Aims The evidence base for the use of intravenous (IV) bronchodilator treatment in children with acute severe wheeze is limited. Thus, international guidelines vary with their recommendations. The aim of this evaluation was to examine the regimen currently used in emergency departments (EDs) of the UK and Ireland. Methods Demographic and clinical data along with IV treatment details were collected prospectively over a ten-week period (March–June 2013) from all children aged 1–16 years presenting with acute wheeze to 24 PERUKI (Paediatric Emergency Research in the UK and Ireland) centres. Results 3,297 children presented to the EDs. No nebulsed magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) was used. 110 children (3.3%) received IV bronchodilators. Median age was 4 years. Girls [63/110 (57.3%)] were more likely to receive IV treatment (p < 0.001). IV salbutamol was used in 61/110 (55.5%), aminophylline 52/110 (47.3%) and MgSO4, 67/110(60.9%) of cases. In 16.4%, all three drugs were administered and in 31.8%, two drugs were used together. Aminophylline, salbutamol and MgSO4 were used as single agents in 21.8%, 17.3% and 12.7% respectively. MgSO4 was administered concurrently with salbutamol in 7/25 (28%) of cases where these two drugs were used together. Order of preference, when used sequentially, was most commonly, salbutamol, MgSO4 then aminophylline. Thirty different treatment IV regimens were used varying in dose, rate and duration (bolus, load and infusion) for salbutamol with variability in maximal doses given. Bolus MgSO4 was used soley with no infusion although variable doses were used. Aminophylline was most commonly used as a bolus and infusion with similar doses in most cases. Conclusions There is huge variability in IV treatment regimen used for acute severe wheeze in children in the UK and Ireland. There is an urgent need for high quality randomised controlled trials to clarify, which is the safest and most effective regimen for this very sick group of children.


A full analytical procedure involving extraction and clean-up is presented for the determination of the tri-, tetra-, penta- and hexa-chlorobenzenes in sediments. For this study, the gas chromatography coupled to electronic capture detection was used. The samples were dried with sodium sulphate and Soxhlet extracted for 16 hours with dichloromethane. Then this solvent was replaced by hexane and the resulting solution was concentrated in a rotary evaporator. The clean-up process consisted of elution through a mixed silica column followed by a treatment with activated copper turnings to remove the sulphur. The sample was then concentrated down to 2 mL by nitrogen stream. The internal standard, 1,4-dibromobenzene, was added to the sample prior to the extraction, whereas the injection standard, 1,3,5-tribromobenzene, was added right before the sample was injected through the chromatographic system. The limits of quantification ranged from 71 to 500 pg g−1 (dry weight). The reproducibility in the peak areas within a day was better for the compounds with increasing number of chlorines, whereas the reproducibility over time studies provided no significant differences in the peak areas in consecutive days. The method was successfully applied to the determination of polychlorobenzenes in a certified sediment and, finally, it was applied to the determination of these compounds in several sections of a sediment core from Esthwaite Water Lake (United Kingdom).


In the past weeks, a lot of attention has been directed to the article by Philip Wong and colleagues – TDP-43 Repression of Nonconserved Cryptic Exons Is Compromised in ALS-FTD published in Science on August 7 (1). Several internet portals claimed that this study discovered the cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (2), provoking a number of reactions from the public, still sensibilized to ALS as a result of a recent world-wide fundraising event – the Ice Bucket Challenge. Some patients' associations even organized celebration parties with the message that "the Ice Bucket Challenge enabled scientists to finally solve the ALS mystery." This was also supported by Wong and colleagues, who expressed gratitude for donations and invited everyone to continue to raise the budget in this way (3).


The Semantic Web is based on ontology technology – a knowledge representation framework – at its core to make meaning explicit and more accessible to automatic processing. We discuss the potential of this technology for the development of content for learning technology systems. We survey seven application types demonstrating different forms of applications of ontologies and the Semantic Web in the development of learning technology systems. Ontology technologies can assist developers, instructors, and learners to organise, personalise, and publish learning content and to discover, generate, and compose learning content. A conceptual content development and deployment architecture allows us to distinguish and locate the different applications and to discuss and assess the potential of the underlying technologies.


Major, trace, rare-earth element geochemistry and isotopic data have been obtained for offshore igneous rocks from around the northern Rockall Trough, NE Atlantic Ocean. Most comprise basalts derived from the sub Rockall-Hebridean asthenospheric mantle, but subcontinental lithospheric mantle generated the phono-tephrites of Rosemary Bank, and melting of upper crust was responsible for the peraluminous dacites of well 163/6-1A. Crustal contamination of the lavas around the Rockall Trough suggests that the Lewisian-Islay (Rockall Bank) basement terrane boundary crosses the trough and passes between George Bligh and Rockall Banks. Basalts representing uncontaminated mantle-derived material are scarce, but the available data indicate that the Cretaceous basalts of Rosemary Bank and Anton Dohrn have higher 206Pb/204Pb ratios than the younger Palaeocene lavas of Rockall Bank, the Hebrides Shelf and well 163/6-1A, implying significant geographic and/or temporal changes in mantle composition.


