than freely subducting slabs sink within it. This signal event has been attributed to arrival of the Deccan-Rmantle plume beneath the plate, but itisunknowninwhichproportionstheplumeactedtoalterthebalanceofexistingplatedriving torques and to introduce torques of its own. Our plate kinematic analysis of the Mascarene Basin yields a detailed Indian plate motion history for the period 89-60Ma. Plate speed initially increases steadily until a pronounced acceleration in the period 68-64Ma, after which it abruptly returns to values much like those beforehand. This pattern is unlike that suggested to result from the direct introduction of driving forces by the arrival of a thermal plume at the base of the plate. A simple analysis of the gravitational force related to the Indian plate's thickening away from its boundary with the African plate suggests instead that the sudden acceleration and deceleration may be related to uplift of part of that boundary during a period when it was located over the plume head. In this instance, torques related to plate accretion and subduction may have contributed in similar proportions to drive plate motion.


An exhibition of new work by Lynn Hynd and Sara Barker within the surroundings of a garden and wooden shed. The garden is an extension of the artists studio, the threshold across which the external world is contemplated. Using the conceptual and visual framework of the garden the work will explore how the languages of flatness and space, painting and sculpture, and interior and exterior space are collapsed and re materialized through an active engagement with 'process' in our individual practices.

Continuing the development of printed plaster and paper work, I seek to explore the complexities of language that occur through the process of 'making'. Advancing out of a focused investigation surrounding the relationship between line and form, my practice sits within a larger dialogue between painting and sculpture, solid and void within two and three dimensions. An interest in visualising the serial, rhythm of the process embedded within the printed work contributes to a depth of enquiry to how the material and the 'act' sit together within the boundaries of artistic practice. The material and raw processes sit on the surface of the works, agitating the operation of thought. Focusing on an interest in the processes and operations that render form and content unstable, the new works pulse within the confines of their material, technical and theoretical boundaries.

As Michael Newman writes: 'Drawing, because of its status of becoming (blot becoming mark, mark becoming line, line becoming contour, contour becoming image, image becoming sign...the direction of this movement being always reversible) posits a continuum of sense, from one sense of "sense" to the other'. The work tries to catch hold of this transitional sense of becoming, arriving at a structure in which space, edge, and shape have become actual rather than depicted. It is this breakage and sense of collapse that is of most importance, as the materials build new forms as they translate backwards through the gesture, returning to a state of action and realisation.


Revisionist responses to the fallacies of liberal peacebuilding presuppose a commitment to the objective of building self-sustainable peace in war-torn countries. If this cosmopolitan commitment is nothing but an alternating motive of states for self-serving agendas, then the revisionists are in love with a lie, tragically confined to the graveyard of idealistic peace proposals. In this essay, the strategic and structural underpinnings of global peacebuilding governance are therefore explored, interpreting the empirical literature on recent operations through the social theoretical perspective of Anthony Giddens. It is argued that while the revisionist debate fails to recognise the subjective and self-serving preconditions for international peacebuilding, a certain strand of the revisionist literature is well attuned to these. Indicating what it would mean to turn the lie of liberal peacebuilding into more realistic and legitimate peacebuilding strategies, this strand also serves as a source of inspiration for revisiting broader debates on the law and ethics of global governance.


The transport of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) between shallow banks and deep basins in the Bahamas was the focus of this study. Hydrographic and CDOM absorption measurements made on the Bahamas Banks and in Exuma Sound during the spring of 1999 and 2000 showed that values of salinity and CDOM absorption at 440 nm were higher on the banks (37.18 psu, 0.06 m), compared to Exuma Sound (37.04 psu, 0.03 m). Spatial patterns of CDOM absorption in Exuma Sound revealed that plumes of CDOM-rich water flow into Exuma Sound from the surrounding banks. These patterns were determined using Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) data processed using a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) algorithm to derive CDOM absorption estimates. These data, along with time-series data collected in a channel between the banks and sound, suggest that bank water rich in CDOM and salinity leaves the banks during ebb tide, whereas sound water, with lower levels of CDOM and salinity, extends onto the banks during flood tide. Because CDOM absorbs ultraviolet radiation, a causal factor of reef organism bleaching, we discuss the meaning of our findings in terms of susceptibility to coral bleaching in the Exuma region.


