We consider the effect of marketing expertise on economic transactions, with a particular focus on the real estate market. We show that even as listing information becomes increasingly accessible on real estate aggregation websites, realtor expertise remains important in securing a desirable sale price. One main channel for the effects of such expertise is improving information dissemination to potential buyers through higher quality listings. Using listing photos and remarks as measures of quality, we find that realtor activity is correlated with significantly higher quality listings. We then measure the price impact of these measures of quality and find that, even after controlling for a large spectrum of house characteristics, listing quality is correlated with higher sale prices.


Objective The objective of our study was to explore a possible molecular mechanism by which ultraviolet (UV) biophotons could elicit bystander responses in reporter cells and resolve the problem of seemingly mutually exclusive mechanisms of a physical UV signal & a soluble factor-mediated bystander signal. Methods The human colon carcinoma cell line, HCT116 p53 +/+, was directly irradiated with 0.5 Gy tritium beta particles to induce ultraviolet biophoton emission. Bystander cells were not directly irradiated but were exposed to the emitted UV biophotons. Medium was subsequently harvested from UV-exposed bystander cells. The exosomes extracted from this medium were incubated with reporter cell populations. These reporter cells were then assayed for clonogenic survival and mitochondrial membrane potential with and without prior treatment of the exosomes with RNase. Results Clonogenic cell survival was significantly reduced in reporter cells incubated with exosomes extracted from cells exposed to secondarily-emitted UV. These exosomes also induced significant mitochondrial membrane depolarization in receiving reporter cells. Conversely, exosomes extracted from non-UV-exposed cells did not produce bystander effects in reporter cells. The treatment of exosomes with RNase prior to their incubation with reporter cells effectively abolished bystander effects in reporter cells and this suggests a role for RNA in mediating the bystander response elicited by UV biophotons and their produced exosomes. Conclusion This study supports a role for exosomes released from UV biophoton-exposed bystander cells in eliciting bystander responses and also indicates a reconciliation between the UV-mediated bystander effect and the bystander effect which has been suggested in the literature to be mediated by soluble factors.


BACKGROUND
Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) determinations are fixtures in clinical practice and research. Cardiac troponin testing has been the standard of practice for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), early rule-out, risk stratification, and outcomes assessment in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and non-ACS myocardial injury. We recognize from reading the literature over the past several years how poorly understood the analytical characteristics are for cTnI and cTnT assays by laboratorians, clinicians, and scientists who use these assays.

CONTENT
The purposes of this mini-review are (a) to define limit of blank, limit of detection, limit of quantification, and imprecision, (b) overview the analytical characteristics of the existing cardiac troponin assays, (c) recommend approaches to define a healthy (normal) reference population for determining the 99th percentile and the appropriate statistic to use for this calculation, (d) clarify how an assay becomes designated as "high sensitivity," and (e) provide guidance on determining delta (Δ) change values.

SUMMARY
This review raises important educational information regarding cTnI and cTnT assays, their 99th percentile upper reference limits (URL) differentiated by sex, and specifically addresses high-sensitivity (hs)-assays used to measure low concentrations. Recommendations are made to help clarify the nomenclature and analytical and clinical characteristics to define hs-assays. The review also identifies challenges for the evolving implementation of hs-assays into clinical practice. It is hoped that with the introduction of these concepts, laboratorians, clinicians and researchers can develop a more unified view of how these assays should be used worldwide.


Despite coming of age with the Internet and other technology, many college students lack the information and communication technology (ICT) literacy skills necessary to navigate, evaluate, and use the overabundance of information available today. This paper describes the development and early administrations of ETS's iSkills assessment, an Internet-based assessment of information literacy skills that arise in the context of technology. From the earliest stages to the present, the library community has been directly involved in the design, development, review, field trials, and administration to ensure the assessment and scores are valid, reliable, authentic, and useful.


The purpose of the paper is to introduce a frame-based approach to scientific computing on distributed computing platforms. The objective of the effort is to introduce well-defined mappings between the representations of physical phenomena as mathematical structures and the computational algorithms for modeling that phenomena on high-performance parallel computing platforms. Using this approach, we identify representations that solve classes of scientific problems based on the computational structure required for solution on parallel processors. Thus, once the representation is defined for a particular problem, the mapping onto a parallel computing environment can be managed automatically in software. We demonstrate the benefits of this approach by application to a combustion modeling problem.<<ETX>>


Background & Aim: Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is a common neurosurgical pathology. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology of this pathology and the results in treating it combined from three hospital centers in Benin. Methods & Materials/Patients: From September 2010 to September 2013 a multi-center, retrospective and descriptive study was conducted in three hospital centers in Benin. Inventory was taken of all patients in whom CSDH was diagnosed. Patients were evaluated according to Markwalder classification. All patients received a brain scan. The variables studied include demographic and clinical characteristics, therapeutic modalities and post-operative followup. Results: 104 consecutive patients with CSDH were included in the study. The mean age was 49.66, but ranged from six months to 87 years. The M:F sex ratio was 5.11/1. Prior cranial trauma had occurred in 81 patients (77%). Preoperative neurological Grades 1 or 2 were observed in 56.4% of cases. Surgical treatment was given to 100 patients (96.15%). Events surrounding the surgery were straightforward and results satisfactory in 94% of cases. No relapses were observed. The morbidity was 4% and the mortality among surgical patients was 3%. Conclusion: CSDH is frequently treated in the country of Benin. The mean age of patients is lower than that observed in global literature, and patients are predominantly male. Regardless of the patient condition upon hospital admission, post-operative results compare favorably with the literature.


Triangulating Peace tackles today's most provocative hypothesis in the field of international relations: the democratic peace proposition. Drawing on ideas originally put forth by Immanuel Kant, the authors argue that democracy, economic interdependence, and international mediation can successfully cooperate to significantly reduce the chances of war.


In 1997, the government of Mexico introduced a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program called Programa de Educación, Salud, y Alimentación (PROGRESA) to provide assistance to about 300,000 extremely poor households. The essential premise of a CCT program is a cash transfer to households conditioned on their participation in health, nutrition, and education services. Ten years later, PROGRESA, now Oportunidades, covers more than 5 million households in all 31 Mexican states. Approximately 20 countries have adopted a pilot or full-scale CCT program, and another 20 countries have expressed interest in starting one. Most current programs are in Latin America, but others can be found in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, and interest is increasing among African countries struggling with extreme poverty and low human capital. CCT programs are increasingly perceived as being "a magic bullet in development." Are they? This chapter presents a review of the rationale for and operation of CCT programs, an assessment of their effectiveness, and a discussion of key issues facing countries considering these interventions or reforming existing programs.


Complications of robotic-assisted surgery are on the rise, partly due to surgeons not receiving proper training. Using the current Da Vinci (DV) surgical system, surgeons require anywhere between 50 and 3,000 surgeries to achieve adequate proficiency. To improve performance, we have developed a new system using Nintendo Joycon (NJ) controls. We hypothesized the NJ controls would improve surgical performance, so we compared the NJ and DV systems with two user groups (doctor and gamer). The doctor and the gamer performed a defined task using NJ and the DV control systems, in a simulated skills assessment in 2-dimensional (2D) and 3D modes. The task completion time and error rate were used to calculate a Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery Skills Assessment (FRS) score. The FRS was then used to calculate the learning rate using the learning rate formula. The task completion time, error rate, FRS scores, and the learning rate were significantly better with NJ. The error rate risk ratios indicated that the DV control system carried a higher risk of error compared to the NJ control system. The NJ control system was associated with a better task completion time by 83% for the doctor and 88% for the gamer, a lower error rate by 73% for the doctor and 82% for the gamer, better FRS score by 72% for the doctor and 46% for the gamer, and better LR by 84% for the doctor and 86% for the gamer. This study shows that implementing a NJ control system is associated with improved surgical performance and LR compared to DV.


Purpose

Container shipping is generally considered a global business. This truth may not hold from a single-company perspective. The companies' physical operation networks show that container carriers operate differently and follow different paths in their internationalisation development. Additionally, the degree of internationalisation, measured on the basis of sea-oriented operations, differs from that measured according to land-oriented front-end marketing and sales activities. The purpose of this study is to further examine the internationalisation patterns of shipping lines.

Design/methodology/approach

An examination of the front-end activities and the structures of leading container-shipping companies is conducted. The sales office networks of the sector's 20 largest companies worldwide (by twenty-foot equivalent unit capacity) are analysed as key indicators. The numbers of sales offices are measured by analysing the websites of the sample (20 companies), as well as annual reports and other publicly available data sources.

Findings

The findings show that not all shipping companies are international, by virtue of the industry. While it is difficult to observe differences in the overall patterns of the sales networks at a macro level, some companies differ in their activities. The data set also shows that market share and total capacity are not necessarily good indicators of a carrier's worldwide presence.

Research limitations/implications

This research is based on secondary data. Other important transactional and market-oriented considerations should be examined before drawing conclusions about the internationalisation of container-shipping companies and of the industry.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the relevant existing research, particularly by adding its view on the demand-oriented criteria as suggested by Dunning and Lundan (2008).


From Edward James's surreal sculpture garden Las Pozas in Mexico to Anselm Kiefer's sprawling studio complex in the French countryside, artists and art collectors are creating outdoor spaces in order to display sculpture and art that is both transformative and powerful. This book is filled with breathtaking photographs of 25 of these spaces from throughout the world - many of which are not open to the public. Captured in brilliant colour, these spaces are populated by works that both enhance and are enhanced by the landscape: rolling hills, mountain lakes, shaded canyons and empty deserts. Readers will discover Anish Kapoor's startling red steel tube draped across the rolling hills of New Zealand and an enormous pumpkin created by Yayoi Kusama, which sits on a pier overlooking Japan's Seto Inland Sea. Each park's concept is based on a unique theme or idea and some of these spaces invite contemplation both spiritual and scientific, while others blend horticultural elements with manmade objects. As large-scale works grow in popularity, these collections - built and designed by entrepreneurs, landscape architects, environmentalists, artists and garden experts - demonstrate the endless possibilities of displaying art in nature's realm. Lovers of art, landscape design and travel will treasure this enchanting excursion into the world's most impressive outdoor museums.


Professor Robert Alexy wrote a book whose avowed purpose is to refute the basic tenets of a type of legal theory which 'has long since been obsolete in legal science and practice'. The quotation is from the German Federal Constitutional Court in 1968. The fact that Prof Alexy himself mentions no writings in the legal positivist tradition [in English] later than Hart's The Concept of Law (1961) may suggest that he shares the court's view. The book itself may be evidence to the contrary. After all why flog a dead horse? Why write a book to refute a totally discredited theory? Perhaps Alexy was simply unlucky. The burst of reflective, suggestive and interesting writings in the legal positivist tradition reached serious dimensions only in the years after the original publication of his book, when Waldron, Marmor, Gardner, Leiter, Shapiro, Murphy, Himma, Kramer, Endicott, Lamont, Dickson, Bix and others joined those who had made important contributions to legal theory in the positivistic tradition in the years preceding the original publication of Alexy's book: Lyons, Coleman, Campbell, Harris, Green, Waluchow and others, who are still among the main contributors to legal theory in the positivist tradition. It is a great shame that nothing in these writings influenced the arguments of the book. Perhaps this regret is misplaced. After all 'positivism' in legal theory means, and always did mean, different things to different people. What Radbruch, one of Alexy's heroes, meant when he first saw himself as a legal positivist and then recanted was not the same as what 'legal positivism' means in Britain (and nowadays in the United States as well) among those who engage in philosophical reflection about the nature of law. Perhaps Alexy is simply addressing himself to a German audience, and refuting, or attempting to refute, legal theories of a kind identified in Germany as 'legal positivism'. Perhaps, though his references to Hart show that he does not intend it that way. My aims in this chapter are, however, reasonably clear. My main purpose is to explore whether any of Alexy's arguments challenge any of the views which I have advocated. Subsidiary aims are, first, to clarify why what Alexy says is legal positivism is not what is understood as such in the English speaking world, so that some of Alexy's sound points find no target; secondly, to try and clarify some of his arguments which I found, at least initially, rather obscure. Given the prominence of Alexy's book I will refer only to it, and will not consider his other publications.


The detection of individual molecules has found widespread application in molecular biology, photochemistry, polymer chemistry, quantum optics and super-resolution microscopy. Tracking of an individual molecule in time has allowed identifying discrete molecular photodynamic steps, action of molecular motors, protein folding, diffusion, etc. down to the picosecond level. However, methods to study the ultrafast electronic and vibrational molecular dynamics at the level of individual molecules have emerged only recently. In this review we present several examples of femtosecond single molecule spectroscopy. Starting with basic pump-probe spectroscopy in a confocal detection scheme, we move towards deterministic coherent control approaches using pulse shapers and ultra-broad band laser systems. We present the detection of both electronic and vibrational femtosecond dynamics of individual fluorophores at room temperature, showing electronic (de)coherence, vibrational wavepacket interference and quantum control. Finally, two colour phase shaping applied to photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes is presented, which allows investigation of the persistent coherence in photosynthetic complexes under physiological conditions at the level of individual complexes.


Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among females worldwide. Although breast cancer survival has largely improved in the past 30 years, it remains highly heterogeneous in its response to treatment. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer that lacks the expression of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (Her2). While TNBC may initially be responsive to chemotherapy, recurrence and subsequent high mortality rates are frequently reported. Studies have shown curcumin and its derivatives to be effective against TNBC cell lines in vitro. To improve its anti-cancer effects, we have synthesized Fe3+–curcumin (Fe–Cur3) and Cu2+–curcumin (CD) complexes and investigated them experimentally. Further, CD was encapsulated into a poly(styrene)-co-maleic acid (SMA) micelle to enhance its stability. We assessed the cytotoxicity of these formulations both in vitro and in vivo. SMA–CD demonstrated dose-dependent cytotoxicity and abolished TNBC tumor growth in vivo. The encapsulation of the curcumin–copper complex improved its anti-cancer activity without overt adverse effects in a murine model of TNBC. These results provide evidence and insights into the value of nanoformulations in enhancing drug-delivery and increasing the potential therapeutic efficacy of curcumin derivatives.


Approximately 60%‐80% of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) have concurrent ulcerative colitis (UC). Previous genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) in PSC have detected a number of susceptibility loci that also show associations in UC and other immune‐mediated diseases. We aimed to systematically compare genetic associations in PSC with genotype data in UC patients with the aim of detecting new susceptibility loci for PSC. We performed combined analyses of GWAS for PSC and UC comprising 392 PSC cases, 987 UC cases, and 2,977 controls and followed up top association signals in an additional 1,012 PSC cases, 4,444 UC cases, and 11,659 controls. We discovered novel genome‐wide significant associations with PSC at 2q37 [rs3749171 at G‐protein‐coupled receptor 35 (GPR35); P = 3.0 × 10−9 in the overall study population, combined odds ratio [OR] and 95% confidence interval [CI] of 1.39 (1.24‐1.55)] and at 18q21 [rs1452787 at transcription factor 4 (TCF4); P = 2.61 × 10−8, OR (95% CI) = 0.75 (0.68‐0.83)]. In addition, several suggestive PSC associations were detected. The GPR35 rs3749171 is a missense single nucleotide polymorphism resulting in a shift from threonine to methionine. Structural modeling showed that rs3749171 is located in the third transmembrane helix of GPR35 and could possibly alter efficiency of signaling through the GPR35 receptor. Conclusion: By refining the analysis of a PSC GWAS by parallel assessments in a UC GWAS, we were able to detect two novel risk loci at genome‐wide significance levels. GPR35 shows associations in both UC and PSC, whereas TCF4 represents a PSC risk locus not associated with UC. Both loci may represent previously unexplored aspects of PSC pathogenesis. (HEPATOLOGY 2013;58:1074–1083)


A new analysis of sea surface temperature (SST) observations indicates notable uncertainty in observed decadal climate variability in the second half of the twentieth century, particularly during the decades following World War II. The uncertainties are revealed by exploring SST data binned separately for the two predominant measurement types: "engine-room intake" (ERI) and "bucket" measurements. ERI measurements indicate large decreases in global-mean SSTs from 1950 to 1975, whereas bucket measurements indicate increases in SST over this period before bias adjustments are applied but decreases after they are applied. The trends in the bias adjustments applied to the bucket data are larger than the global-mean trends during the period 1950–75, and thus the global-mean trends during this period derive largely from the adjustments themselves. This is critical, since the adjustments are based on incomplete information about the underlying measurement methods and are thus subject to considerable uncertainty. The uncertainty in decadal-scale variability is particularly pronounced over the North Pacific, where the sign of low-frequency variability through the 1950s to 1970s is different for each measurement type. The uncertainty highlighted here has important—but in our view widely overlooked—implications for the interpretation of observed decadal climate variability over both the Pacific and Atlantic basins during the mid-to-late twentieth century.


Background
Mortality in multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection has historically been high, but most studies predated the availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART). We prospectively compared survival and treatment outcomes in MDR tuberculosis-HIV-coinfected patients on ART to those in patients with MDR tuberculosis alone.

Methods
This observational study enrolled culture-confirmed MDR tuberculosis patients with and without HIV in South Africa between 2011 and 2013. Participants received standardized MDR tuberculosis and HIV regimens and were followed monthly for treatment response, adverse events, and adherence. The primary outcome was survival.

Results
Among 206 participants, 150 were HIV infected, 131 (64%) were female, and the median age was 33 years (interquartile range [IQR], 26-41). Of the 191 participants with a final MDR tuberculosis outcome, 130 (73%) were cured or completed treatment, which did not differ by HIV status (P = .50). After 2 years, CD4 count increased a median of 140 cells/mm3 (P = .005), and 64% had an undetectable HIV viral load. HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected participants had high rates of survival (86% and 94%, respectively; P = .34). The strongest risk factor for mortality was having a CD4 count ≤100 cells/mm3 (adjusted hazards ratio, 15.6; 95% confidence interval, 4.4-55.6).

Conclusions
Survival and treatment outcomes among MDR tuberculosis-HIV individuals receiving concurrent ART approached those of HIV-uninfected patients. The greatest risk of death was among HIV-infected individuals with CD4 counts ≤100 cells/mm3. These findings provide critical evidence to support concurrent treatment of MDR tuberculosis and HIV.


Medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the striatum are key regulators of voluntary movement, and loss or deregulation of these neurons causes movement disorders, such as Huntington's or Parkinson's disease. These GABAergic neurons are activated by glutamatergic input to their dendritic spines. MSNs exist in a resting (—80 mV membrane potential) and an "upstate" (—50 mV membrane potential). Carter and Sabatini used 2-photon laser-scanning microscopy (2PLSM) and 2-photon laser uncaging of glutamate to investigate the calcium signals generated in resting or upstate MSNs in rat striatal slices. Calcium signals were larger and longer lasting in upstate cells, with the largest increase detected in the dendritic spine head. Using pharmacological inhibitors of different classes of voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs), the authors determined that stimulation of resting cells activates T-type and R-type VGCCs, and stimulation of upstate cells activates L-type and R-type VGCCs. Resting cells also respond to localized uncaging of glutamate with a fast Ca2+ transient mediated by AMPA receptors and a slower, prolonged Ca2+ transient mediated by N-methyl D aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Comparing responses in resting and upstate cells indicated a strong AMPA receptor contribution in resting cells and a dominant NMDA receptor contribution in upstate cells. These results indicate that differences in calcium signaling observed in resting and upstate MSNs arise from changes in the contributions of different classes of VGCCs and glutamate receptors. A. G. Carter, B. L. Sabatini, State-dependent calcium signaling in dendritic spines of striatal medium spiny neurons. Neuron 44, 483-493 (2004). [Online Journal]


The digital age is changing our children's lives and childhood dramatically. New technologies transform the way people interact with each other, the way stories are shared and distributed, and the way reality is presented and perceived. Parents experience that toddlers can handle tablets and apps with a level of sophistication the children's grandparents can only envy. In Great Britain, a recent survey of preschoolers shows that a rising number of toddlers are now put to bed with a tablet instead of a bedtime story. In the USA, a telephone survey of 1,009 parents of children aged 2–24 months (Zimmerman et al., 2007a) documents that by 3 months of age, about 40% of children regularly watched television, DVDs or videos, while by 24 months the proportion rose to 90%. Moreover, with the advance and exponential use of social media, children see their parents constantly interacting with mobile devices, instead of with people around them. Still, research in the US indicates that assistive social robots seem to have a favorable effect on children's language development (Westlund et al.). Existing theories of language acquisition emphasize the role of language input and the child's interaction with the environment as crucial to language development. From this perspective, we need to ask: What are the consequences of this new digital reality for children's acquisition of the most fundamental of all human skills: language and communication? Are new theories needed that can help us understand how children acquire language? Do the new digital environment and the new ways of interaction change the way languages are learned, or the quality of language acquisition? Is the use of new media beneficial or harmful to children's language and cognitive development? Can new technologies be tailored to support child growth and, most importantly, can they be designed to enhance language learning in vulnerable children? These questions and issues can only be addressed bymeans of an interdisciplinary approach that aims at developing new methods of data collection and analysis in a longitudinal perspective. This type of research is however not yet documented.


Brain decoding techniques are particularly efficient at deciphering weak and distributed neural patterns. Brain decoding has primarily been used in cognitive neurosciences to predict differences between pairs of stimuli (e.g. faces vs. houses), but how distinct brain/perceptual states can be decoded following the presentation of continuous sensory stimuli is unclear. Here, we developed a novel approach to decode brain activity recorded with magnetoencephalography while participants discriminated the coherence of two intermingled clouds of dots. Seven levels of visual motion coherence were tested and participants reported the colour of the most coherent cloud. The decoding approach was formulated as a ranked-classification problem, in which the model was evaluated by its capacity to predict the order of a pair of trials, each tested with two distinct visual motion coherence levels. Two brain states were decoded as a function of the degree of visual motion coherence. Importantly, perceptual motion coherence thresholds were found to match the decoder boundaries in a fully data-driven way. The algorithm revealed the earliest categorization in hMT+, followed by V1/V2, IPS, and vlPFC.


When a conversation is running smoothly, you know exactly when to nod, hum, or when to start your turn. You feel understood and connected, and you sense that your conversational partner feels the same. However, a conversation may also contain awkward silences, simultaneous starts, and an overall feeling of stuttering and stammering. During such conversations, you are often left with feelings of distance and mutual incomprehension. Many people share the intuition that the expression of 'being in sync' with someone means that you are somehow in tune, in agreement, or in harmony with the other. This dissertation explores whether this intuition is correct; it investigates whether specific temporal patterns between turn-taking speakers, including synchronization of speech rhythms, shape the affective impression of speakers in conversation. The answer to this question can broaden our understanding of the affective push-and-pull of spoken interaction that we experience every day. This question was explored by presenting participants with short fragments of dialogues between speakers in which we manipulated the temporal patterns between those speakers. Participants were then asked to rate the perceived degree of affiliation between the speakers of those fragments. In the last study of this dissertation we also recorded participants' real-time affective response during listening to these fragments. We found that, in addition to the presence of overlapping talk, responding too early given the beat of the previous speaker conveys disaffiliation. 'Being in sync' is not just a figure of speech, but a real sign of affiliation in spoken dialogue.


This study used a qualitative, grounded theoretical framework to examine integration of Joyce Epstein's six typologies of family involvement in responses to discussion questions for an online parent involvement course. Fifty-two undergraduate students' responses were axially coded. Overarching themes were then determined with the constant comparative method. Participant responses demonstrated varying degrees of effective integration of each of Epstein's six types of involvement. Participants demonstrated comprehensive understanding of communication methods and barriers and benefits of community involvement, but failed to recognize relationships between involvement types or effectively integrate personal knowledge and anecdotes. Responses reflected limited knowledge of how educators can engage culturally diverse families. The participants integrated knowledge of cultural diversity in responses addressing family-friendly schools, communication, and volunteering but not parenting, decision-making and advocacy, learning at home, or building relationships with the community. Recommendations are given for improvement in online discussions from a design-based research perspective.


Journal of Food and Nutritional Disorders is a scientific, peer-reviewed, academic journal which promotes rigorous research that makes a significant contribution in advancing knowledge and provides important forum for researchers and scholars to exchange their knowledge on current advancement in food Science and research, nutrition and its disorders. I am pleased to announce the key-point during the year of 2019, all issues of volume 8 were published online within the time frame and the print issues were also brought out and dispatched within 30 days of publishing the issue online.

During the year of 2019, Journal of Food and Nutritional Disorders also brought out various conferences globally. The JFND Journal had successfully completed and published total off eight conference proceeding. Some of the conference proceeding includes 18th World Congress on Nutrition and Food Chemistry, 2nd International Conference on Food Safety and Health, 5th International Conference on Food and Beverages and many more, which consisted of approx. 50 abstracts.

The impact factor for the year 2019 was 1.65. The Journal is listed with various indexing sites to standardized visibility and maintains publication standard. During the calendar year of 2019, JFND received a total of 40 manuscript, out of which 22 articles (55%) were rejected in the preliminary screening due to plagiarism or being out of the format and peer-review process. During 2019 around 18 articles were subjected for publication after they are accepted in the peer review process. In the Volume 8, a total of 18 articles were published (at an average of 6 articles per issue) of which, articles were published from authors all around the world. Globally articles have been accessed by the research scientists and also cited.

During the calendar year 2019, a total of one Editor, three Reviewers joined the board of JFND and contributed their valuable services towards contribution as well as publication of articles.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of (Dr. Xingbin Yang) during the final editing of articles published and the support rendered by the editorial assistant, in bringing out issues of JFND in time. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the authors, reviewers, the publisher, the advisory and the editorial board of JFND, the office bearers for their support in bringing out yet another volume of JFND and look forward to their unrelenting support to bring out the Volume 9 of JFND in scheduled time.


This review attempts to summarize what is known about tau phosphorylation in the context of both normal cellular function and dysfunction. However, conceptions of tau function continue to evolve, and it is likely that the regulation of tau distribution and metabolism is complex. The roles of microtubule-associated kinases and phosphatases have yet to be fully described, but may afford insight into how tau phosphorylation at the distal end of the axon regulates cytoskeletal-membrane interactions. Finally, lipid and glycosaminoglycan modification of tau structure affords yet more complexity for regulation and aggregation. Continued work will help to determine what is causal and what is coincidental in Alzheimer's disease, and may lead to identification of therapeutic targets for halting the progression of paired helical filament formation.


Hitherto a single species of Doridicola Leydig (Poecilostomatoida: Rhynchomolgidae) has been found reported in association with gorgonians in Europe: Doridicola botulosus (Stock and Kleeton, 1963), living on the Mediterranean gorgonian Eunicella singularis (Esper, 1791). During a survey along the Iberian Mediterranean coast, several specimens of D. botulosus were collected from its reported host. Furthermore, an undescribed species of Doridicola was discovered living in association with Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826), a Mediterranean gorgonian usually living in overlaps with that of E. singularis . Although the new species is close to D. botulosus , they differ in the oral appendages. A common origin of these two species was suggested. This is a good example of sibling species produced by the colonisation of two hosts with overlapping habitats


Presents a method for optimizing and automating component and transistor sizing for CMOS LC oscillators. We observe that the performance measures can be formulated as posynomial functions of the design variables. As a result, the LC oscillator design problems can be posed as a geometric program, a special type of optimization problem for which very efficient global optimization methods have recently been developed. The synthesis method is therefore fast, and determines the globally optimal design; in particular, the final solution is completely independent of the starting point (which can even be infeasible), and infeasible specifications are unambiguously detected. We can rapidly compute globally optimal trade-off curves between competing objectives such as phase noise and power.


A sequential synthesis inversion method is described to estimate CO 2 sources from continuous atmospheric data. The sequential method makes the problem computationally feasible. The method is assessed using four-hourly synthetic concentration data generated from known sources. Multi-year mean sources and seasonal cycles are estimated with comparable quality as those from a traditional inversion of monthly mean data. Interannual variations in the estimated sources are closer to those of the known sources using the four-hourly data rather than monthly data. The computational cost of the basis function simulations can be reduced by generating responses that are only six months long. This does not significantly degrade the inversion results compared to using responses that are 12 months in length.


The Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction forms a carbon-carbon bond between the α-carbon of a conjugated carbonyl compound and a carbon electrophile. The reaction mechanism involves Michael addition of a nucleophile catalyst at the carbonyl β-carbon, followed by bond formation with the electrophile and catalyst disassociation to release the product. We used Rosetta to design 48 proteins containing active sites predicted to carry out this mechanism, of which two show catalytic activity by mass spectrometry (MS). Substrate labeling measured by MS and site-directed mutagenesis experiments show that the designed active-site residues are responsible for activity, although rate acceleration over background is modest. To characterize the designed proteins, we developed a fluorescence-based screen for intermediate formation in cell lysates, carried out microsecond molecular dynamics simulations, and solved X-ray crystal structures. These data indicate a partially formed active site and suggest several clear avenues for designing more active catalysts.


The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS is THE definitive guide to IELTS. It contains all you need to succeed in the exam. Skill-building exercises cover all of the question types in the exam for both the General Training and Academic Modules. Our research into real IELTS candidates' exam answers - and the mistakes they make, helps you avoid the same ones! Eight official practice tests and a focus on test-taking strategy help you maximise your score. Videos of the Speaking test, and all the listening material, including the tests, can be found on the DVD-ROM or downloaded via an accompanying App from iTunes or Google Play. IELTS is jointly managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge English Language Assessment.


Singer's vocal apparatus is comprised of her entire body and mind and is easily influenced by hormonal variations. The hormonal changes may have adverse effects on a singer's vocal performance. There is very little understanding about the aerodynamic measures among singers especially during the different phases of menstrual cycle in Indian population. Aims and objectives: To study the effect of menstrual cycle on aerodynamic measures among singers and nonsingers. The objectives of the study were to profile aerodynamic measures in singers and nonsingers, to compare the aerodynamic measures between the singers and nonsingers, and to study the effect of menstrual phase on aerodynamic measures between singers and nonsingers. Materials and methods: The participants in group I comprised of 30 nonsingers in the age range of 18–25 years. Group II comprised of 15 trained singers (received training formally more than 3 years), and group III had 15 untrained singers in the age range of 18–25 years. The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in first second (FEVl), and peak expiratory airflow (PEF) were recorded. Descriptive statistics and repeated measure of ANOVA were done to study the effect of menstrual cycle on aerodynamic measures among singers and nonsingers using SPSS 16.0. Results: In the present study, the overall mean scores obtained for all the aerodynamic measures were reduced during menstrual phase as compared to the aerodynamic measures obtained during the follicular phase among both singers and nonsingers.


The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) rejects the system of notice pleading that has governed all civil actions in federal courts since 1938 and substitutes a new set of rules to govern securities class actions. Central to those rules are heightened pleading requirements and a stay on discovery designed to preclude "fishing expeditions" by plaintiffs unable to plead sufficient facts to set forth a cause of action. This article considers whether these provisions, in combination, create a procedural Catch-22 that will preclude plaintiffs from prosecuting many potentially meritorious claims. The article does not dwell on the interpretive issues posed by the PSLRA's pleading requirements, many of which are currently pending before appellate courts. Rather, it assumes that courts will interpret the Act to require a plaintiff both to set forth facts sufficient to demonstrate that defendants knew or recklessly disregarded the likelihood that a material statement was false or misleading at the time that statement was made and to indicate the source of those facts where allegations are made on information and belief. The article asserts that in many cases the statement(s) that precipitate a claim of securities fraud also will provide plaintiff with information sufficient to satisfy thsi pleading standard -- e.g., a corporation's announcement that it is restating earnings for some previous period. However, there is a group of cases in which plaintiffs will not be able to satisfy the Act's pleading requirements without obtaining access to defendant's records or personnel. The article examines one such situation in detail -- a "quasi-hypothetical" involving claims that were made against Green Tree Financial Corp. after it announced an adjustment in its reserves but before Green Tree announced that it was restating its earnings for the period at issue. The authors conclude that while it would have been possible for a plaintiff, based on publicly available information, to set forth claim that supported a strong suspicion Green Tree had misrepresented its earnings in prior years, without access to Green Tree's books and personnel, a plaintiff would not have been able to set forth a claim that would satisfy the PSLRA's pleading requirements. The authors conclude that a court facing a situation such as that presented by their "quasi-hypothetical" should, if certain specified conditions are satisfied, conclude that a plaintiff has been "unduly prejudiced" by the discovery stay and, consistent with the language of the stay provision of the PSLRA, allow that plaintiff to engage in appropriately limited "particularized discovery." They also detail the extent of the discovery that would have been appropriate in the Green Tree situation.


In the last few decades, laboratory experiments and direct numerical simulations of turbulent boundary layers, performed at low to moderate Reynolds numbers, have found very-large-scale motions (VLSMs) in the logarithmic and outer regions. The size of VLSMs was found to be 10-20 times as large as the boundary-layer thickness. Recently, few studies based on field experiments examined the presence of VLSMs in neutral atmospheric boundary-layer flows, which are invariably at very high Reynolds numbers. Very large scale structures similar to those observed in laboratory-scale experiments have been found and characterized. However, it is known that field measurements are more challenging than laboratory-based measurements, and can lack resolution and statistical convergence. Such challenges have implications on the robustness of the analysis, which may be further adversely affected by the use of Taylor's hypothesis to convert time series to spatial data. We use large-eddy simulation (LES) to investigate VLSMs in atmospheric boundary-layer flows. In order to make sure that the largest flow structures are properly resolved, the horizontal domain size is chosen to be much larger than the standard domain size. It is shown that the contributions to the resolved turbulent kinetic energy and shear stress from VLSMs are significant. Therefore, the large computational domain adopted here is essential for the purpose of investigating VLSMs. The spatially coherent structures associated with VLSMs are characterized through flow visualization and statistical analysis. The instantaneous velocity fields in horizontal planes give evidence of streamwise-elongated flow structures of low-speed fluid with negative fluctuation of the streamwise velocity component, and which are flanked on either side by similarly elongated high-speed structures. The pre-multiplied power spectra and two-point correlations indicate that the scales of these streak-like structures are very large. These features are similar to those found in the logarithmic and outer regions of laboratory-scale boundary layers by direct numerical simulation and experiments conducted at low to moderate Reynolds numbers. The three-dimensional correlation map and conditional average of the three components of velocity further indicate that the low-speed and high-speed regions possess the same elongated ellipsoid-like structure, which is inclined upward along the streamwise direction, and they are accompanied by counter-rotating roll modes in the cross-section perpendicular to the streamwise direction. These results are in agreement with recent observations in the atmospheric surface layer. Furthermore, the influences of the Coriolis force, the domain size, and the subgrid-scale model on VLSMs are investigated.


This paper provides copious results from a 2003 survey of academics. We analyze the responses of 1208 academics from six scholarly associations (in anthropology, economics, history, legal and political philosophy, political science, and sociology) with regard to their views on 18 policy issues. The issues include economic regulations, personal-choice restrictions, and military action abroad. We find that the academics overwhelmingly vote Democratic and that the Democratic dominance has increased significantly since 1970. A multivariate analysis shows strongly that Republican scholars are more likely to land outside of academia. On the 18 policy questions, the Democratic-voter responses have much less variation than do the Republicans. The left has a narrow tent. The Democratic and Republican policy views of academics are somewhat in line with the ideal types, except that across the board both groups are simply more statist than the ideal types might suggest. Regarding disciplinary consensus, we find that the discipline with least consensus is economics. We do a cluster analysis, and the mathematical technique sorts the respondents into groups that nicely correspond to familiar ideological categories: establishment left, progressive, conservative, and libertarian. The conservative group and the libertarian group are equal in size (35 individuals, each), suggesting that academics who depart from the leftist ranks are as likely to be libertarian as conservative. We also find that conservatives are closer to the establishment left than they are to the libertarians.


Background/Objective: Specialized care in an acute hospital is the highest resource consuming type of health care. Performance improvement in health care should look for a better application of medical knowledge and resource consuming at the same time as managers locally redesigned processes and organizations in order to be more cost-effective at healthcare services delivery. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of creating a short-stay unit for elective patients as an alternative to the elective patients being admitted in an acute ward. Methods: We included all elective patients admitted in a university hospital between the 1st of January and the 31st of December 2007, as well as those admitted during the same period of 2009, after two hospital wards transformation into a short-stay unit. We used the Hospital General Database for collecting information on years 2007 and 2009. Main key performance indicators were length of stay, pre-surgery length of stay, rotation rate, discharge planning rate and cost. For statistical bivariate analysis, we used a Chi-squared for linear trend for qualitative variables and a T -test and a Wilcoxon signed ranks test and a Mann - Whitney test for non-normal continuous variables. Significance at p < .05 was assumed throughout. Results: We included 10,678 patients, 4,423 during 2007 and 6,255 during 2009. Mean length of stay was 4.3 days (IC 95%: 4.09-4.51) in 2007 and 2.8 days (IC 95%: 2.61-3.01) in 2009 ( p < .05). Pre-surgery length of stay was reduced from 0.5 days (IC 95%: 0.44-0.56) in 2007 to 0.2 days (IC 95%: 0.17-0.23) in 2009 ( p < .05). The rotation rate was of 92 patients/bed in 2007 and of 126 patients/bed in 2009 ( p < .05). The median number of planned discharges grew from 43.05% in 2007 to 86.01% in 2009. Closing two hospital wards at weekends has generated savings of €805,376.32 through the reduction of 22 nurse employees. Conclusions: In conclusion, this approach to hospital bed management in a tertiary hospital has proven both possible and efficient. The creation of short-stay units for elective patient admissions allowed an increase in productivity per hospital bed due to a higher rotation rate and a reduction in human resources costs due to closing hospital wards at weekends.