A new method, based on computer-assisted kinetic analysis of 45Ca efflux data, was used to measure calcium contents and fluxes for extracellular and intracellular compartments in intact segments of rabbit aorta. After a 1-hour loading period, efflux data were collected for 8 hours using a flow-through chamber. These long-term effluxes were necessary because information on intracellular calcium metabolism was concentrated in the slow components of the efflux curves while earlier components appeared to be dominated by washout of extracellular calcium. Intracellular compartments were identified as those whose calcium contents were altered by 10 μM phenylephrine. This method complements previous approaches by providing simultaneous estimates of compartmental calcium contents and fluxes without requiring the assumption of isotopic equilibrium and without recourse to standard wash techniques for removal of extracellular calcium. In normal, calciumcontaining, bicarbonate-buffered physiological salt solution these compartments contained a total of approximately 300 nmol Ca/g wet aorta. Of this total, 55 nmol/g were associated with the slowest resolvable compartment whose turnover time was 170 minutes and whose exchange flux was 0.32 nmol min−1g−1. Two other intracellular compartments had turnover times of 30 minutes. One of these was phenylephrine releasable and contained 145 nmol/g; it exchanged calcium at 4.9 nmol min−1g−1. In normal physiological salt solution the plasma membrane was, surprisingly, not rate limiting for Ca efflux; and in 10 μM phenylephrine the membrane Ca flux was even greater, increasing 3.5-fold compared to control.


This book reconstructs the life of Mehetabel Chandler Coit (1673-1758), the author of what may be the earliest surviving diary by an American woman. A native of Roxbury, Massachusetts, who later moved to Connecticut, she began her diary at the age of fifteen and kept it intermittently until she was well into her seventies. A previously overlooked resource, the diary contains entries on a broad range of topics as well as poems, recipes, folk and herbal medical remedies, religious meditations, and financial accounts. An extensive collection of letters by Coit and her female relatives has also survived, shedding further light on her experiences. Michelle Marchetti Coughlin combs through these writings to create a vivid portrait of a colonial American woman and the world she inhabited. Coughlin documents the activities of daily life as well as dramas occasioned by war, epidemics, and political upheaval. Though Coit's opportunities were circumscribed by gender norms of the day, she led a rich and varied life, not only running a household and raising a family, but reading, writing, travelling, transacting business, and maintaining a widespread network of social and commercial connections. She also took a lively interest in the world around her and played an active role in her community. Coit's long life covered an eventful period in American history, and this book explores the numerous--and sometimes surprising--ways in which her personal history was linked to broader social and political developments. It also provides insight into the lives of countless other colonial American women whose history remains largely untold.


Experts in many fields approach a new problem by identifying the general principles involved before starting work on details. Do expert musicians similarly begin work on a new piece with the big picture,
 an artistic image of the piece, in mind? To find out, a concert pianist recorded her practice of the third movement, Presto , of J. S. Bach9s Italian Concerto , commenting as she did so about
 what she was doing. The behavioral record of where playing started, stopped, and slowed down indicated the musical dimensions affecting practice, while the comments indicated the main focus of the pianist9s
 attention. An artistic image for the piece was already evident in the initial sight-read performance, guided work on technique in sessions 1-6, and was transformed into a plan for performance by practice
 of performance cues in sessions 7-8. Interpretive details were added in sessions 9-10 and remaining problems touched up in session 11-12. Despite its pervasive effects on practice, the pianist9s artistic
 image was mentioned only indirectly in comments about technique in sessions 1-6 and about structure, memory, and interpretation in later sessions.


Elaborations from an experimental campaign on a footbridge are re-elaborated. After the parameters of a consistent numerical model have been calibrated, recorded signals and numerical analyses are exploited in view of improving the structural monitoring features adopted up to now. The transient character of human crossing is demanded to a further suitable numerical model. As an ultimate target of the investigation, the potential of simple structural control schemes on the cable tension is discussed.


Primary pigmented nodular adrenal disease (PNNAD) is a rare cause of Cushing syndrome particularly during childhood and adolescence. Females are preferentially affected. The present work is aimed at assessing if there is a relationship between puberty and the development of Cushing syndrome due to PPNAD. We have followed an extended family with Carney complex (CNC) due to a dominantly inherited mutation of the gene encoding the regulatory subunit 1alpha (R1A) of the protein kinase A (PRKAR1A). The large majority of family members presenting with Cushing syndrome due to PPNAD were women (six out of seven). One of them died of an adrenocortical carcinoma at age 27 years. Genetic screening of entire family allowed follow-up of those family members harboring the mutation but without clinical manifestations of hypercortisolism. During the last 2 years, three related adolescent girls developed subclinical hypercortisolism starting shortly after menarche. None of their male relatives carrying the same mutation showed abnormal adrenal function. The first abnormality noticed in the patients was loss of the normal circadian variation of cortisol production. A low dose dexamethasone test (Liddle's test) elicited a paradoxical increase in urinary excretion of free cortisol greater than 50% of basal values. Several months later, they complained of insidious manifestations of hypercortisolism including weight gain, hypertension and oligomenorrhea. They underwent laparoscopic bilateral adrenalectomy. Pathologically, the excised glands showed PPNAD. We conclude that female gender is a predisposing factor for expressing PPNAD. A paradoxical rise of urinary free cortisol (UFC) in response to dexamethasone is an early and specific laboratory marker of the disorder, allowing timely bilateral adrenalectomy which may not only prevent severe complications of hypercortisolism, but may also preclude the development of adrenocortical carcinoma. J Endocrinol Metab. 2015;5(4):261-266 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jem299w


Wireless sensors for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is an emerging new technology that promises to overcome many disadvantages pertinent to conventional, wired sensors. The broad field of SHM has experienced significant growth over the past two decades, with several notable developments in the area of sensors such as piezoelectric sensors and optical fibre sensors. Although significant improvements have been made on damage monitoring techniques using these smart sensors, wiring remains a significant challenge to the practical implementation of these technologies. Wireless SHM has recently attracted the attention of researchers towards un-powered and more effective passive wireless sensors. This article presents a review of some of the underlying technologies in the field of wireless sensors for SHM - with a focus on the research progress towards the development of simple, powerless, yet effective and robust wireless damage detection sensors. This review examines the development of passive wireless sensors in two different categories: (1) use of oscillating circuits with the help of inductors, capacitors and resistors for damage detection; and (2) use of antennas, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and metamaterial resonators as strain sensors for wireless damage monitoring. An assessment of these electromagnetic techniques is presented and the key issues involved in their respective design configurations are discussed.


This research study is designed to investigate the affairs of critical conditions of special persons and their distinctive needs and requirements concerning social development in Pakistan. The prime objective of the research is to identify the school going children in the age bracket of 03-15 years requiring special needs from the entire population of Skardu city and union council Gumba, Gilgit-Baltistan. To conduct this research, a comprehensive questionnaire was designed by the research and was circulated among the targeted population by engaging the field investigators to collect the feedback. This survey was distributed in 815 targeted samples of population and 714 responses were received. Furthermore, this collected data was analyzed with different tools. Subsequently, the analysis revealed that a total number of 572 school going children were identified who were declared as special needs required children. Moreover, the data of special children reflected that 230 children comprising of almost 40% of total targeted population were showing Physically Handicapped Children. While 164 children showing 28% of targeted sample were Mentally Retarded Children, 130 Hearing Impaired Children reflected 22.60% of said population and 48 Visually Handicapped Children were 8.30% of 572 under observation population. The findings of this research recommends that mass survey of disability prevalence, awareness campaigns and large scale provision programs for special needs children at Government as well as community levels to fulfill the requirement of establishing the Special Education Centres in Baltistan Division in Pakistan.