Dimension three is an important test-bed for hypotheses in higher category theory and occupies something of a unique position in the categorical landscape. At the heart of matters is the coherence theorem, of which this book provides a definitive treatment, as well as covering related results. Along the way the author treats such material as the Gray tensor product and gives a construction of the fundamental 3-groupoid of a space. The book serves as a comprehensive introduction, covering essential material for any student of coherence and assuming only a basic understanding of higher category theory. It is also a reference point for many key concepts in the field and therefore a vital resource for researchers wishing to apply higher categories or coherence results in fields such as algebraic topology or theoretical computer science.


Prototypical Finnish subjects are marked with the nominative case. In manynon-finite expression types, however, the subject is marked with the genitivecase. The genitive subject has grammaticalized from three different sources. Insome constructions, it developed from an earlier adverbial expressing a recipient,beneficiary or experiencer; in others, it originates in an adnominal possessivegenitive; and its background is a syncretistic accusative. The present paperanalyzes the properties of the different predecessors of the genitive subjectwhich have made earlier adverbials and objects susceptible to a reanalysis intogrammatical subjects. The paper sheds light on the nature and origins of thegenitive subject, and tackles the development of abstract grammatical categoriesfrom more concrete context-specific ones on a more general level.


I t has taken us a long time to recognize the significance of the ubiquity of the microscopic life revealed by Robert Hooke through his compound microscope. This is despite our reliance on microorganisms for our daily bread, cheese, and beer, and our vulnerability to the predations of less benign types. Now we are coming to recognize that for billions of years, virtually everything in the physical environments of Earth has been transformed to some degree by the activities of simple living organisms.

In this issue, we aim to give an idea of the scale of the activity of microorganisms, and the extent to which the rest of life on Earth relies on them. The ubiquity of microorganisms raises particular questions about speciation and counterintuitive discoveries about the biodiversity of small widespread organisms (Finlay, p. [1061][1]), an understanding that is radically different depending on the type of environment under observation (Torsvik et al. , p. [1064][2]). Microorganisms concentrate at interfaces, where nutrients and energy tend to fluctuate. And at the interfaces between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere, we see in action Hooke's observation that life can be turned to stone with the recycling of biological matter into physical matter (Newman and Banfield, p. [1071][3]). The huge biomasses of microorganisms that grow at these interfaces can have a major impact on regional geochemistry; for example, in mineral and hydrocarbon deposition, and the nutrition and waste of plankton blooms. Indeed, planktonic organisms are thought to have had a fundamental influence on the evolution of Earth's atmosphere (Kasting and Siefert, p. [1066][4]).

Along with the modern realization that microbial life is ubiquitous have come glimpses into the unexpected metabolisms of organisms that live in extreme physicochemical conditions (Reysenbach and Shock, p. [1077][5]). New discoveries are making scientists rethink conventional understanding of life's capabilities and how metabolisms have evolved (see News, pp. [1056][6] and [1058][7]). Despite these insights into the scale of microbial influences on wider environments, before extrapolation or prediction, we still have to work out how to translate genome and molecular studies into an ecological context relevant to single microorganisms (Fenchel, p. [1068][8]). The techniques still have to be developed even to culture a representative selection of the microorganisms we know are out there (Kaeberlein et al. , p. [1127][9]), and the tools have to be built to integrate the amassing genomic data with geographical information before we can exploit these discoveries in a meaningful way.

In 1665, Hooke's illustrated volume Micrographia was a bestseller, and it looks like the extraordinary story of microbial ubiquity will run and run. Maybe we will discover some new vital forces; certainly the new breed of interdisciplinary geobiologists will supply us with volumes of enthralling and challenging discoveries.

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1070710
 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071698
 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1010716
 [4]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071184
 [5]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1072483
 [6]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.296.5570.1056
 [7]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.296.5570.1058
 [8]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1070118
 [9]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1070633


The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has published an overview of models for reporting medicine shortages. The report, which is intended to support the implementation of the World Health Assembly Resolution on " Addressing the global shortage of medicines and vaccines ", indicates that globally medicine shortages have worsened.

The analysis underlying the report involves systems operated by Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, Slovakia and the United States. It compares and contrasts features such as the scope of the shortages listed, the criteria applied (such as the predicted duration of a shortage) and the sources of information used by the eight different reporting systems. Of the six countries Slovakia and the United States are both currently operating two separate systems.

By sharing best practices the report aims, on the one hand, to guide the development and improvement of reporting shortages in countries that have a system in place and also in countries which are currently developing one. On the other hand, it raises awareness of the importance of detecting and understanding the causes of medicine shortages worldwide.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) published a report on cancer medicine shortages in Europe, which discusses the causes of shortages and provides policy recommendations. The study underlying the report was supported by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).

Patient care is significantly affected by medicine shortages as they increase the potential for error or adverse events, lead to the use of less desirable alternative products or even to the failure of, or delay in, treatment. Thus, EIU was commissioned by ESMO to investigate the impact of cancer medicine shortages in Europe.

The research team reviewed academic and grey literature to identify the effect of medicine shortages on the provision of care and ways to alleviate or prevent them. In addition, the research team discussed selected policy initiatives with a panel of experts. The European …


Abstract The crystal structure of the organic mineral refikite has been determined. The mineral was found in joints in bark and wood from pine trees in the 'V Borkách' peat deposit near the town of Krásno, Slavkovský les Mountains, western Bohemia, Czech Republic. It forms white to light-yellow polycrystalline crusts or randomly intergrown, transparent, colourless, very thin, acicular crystals up to 0.2-0.5 mm long. Sometimes, colourless-to-white elongated prismatic crystals up to 1-1.5 mm in size were encountered. The mineral is soft (Mohs hardness ~1) and very brittle, with an uneven fracture. No visible cleavage was discerned. Crystals have a greasy-to-glassy lustre; fine crystal aggregates have a pearly lustre. Refikite, empirical formula C20H34O2 or C19H33COOH, is a derivative of abietic acid. It is orthorhombic, space group P21212, with a = 22.6520(7), b = 10.3328(3), c = 7.6711(2) Å, V = 1795.49(9) Å3, Z = 4. Refikite comprises two closely related compounds based on perhydrophenanthrene. The major component has two axial methyl groups, one terminal carboxylic group and one terminal propan-2-yl (isopropyl) group joined to the three fused rings in the same fashion as in abietic acid. However, the fused ring system is fully reduced (contains single bonds only). In the minor component, the terminal propan-2-yl group is replaced by a propen-2-yl (methylvinyl) group. The crystal structure is stabilized by strong O ··· H-O hydrogen bonds. High-resolution mass spectroscopy (HRMS) confirmed a molecular mass of 306 and the formula C20H34O2. Hydrogen-1 and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy showed the presence of four methyl groups in the major component; infrared (IR), Raman and NMR spectra are consistent with the structure. The HRMS, IR and Raman spectroscopy methods confirmed the presence of a minor component containing the propen-2-yl group replacing the propan-2-yl group. This is also reflected in a shortened C15-C17 single bond metric of 1.468(6) Å shown by single-crystal X-ray analysis. The trivial name of the major component of refikite is tetrahydroabietic acid or abietan-18-oic acid. This work represents the first proof of the existence of abietic acid derivatives as naturally occurring species.


Data are essential for scientific research and policy planning. However, there needs to be attention to data quality and to the estimates and models based on those data. In addition, data need to be freely available for researchers to test new ideas and validate the work of others through replication, while respondents who provide data need to be protected. Three issues concerning data are addressed: (i) availability and accuracy of data for new research and reanalysis while protecting human subjects, (ii) problems with the estimation of indicators based on flawed or nongeneralizable data, and (iii) the use of data to develop models for projecting the future, the assumptions on which those models are based, and the assessment of the accuracy of past projections. In each of these areas, increased attention is necessary on how data are used, interpreted, and made available to the scholarly and policy community.

Keywords:

data sources;
data quality;
models;
estimation methods;
data access


An electrophysiology research laboratory at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in the Physiology/Pharmacology Department currently carries out memory research by recording neural signals from laboratory animals with a wire tethering the animal to nearby signal conditioning and recording equipment. A wireless neural signal recording system is desirable because it removes the cumbersome wires from the animal, allowing it to roam more freely. The result is an animal that is more able to behave as it would in its natural habitat, thus opening the possibility of testing procedures that are not possible with wired recording systems. While there are wireless neural recording systems in existence, this thesis presents a new approach to recording neural signals wirelessly. The firings of neurons in the hippocampus are manifested as action potentials or voltage "spikes" on the order of 100 to 400uV in magnitude. Though the information content of the neural signal is riding on these action potentials, the spikes comprise a small fraction of the complete neural signal. A unique feature of the neural signal transceiver presented in this thesis is its ability to digitally isolate and transmit the action potentials, leaving out the remaining, unimportant part of the neural signal. This approach to recording neural signals makes efficient use of the limited bandwidth available with portable short range wireless devices. This thesis will present the spike isolating neural transmitter, which was built using commercially available electronic components. Then, the proper function of assembly language code written for a PIC18F458 microcontroller will be demonstrated. Finally, a discussion of the performance of the neural signal transmitter will be provided.


The five elements of this thesis are linked by the concept of Grassmannian variables. I begin with a brief introductory chapter discussing the general setting and then go on to deal with five topics each of which features anti-commuting co-ordinates in some guise.
 Chapter 2 uses the conventional, space-time supersymmetry, admissible for relativistic field theories. In the same way that the Dirac equation can be regarded as a square root of the Klein-Gordon equation, I have obtained a square root of the Dirac equation. This equation involves spinor-valued superfields and is given in terms of two component Grassmannian spinors. It has a larger component field content than the Dirac equation, just as the Dirac equation has a larger content than the KleinGordon equation. After setting it up and solving the constraints for both the massless and massive cases, I have gone on for the massless case to solve the equation itself.
 The next chapter is concerned with Grassmannian variables in the context of path integrals. Specifically, I have studied the derivation of the index of the twisted Dirac operator via a supersymmetric quantum mechanics and taken great care to establish how certain ambiguities in the path integral can arise and how they can be circumvented. As an aside I have also obtained the general expression for the index of fields of arbitrary spin from the Atiyah-Singer index theorem itself.
 Chapter 4 uses anti-commuting co-ordinates as an appendage to the four commuting space-time co-ordinates. The Kaluza-Klein idea of force unification via general relativity is applied to a (4+N)-dimensional superspace. It is possible to give a consistent ansatz for a higher-dimensional metric which reproduces the standard model of elementary particles. I have considered the extension to grand unified theory and examined the SU(5) and SO(lO) models, showing how the former is more natural and more economical than the latter within such a framework.
 The consistent quantization of a gauge theory requires the inclusion of "ghost" fields having "wrong" spin and statistics. The resulting gauge-fixed, quantized theory is endowed with a BRST symmetry, which replaces the classical gauge invariance. This symmetry can be best understood when considered with a partner, the anti-BRST symmetry. The two are both supersymmetries as they mix commuting and anti-commuting fields and can therefore be formulated on a superspace with two Grassmannian co-ordinates. In chapter 5, I suggest that it is useful to do this in an Sp(2)-symmetric manner - that is with the ghosts and anti-ghosts and the BRST and anti-BRST symmetries themselves treated symmetrically - but that extending the symmetry group to 0Sp(4/2) is more of a hindrance than a help.
 The final chapter of this thesis is concerned with a theory of massive, nonabelian vector fields based on the Stueckelberg approach. Here renormalizability and unitarity are found to be conflicting requirements. Either one may be satisfied but not both. In particular, the violation of unitarity comes about either because of the failure of the BRST operator to be nilpotent or, diagrammatically, from the incomplete cancellation of the negative-norm ghost contributions.


The traditional view of innovation, which implies that companies innovate on their own, has been recently challenged by the 'open' innovation concept promoting the use of external knowledge. Collaboration between firms has always existed in one way or another, however, large-scale open innovation is now the next step for many companies. This article conducts a comparative analysis of the two largest open innovation structures: patent pools and open source. The issues of financial and non-financial benefits, appropriability, standards, cooperation, risks and feasibility are, in turn, discussed for each of the structures. Finally, a synthesis of the results is established and recommendations in regard to the adoption of these structures are given.


Sheep and goat pox (SGP) is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus in the family Poxviridae and genus Capripoxvirus. The virus is one of the largest viruses, the brick shaped 170 to 260 by 300 to 450-nm-diameter capsid contains a linear, nonsegmented, double-stranded DNA genome of approximately 150 kilobases that is surrounded by a layer of lipid that is not a true envelope (1, 3). The virus is endemic in Africa, the Middle East, India, and Asia. These photos were taken during an outbreak in Kenya. Transmission is primarily through direct contact with infectious scab material or aerosols, but insect transmission is also possible.
SGP infection in goats and sheep has a similar course of disease. Signs usually begin 4 to 8 days postinfection and include fever, depression, conjunctivitis, salivation and runny nose, and enlarged lymph nodes. Within a few days lesions appear on the skin and mucous membranes. Disease usually lasts 4 to 6 weeks and recovery can take as long as 3 months. Lesions can range from mild (Fig. 1) to severe (Fig. 2, 3, and 4), and the more severe the rash, the poorer the prognosis. Viral pneumonia due to pox formation in the lungs is common and often results in mortality. Morbidity in infected flocks can reach 80%, and mortality is usually 5 to 10% but can approach 100%, particularly in young lambs. Factors such as severe weather, infection with parasites, poor diet, and stress are known to exacerbate mortality. This is considered to be the most severe pox infection of domesticated animals. Vaccines are available for the prevention of this disease (2, 4).

SGP can often be misdiagnosed as bluetongue, peste des petits ruminats, or contagious ecthyma (contagious pustular dermatitis, orf) all of which have similar signs and rash. SGP is also serologically indistinguishable from lumpy skin disease of cattle which is caused by a virus in the same genus. Diagnosis is by immunofluorescence staining using antibodies that will bind to intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies (areas of scarring in the cytoplasm from viral replication), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or serological methods including virus neutralization, Western blot, and agar gel.

References.

1.  Espisito J. J., and F. Fenner.  2001.  Poxviruses, p. 2885–2922. InD. M. Knipe and P. M. Howley (ed.), Fields virology. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pa.
2.  Fenner, F., P. A. Bachmann, E. P. J. Gibbs, F. A. Murphy, M. J. Studdert, and D. O. White.  1987.  Veterinary virology, p. 398–399.  Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, Fla.
3.  Moss, B.  2001.  Poxviridae: the viruses and their replication, p. 2849–2884. InD. M. Knipe and P. M. Howley (ed.), Fields virology. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pa.
4.  Roberts, W. A., and G. A. Carter. 1976.  Essentials of veterinary virology, p. 101. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, Mich.


Why individuals identify with Europe? In the absence of direct personal experiences with the EU and with people of other member states, how can the identification with the European project be developed? Despite the great number of EU competences, legislation and policy programmes, they are mostly implemented by member states. Are these EU policies amplifying citizens' exposure to the idea of the EU? And finally, are citizens aware of the aims and perceive the benefits of the Cohesion Policy? If so, does it contribute to strengthen the shared political values under the European Social Model and, consequently, is it a driver of the identification with Europe? Giving answer to these questions is the main objective of this deliverable.
This work tries to give some light to answer, at least partially, these questions by means of a key assumption. For most people in Europe, their experience with the EU takes place in the national political arena. In fact, one of the major EU policies is the Cohesion Policy that accounts for some 350 billion euros in the 2007-2013 programming period, about a third of total EU budget. Still, this policy is managed mostly locally. When individuals think on Europe they usually do it from a local point of view. The consequences of European integration depend not only on EU policies but also on how national, regional and local governments manage them.
The Cohesion Policy is basically a regional development policy. Consequently, the territorial dimension is a key aspect that needs to be considered. In fact, most imbalances in economic and social (e.g. education) terms take place within every country and even within every region. In this respect, the perception of the Cohesion Policy and their impact on the development of a European identity could well vary between individuals in rural and urban areas. Therefore, we provide a specific look at the urban – rural divide of the way mechanisms and determinants impact on citizens' European identification.


The environmental impact of organisations operations on the environment has come under significantly increased public awareness, over the past two decades. Even so, most organisations in Australia are not required by regulation to report on the impact of their organisations on the environment. Some organisations have been voluntarily providing reports to varying degrees on their environmental performance and management, however the only legislated environmental reporting requirement for private sector organisations in Australia is to report breaches of environmental laws and licences in their annual reports (Section 299(1) Corporations Act 2001). In the public sector the situation is slightly different. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act 1999), enacted in 1999, requires federal (Commonwealth) government organisations to include in their annual reports a section detailing the environmental performance of and environmental management in their organisation as well as the organisation's contribution to the nation's ecologically sustainable development. This paper argues that the adherence [and lack of] to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 reporting requirements by Commonwealth organisations, including Commonwealth Agencies, Commonwealth Statutory Authorities and Commonwealth Companies, can be explained by the sector's recent reforms influenced by the pervasive new public managerialism (NPM) mentality within the sector. The paper will also introduce the new concept of NPM reporting paradox.


This contribution to an inter-disciplinary book on Trademarks and Brands responds to the work of Alan Durant, a linguist who (in his chapter of the book) provides legal scholars with both a rich understanding of how linguists view terms that are part of the basic argot of trademark law and a potentially vital explanation of the different social functions that word marks might serve. The Response explains why linguistics should matter to trademark law, but also why trademark law might on occasion ignore the precise reality of consumer understanding as might be provided by linguistics. I suggest that, while trademark law should not become beholden to linguistics, the lessons of Durant's linguistic analysis are to some extent already accommodated in the practice of trademark law, and could be important guides in the further development of a number of legal principles. In particular, I explain how trademark law does in large part take into consideration Durant's observation that legal analysis would comport more with the reality of how words function if it focused on marks as they are used. The Chapter also argues that Durant's exploration of the concepts of "distinctiveness" and "descriptiveness", as understood by lawyers and linguists, respectively, should reinforce important lessons for legal scholars about the complex policy prescriptions embodied in those concepts. Finally, I argue that particular insights developed by Durant from the field of linguistics may prove valuable in illuminating several points of contention in contemporary trademark law. In particular, Durant stresses that determining whether a defendant's use has evoked the source-identifying aspect of plaintiff's mark, as opposed to the descriptive properties of that term, can only be done by analyzing the "discourse 'setting' in which interpretations are constructed." Thus, although the type of use should be relevant to assessing infringement, any analysis of use type must be highly contextualized. This insight should inform the choice of doctrinal vehicles by which trademark law establishes limits on the scope of protection.