Objectives To evaluate the comparative effectiveness and safety of monotherapy and metformin-based combination therapy for type 2 diabetes. Data sources We searched MEDLINE®, Embase®, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) for English-language articles using the search developed for the prior review (2011), with date restrictions of April 2009 through April 2015. We searched Drugs@FDA and ClinicalTrials.gov for unpublished data. Review methods Two reviewers independently reviewed titles, abstracts, and full-text articles to identify studies that assessed intermediate and clinical outcomes or safety for monotherapy (metformin, sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 [DPP-4] inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 [GLP-1] agonists, and sodium glucose cotransporter-2 [SGLT-2] inhibitors) or metformin-based combination therapy (metformin plus one of these monotherapy drugs or insulin) comparisons. Two reviewers extracted data from included articles sequentially using standardized protocols; risk of bias was assessed independently. Two reviewers graded the strength of the evidence sequentially using a protocol adapted from the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. Results We included 216 studies and found moderate- or high-strength evidence for the following. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) reduction was similar across all monotherapy comparisons and across metformin-based combination comparisons except DPP-4 inhibitors, which yielded smaller reductions than metformin. Metformin, DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 agonists, and SGLT-2 inhibitors reduced or maintained body weight, while sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, and insulin increased weight; between-group differences ranged from 1 to 5 kilograms. SGLT-2 inhibitors and GLP-1 agonists plus metformin reduced systolic blood pressure by 3 to 5 mmHg compared with metformin. Cardiovascular mortality in studies over 2 years in duration was 50 to 70 percent higher for sulfonylureas than metformin (risk difference, 0.1% to 2.9% in randomized controlled trials). Sulfonylurea-based therapy increased the risk of total and severe hypoglycemia versus most comparisons. Gastrointestinal adverse events were higher with metformin than other drugs except GLP-1 agonists, which increased nausea/vomiting 1.5 times compared with metformin. SGLT-2 inhibitors increased the risk of genital mycotic infections over other drugs. The evidence did not support substantive conclusions for microvascular outcomes, congestive heart failure, cancer, pancreatitis, or other safety outcomes. Conclusions Evidence from this updated systematic review supports metformin as firstline therapy, given its beneficial effects on HbA1c, weight, and cardiovascular mortality (relative to sulfonylureas) and its relative safety profile. In addition, evidence on comparative outcomes associated with different medication classes can be used to facilitate personalized treatment choices by patients and clinicians, guideline development, and decisionmaking by payers and regulators.


One-photon (1P) imaging and optical stimulation are two powerful tools widely used to assess and monitor the behaviour of individual and multiple neurons in in-vivo and ex-vivo experiments. However, standard 1P microscopes are limited by diffraction and scattering, which reduce the maximum optical depth achievable to few hundreds of micrometres deep into brain tissues. To overcome this issue, implantable waveguides and probes (i.e. optical fibres) are commonly used, but they are highly-invasive and may lead to damage the surrounding tissue. In this work, it has been developed a customized 1P setup fully compatible with an innovative acousto-optic technology based on an cylindrical piezoelectric transducer, which allows to sculpt a non-invasive virtual waveguide within the tissue, by locally changing its refractive index. Indeed, this technology is capable to deliver and confine light in tissue phantoms with optical thickness (OT) up to 18.8 Mean-Free-Path (MFP) and to perform imaging in turbid media (OT up to 5.9 MFP). Furthermore, not all laboratories are allowed to use model animals such as monkeys or mice in their experiments, because adequate facilities and surgical skills are needed. Moreover, ex-vivo experiments are complex and time-limited, since specimens need special treatments in order to be kept alive and, anyway, after a couple of hours they are no longer able to be used, as clinically dead. For this purpose, here is presented a new concept, cost-effective brain tissue phantom, which exploits living transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) to replicate the structure of a living brain tissue. This can be easily used as proof of concept demonstration of new applications in experiments like electrophysiology, or optogenetics. The setup has been tested by carrying out experiments on fixed mouse brain slices with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and on living GCaMP6s C. elegans.


Abstract About half of all new business activity in Finland can be categorized as being entrepreneurial. The number of this kind of new businesses has not increased dramatically during the last ten years. However, the characteristics of these businesses have changed. Nowadays, new entrepreneurs have higher education background, they have more likely work experience from a relevant field, they are more innovation-oriented, and they have higher initial growth aspirations. Their businesses are more likely to seek sales growth by utilizing international markets and by focusing more on consumer markets and less on business-to-business markets. On the other hand, maybe due to prolonged recession in the Finnish economy, the higher share of new entrepreneurial businesses is being started because there are no better opportunities to get a job. Heavy regulation and tight legislation are being seen as the most significant disincentives at the start-up phase. Growth-oriented new entrepreneurial firms see financial issues and labor market rigidities as significant restrictions for growth.