A microcommunity for preschool is a community for parents, teachers and other people involved in a preschool child group. The community is a tool for distributing and exchanging information and complements the traditional face to face communication and paper notes in that it makes information available from other places than the home and the preschool facilities. We present a first design iteration for preschool microcommunities with parents and teachers. Teachers have worked with a prototype tool to create microcommunities that has been made available to parents. We present a set of design principles for preschool microcommunities and a new design of the tool.


Aluminum alloys of the ANSI series 319 present Si and Cu as the main alloying elements and the mechanical strength of these alloys can be improved by the precipitation of the metastable Al2Cu phase during the ageing heat treatment. In this paper, the Al-5.5wt.%Si-3wt.%Cu alloy was elaborated and solidified in a water-cooled horizontal directional solidification device. The as-cast ingot was subjected to the precipitation hardening heat treatment (T6 heat treatment), which consisted of: solution for 5 h at 490°C±2°C, followed by quenching in water at 60°C±2°C and ageing for 3 h at 155°C±2°C, and cooling-air. Secondary dendrite arm spacing (λ2) measurements were carried out before and after T6 heat treatment. The mechanical strength of the alloy was investigated by the microhardness test. It has been found that the heat treatment did not influence the λ2 values, however, highest HV values have been observed for the heat-treated samples.


Several strains of pseudomonads which are normally found in natural water and soil environments, including Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and strains initially identified as Pseudomonas paucimobilis and Pseudomonas maltophilia, were used in this thesis and their stress responsive proteins were surveyed at the physiological level. Additionally, 16S rRNA gene comparison was employed to classify the pseudomonads and related species at the genetic level. In order to see to what extent the pseudomonads and related species responded to heat shock, cells were initially subjected to temperature upshift from 28 to 37 deegree centegrade then disrupted by sonication or cells lysed by boiling in sample buffer, and the extracted total proteins were resolved on 1-D or 2-D SDS-PAGE. Their growth characteristics in different media (varying from rich to minimal) were determined and the physiological impacts on growth were examined at various concentrations of selected chemicals (metal ions, phenolics), to establish toxic and sub-lethal levels for use in determining stress responses. Production of novel proteins or elevated levels of normal proteins following exposure to different concentrations of toxicants was examined in detail in strain VUN10,077 (formerly Ps. paucimobilis) by sampling throughout the growth cycle and using 35S-methionine incorporation into newly synthesized proteins. Indigenous strain VUN10,077 presented abnormal rRNA pattern in standard RNA gels and 16S-like rRNA was analysed using Northern blot associated with 16S rRNA gene analysis which confirmed the identity of the known pseudomonads. An bands of MW 2.5 kb (faint), 1.38 kb, 1.2 kb and 0.1 kb were detected in RNA gels. The 1.38 kb band corresponded to 16S rRNA gene analysis, as shown by Northern blot analysis. 16S rRNA gene sequencing homology showed that strain VUN10,077 was a Brevundimonas species. The pseudomonads and related species accumulated a GroEL-like protein under heat stress when cells were grown in LB broth and disrupted by sonication, and 2-D SDS-PAGE conditions were established using sonically disrupted cells of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (formerly Ps. maltophilia). Cells lysed by boiling represented the total protein profile and included particulate or membrane-associated proteins, 70 kDa-like and 44-46 kDa proteins for strain VUN10,077. Selected pollutants impacted on the cell viability and sub-lethal levels of these were determined as follows; 2.0 gL-1 for CdCl2, 2.0 gL-1 for CuCl2.2H2O, 2.0 gL-1 for NiCl2.6H2O, 1.0 gL-1 for CoCl2.6H2O, 0.025 gL-1 for HgCl2, 0.25 gL-1 for SDS, 0.2 gL-1 for NaAsO2 and 0.5 gL-1 for phenol, from A600 readings and viable counts. Major HSPs were present at relatively lower levels or were barely increased compared to controls, whereas low molecular weight proteins were significantly changed. A 20 kDa protein was commonly found in cadmium, copper, cobalt, nickel, arsenite and phenol stresses. However, a DnaK-like protein strongly reacted against commercially available DnaK antibodies on Western blot analysis and a visibly increased signal was seen for heat, cadmium, zinc, cobalt, phenol stresses and control, where represents in that order, whereas changes in the GroEL-like protein were less specific. Several minimal or defined minimal media were developed and used in heat stress and different protein profiles were seen. Medium (2) contained M9 salts medium (supplemented with glucose) plus casamino acids and medium (5) contained M9 salts medium (supplemented with glucose), vitamin solution, trace elements solution and casamino acids. Media (2) and (5) were found to be suitable for studying the physiological changes in strain VUN10,077, but growth rates in medium (2) were much less than seen in medium (5). Strain VUN10,077 presented major HSPs (70, 58 and 18 kDa proteins) in medium (5), similar to seen in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) media. Pulse-chase 35S-methionine labelling methods were established and known major HSPs were newly synthesised by strain VUN10,077 under heat and cadmium stresses, and these proteins gradually declined while 55 kDa, 50 kDa and 18 kDa proteins were detected under ongoing stress conditions. Presumptive groEL gene analysis was attempted and partial conserved groEL sequences were determined in the pseudomonads and related species, where similarity was 98-100%. In parallel, a water-based lux system was established to examine physiological impacts of selected pollutants at the cellular level. Lux genes cloned from a marine bacterium were introduced into the background of the indigenous strain VUN10,077, providing a potentially sensitive tool for toxicity screening for terrestrial and fresh water samples. To show the use of bioluminescence in the indigenous (naturally non-bioluminescent) organism, research was performed on stable marking and optimisation of light output including marking of the organisms with luxAB or the whole lux cassette, which necessitated establishing gene transfer systems using available transposition vectors, optimisation of conditions for light output and stability. This approach would alleviate the requirement for salt or osmotic stabilizers in the test system to maintain bioluminescence or viability, which currently is a requirement of the Microtox (TM) system which employs Photobacterium phosphoreum. Expression of bioluminescence genes in the indigenous strain employed the luminescence system of Vibrio species which is encoded by a gene cluster with a divergent transcriptional pattern. As strain VUN10,077 was a genetically uncharacterised natural isolate, this work was achieved by establishing the parameters necessary for introducing genes after determining antibiotic sensitivity to determine which marker genes could be used in these backgrounds. The genes for two polypeptides (LuxA, LuxB) which form luciferase were transferred into strain VUN10,077. Introduction of the luxAB bioluminescence genes into a range of bacteria has been facilitated by using plasmid, pUT::Tn5-luxAB (de Lorenzo et al., 1990), which carries a tetracycline resistance gene. The plasmid was introduced by bi- and tri-parental conjugation employing a helper plasmid pRK2013, if necessary, so that antibiotic resistance can occur in the transconjugants if transposition occurs. Alternatively, electroporation was used to introduce bioluminescence lux genes into strain VUN10,077 when cells were harvested at early-log and stationary phase. One of the engineered water-based luxAB-marked strain (VUN3,600) was used to detect the presence of toxic substances (determining selectivity and sensitivity). This bacterial luciferase system produces bioluminescence when supplied with an aliphatic aldehyde substrate, where the luxAB genes were expressed on the chromosome. The substrate delivery system and preparation of cells for bioluminescence toxicity test were achieved by diluting ndecyl aldehyde 10 (3)-fold in Milli-Q water and resuspending cells in tap-water after mild centrifugation, when cells were harvested at A600 1.0-1.2. When a variety of common pollutants were tested in the water-based monitoring system, cells of VUN3,600 responded sensitively, rapidly and differentially to Cd, Pb, Hg, Zn, Co ions and SDS, and with less sensitivity to Ni, and As; responses were also dose-related in a short-term assay. DMF, a solvent used to dissolve or extract several organic compounds in environmental testing, stimulated light output but in a controlled fashion. Selected substituted heterocyclic compounds tested and phenol, d- nitrophenol and strontium failed to cause dose-related inhibition, whereas di-, tri-, tetra- and penta-chlorophenol decreased light output in a long-term assay. DMF-dissolved PAH compounds were tested in the long-term assay and naphthalene, phenanthrene, fluorene, fluoranthene and benzo[a]pyrene presented dose-related responses while benz[a] anthracene and di-benzo[a]anthracence were not suitable for use in this type of assay. Although there is need to investigate extensive toxicity assays to gain broad acceptance, the water-based monitoring system showed repeatable and reliable toxicity assessment and has great possibility of usage in aquatic samples in either water-soluble or DMF-soluble forms. This study allowed explanation of the stress responses of strain VUN10,077 to be examined at a variety of levels. Bioluminescence was the most sensitive approach to determining the lowest concentrations of pollutants which affected cell physiology, as this was obvious at concentrations lower than required to cause changes in viability or induce stress responses.


The effects of different levels and sources of salinity on growth, yield and quality of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Palmera), grown in a closed hydroponic system using perlite as a substrate were studied in a greenhouse experiment. Five different salinity treatments imposed in the nutrient solution supplied to the crop were tested: a control treatment involving a standard nutrient solution for cucumber (EC = 2.1 dS m-1), low NaCl-salinity (EC = 3.0 dS m-1), high NaCl-salinity (EC = 5.0 dS m-1), low CaCl2-salinity (EC = 3.0 dS m-1) and high CaCl2-salinity (EC = 4.80 dS m-1). The salinity treatments were obtained by adding as much NaCl or CaCl2 to the standard nutrient solution as required to increase the EC to 3.0 or 5.0 dS m-1. The corresponding salinity levels in the drainage solutions were 2.4 dS m-1, 4.1 dS m-1 and 6.3 dS m-1. The above EC values are means for the entire growing period; the actual values fluctuated to some extent at each irrigation event, depending on the actual amount and EC of drainage solution that was recycled.
The yield of cucumber was restricted as the electrical conductivity increased from 2.1 to 3.0 and 5.0 dS m-1 by NaCl salinity and from 3.0 to 4.80 dS m-1 by CaCl2 salinity. The high NaCl-salinity treatment resulted in a yield reduction of 12%, while the high CaCl2-salinity treatment reduced yield by 6% as compared to the control treatment. The most marked reduction in the vegetative growth of cucumber plants was observed also with the high NaCl-treatment. The N and P tissue concentrations were not affected significantly by the salinity treatments, but the K and Na concentrations in plant tissue revealed a competitive uptake pattern in when NaCl was the source of the salinity stress. The Mg level in tissues of old leaves was significantly affected by the high CaCl2-salinity treatment. The concentration of Na was significantly increased in the plants under NaCl stress, whilst Ca was increased in the plants when CaCl2 was the source of salinity. The micronutrient contents (Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn and B) in the different plant fractions either showed no significant differences or no consistent pattern was observed when different salinity sources and concentrations were applied. The different salinity levels imposed either by NaCl or CaCl2 did not affect the vitamin C and chlorophyll content of cucumber fruits. However, the total soluble solids were significantly enhanced when the EC level in the nutrient solution increased from 3.0 to 5.0 dS m-1 regardless of using NaCl or CaCl2 to raise salinity.


Free-hand gesture recognition technologies allow touchless interaction with a range of applications. However, touchless interaction concepts usually only provide primary, visual feedback on a screen. The lack of secondary tactile feedback, such as that of pressing a key or clicking a mouse, in interaction with free-hand gestures is one reason that such techniques have not been adopted as a standard means of input. This work explores the use of auditory display to improve free-hand gestures. Gestures using a Leap motion controller were augmented with auditory icons and continuous, model-based sonification. Three concepts were generated and evaluated using a sphere-selection task and a video frame selection task. The user experience of the participants was evaluated using NASA TLX and QUESI questionnaires. Results show that the combination of auditory and visual display outperform both purely auditory and purely visual displays in terms of subjective workload and performance measures.


This volume collects cutting-edge research and expository on algorithmic probability and combinatorics. It includes contributions by well-established experts and younger researchers who use generating functions, algebraic and probabilistic methods as well as asymptotic analysis on a daily basis. Walks in the quarter-plane and random walks (quantum, rotor and self-avoiding), permutation tableaux, and random permutations are considered. In addition, articles in the volume present a variety of saddle-point and geometric methods for the asymptotic analysis of the coefficients of single- and multi-variable generating functions associated with combinatorial objects and discrete random structures. The volume should appeal to pure and applied mathematicians, as well as mathematical physicists; in particular, anyone interested in computational aspects of probability, combinatorics and enumeration. Furthermore, the expository or partly expository papers included in this volume should serve as an entry point to this literature not only to experts in other areas, but also to graduate students.


One of the central problems in the history of philosophy has been to explain how human society came into being. To solve this problem philosophers developed the idea of natural law, which for centuries was used to describe the rational principles presumed to govern human behavior in society. According to this view, human society arose through the association of individuals who might have chosen to live alone in scattered isolation and who, in coming together, were regarded as entering into a social contract.In this important early essay, first published in English in T.M. Knox's definitive translation in 1975 and now returned to print, Hegel rejects the notion that society is formed by voluntary association. Indeed, he goes further, asserting that laws brought about in response to force, accident, and deliberation are far more fundamental than any law of nature supposed to be valid always and everywhere. In expounding his view Hegel not only dispenses with the empiricist explanations of Hobbes, Hume, and others but also, at the heart of this work, offers an extended critique of the so-called formalist positions of Kant and Fichte."


We showed the case of a sixty-five-yearold woman who developed refractory septic shock as a result of endocarditis of the native mitral valve with maintained neat systolic function of the left ventricle and moderate mitral regurgitation. Streptococcus sanguinis was isolated from hemoculture. The patient did not have clearly known predisposing factors for the development of endocarditis, nor had elevated temperature. She died 32 hours after being admitted to the hospital.


Jacques Derrida's 1953/54 thesis "The Problem of Genesis in Husserl's Philosophy" is one of those examples of important philosophers reaching extraordinary levels of erudition even in their early work. In his lecture "Der frühe Derrida und die Phänomenologie", Alexander Schnell reads Derrida's thesis not only as prime example for Derrida´s own thinking, but also as a key text for a future phenomenology, namely in its confrontation with the questions and problems of metaphysics. In doing so, Schnell elaborately unfolds not only the factual and historical context in which Derrida's text itself is situated, but also the factual and historical context of Husserl's texts interpreted by Derrida.


Adsorption of lead(II) and nickel(II) ions from aqueous solutions was investigated by Bermuda grass biomass. The adsorption process was studied as a function of pH, initial metal concentration, temperature and time. The experimental data obtained were investigated via Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms. The kinetic data were examined by pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models. The biomass was shown to be highly efficient in the removal of lead and nickel ions with the removal of 99% and 54% for lead and nickel ions, respectively. The results showed that Bermuda grass biomass could be utilized as an available, cheap, biodegradable and efficient adsorbent for the removal of toxic metal ions from aqueous solutions.


In this study, the mechanical properties and microstructure of lithium disilicate glass–ceramics in the Li2O-SiO2-Al2O3-K2O-P2O5-ZrO2-CaO glass system were investigated. The glass-ceramics were prepared from the glass melt by casting into mold on hotplate. After that the glass was heat treated at 650-800 °C for 2 h. The heat treatment temperatures were determined from the differential thermal analysis (DTA). The phase formation and microstructure of the glass–ceramics were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Moreover, the mechanical properties was investigated by Vickers hardness testing. The results indicated that the samples confirmed the occurrence of Li2SiO3, Li2Si2O5, Li3PO4, and LiAlSi2O6 phases in the prepared glass ceramics. The optimum heat treatment temperature results in the physical properties with a high Vickers hardness values in the range of 5.4-5.8 GPa.


From 1760-2010, Germany has been marked by several levels of nation-building as well as many different ideological and territorial projects. This inquiry has focused on processes of long continuity, spanning unification in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, adding the most important ruptures and institutional inventions to get a firm-enough basis for conclusions on the institutional role of museums vis-a-vis the state-making process. The most significant periods for the interaction between museums and nation-building can be labelledThe struggle, leading to Germany's unification in 1871, where several regions made their bids through museums.Imperial unity on display from 1871-1914. National museums were stabilizing and universalizing the German Empire in the world.Nazi cultural policy, 1933-1945: Comprehensive museum plans for the Third Reich.GDR (German Democratic Republic) national museums between 1949-1990 were dominated by the ideology of socialist culture.The Federal republic, before and after 1990: inscribing Nazi and GDR as pasts contained within brackets.Germany's history is marked by the processes of unification meeting dissociative forces resulting in dramatic political shifts and the persistence of a complex federal structure. Museums reflect various strategies both within this history and through contributions to stabilizing, reinforcing and materializing ideas of continuity. Balancing the unifying message of the heritage of a Roman – German legacy and later federal structures resulted in a distribution of national museums in Berlin, Munich, Nuremberg and Bonn. A long-standing cooperation and tension between local, regional and national identities with a clear utopian and activist element marks initiatives taken for establishing national museums. What later became national museums often started as private individual or collective elite initiatives aimed at putting certain projects on the political agenda.The enlightenment ambitions went beyond national borders with the establishment of Humboldt University in Berlin in 1810 and several of the institutions at the Museumsinselas "Universalmuseen". The scientific and technical scope of Deutsches Museum in Munich captured the rational dimension in German identity politics into the next century. These rational and scientific ambitions coincided in time and helped to legitimize both military national unification and imperial undertakings.Implicit and explicit historical narratives representing the existence of German culture dominated national museums with a plastic delimitation between a European (Roman), Germanspeaking and German state as the space of representation. Art and cultural history was more expandable, while political history followed the honours and sorrows of political community.National museums have, overall, survived with an astonishing continuity when successively changing the goal of state-making from creating the state, an empire, a Nazi state to overcoming that past and creating democratic visions in both liberal and communist versions to, again, healing that division and constructing it as a parenthesis in history. A re-nationalisation process post-1990 again activated investments in museums and reveals again a standing ambiguity in dealing with national sentiments. This is most clearly visible in museum discussions and projects dealing with the NS-legacy versus demands for "Normalisierung".As opposed to many European countries from France to Greece that have a high level of centralization within the field of culture, both culture and cultural politics is, in Germany, mainly dealt with on a regional level within each Bundesland. This can partly be explained by the terrifying experience of a centralized rule and the misuse of art and culture for political ends made during the NS-regime (Klein 2003):71). After the war, one sought to prevent this through legislation by reducing state influence within the cultural policy sphere through the foundational law (GG article 5(3) and 30). A federal - and thus fragmented - Germany was also something desired by the Allies. However, a decentralized Germany was nothing entirely new. An on-going interplay between regional and central forces in representing the state was one of the long-term phenomena, although driven by various logics: In the mid-19th century, the relative strength and actual outcome of the unification process was naturally open-ended which allowed for several strong suggestions, while mid-20thcentury dynamics was determined by the urge not to repeat the mishaps of a strong national ideology. The current trend seems to lend itself to stronger nationalizing forces in the field of memory politics.The overarching argument of the role played by national museums in the making of the German state and nation is that it has provided a platform for a cultural constitution only slowly negotiating changing ideas of what it means to be German and how to relate to local, regional and transnational communities. Hence, the main impact of the museums is to secure ideas of continuity in the midst of dramatic political change.