This study aims to determine whether ramp meters increase the capacity of active freeway bottlenecks. The traffic flow characteristics at 27 active bottlenecks in the Twin Cities have been studied for seven weeks without ramp metering and seven weeks with ramp metering. A methodology for systematically identifying active freeway bottlenecks in a metropolitan area is proposed, which relies on two occupancy threshold values and is compared to an established diagnostic method – transformed cumulative count curves. A series of hypotheses regarding the relationships between ramp metering and the capacity of active bottlenecks are developed and tested against empirical traffic data. It is found that meters increase the bottleneck capacity by postponing and sometimes eliminating bottleneck activations, accommodating higher flows during the pre-queue transition period, and increasing queue discharge flow rates after breakdown. Results also suggest that flow drops after breakdown and the percentage flow drops at various bottlenecks follow a normal distribution. The implications of these findings on the design of efficient ramp control strategies, as well as future research directions, are discussed. ! 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Artists: Nick Crowe & Ian Rawlinson, James Acord, Susan Schuppli, Kota Takeuchi, Thomson & Craighead, David Mabb, Erika Kobayashi Curated by Ele Carpenter Material Nuclear Culture is an exhibition exploring the material traces and cultural legacy of nuclear powered submarines in the UK, within the international discourse of deep time aesthetics and memory. A partnership between KARST and Arts Catalyst, curated by Ele Carpenter. The exhibition highlights the complexity of archiving the cultural legacy of submarine heritage within a wider discussion of how to comprehend the deep time challenges of radioactive waste storage. Nick Crowe & Ian Rawlinson's new film, Courageous, follows the material surfaces of a nuclear submarine. Jon Thomson & Alison Craighead's, temporary index, is a digital artwork that counts down decay rates of entombed radioactive waste sites around the world. David Mabb's new sculptural series, A Provisional Memorial to Nuclear Disarmament, draws on the Royal Navy's love of William Morris fabric and Morris's revolutionary politics. Susan Schuppli's audio work Sound of Sand, investigates the poetics of sonar surveillance. The exhibition will situate these new works alongside works by Japanese artists investigating the deep time memory over generations. Erika Kobayashi's 'Half Life' calendar maps the intergenerational timescales of radiation between Europe and Japan, through the decay rate of Raduim. Artist Kota Takeuchi will present his work Take Stone Monuments Twice revisiting monuments along the Tohoku coast of Japan. The artwork reflects on the tensions between monuments of the past and markers for the future. This year will mark the end of the Royal Navy fifteen-year public consultation on how to dismantle British nuclear submarines, and where to store the reactor vessels. The Submarine Dismantling Project Advisory Group is the first MOD public consultation with expert advisors, NGO's and statutory agencies that represent a range of experience and political concerns. The exhibition takes place in the spirit of the advisory group and their commitment to an open and frank discussion about the issues of nuclear dismantling and radioactive waste management. Partners The Material Nuclear Culture exhibition is produced by KARST and Arts Catalyst, curated by Ele Carpenter with support from: Arts Council England, Goldsmiths College University of London, University of Westminster, Sasakawa Foundation, and Bildmuseet Sweden. The research and development of the exhibition was also supported by AHRC, npo S-Air and the Daiwa Foundation.


A common problem of many current singing voice synthesizers is that obtaining a natural-sounding and expressive performance requires a lot of manual user input. This thus becomes a time-consuming and difficult task. In this paper we introduce a unit selection-based approach for the generation of expression parameters that control the synthesizer. Given the notes of a target score, the system is able to automatically generate pitch and dynamics contours. These are derived from a database of singer recordings containing expressive excerpts. In our experiments the database contained a small set of songs belonging to a single singer and style. The basic length of units is set to three consecutive notes or silences, representing a local expression context. To generate the contours, first an optimal sequence of overlapping units is selected according to a minimum cost criteria. Then, these are time scaled and pitch shifted to match the target score. Finally, the overlapping, transformed units are crossfaded to produce the output contours. In the transformation process, special care is taken with respect to the attacks and releases of notes. A parametric model of vibratos is used to allow transformation without affecting vibrato properties such as rate, depth or underlying baseline pitch. The results of a perceptual evaluation show that the proposed approach is comparable to parameters that are manually tuned by expert users and outperforms a baseline system based on heuristic rules.


This essay describes the contours of the shareholder-to-shareholder duty of fairness within closely held corporations and explores some of the problems caused by the law's imprecision in defining the duty of fairness. Because this duty is best understood as a rejection of old norms, part one of this essay describes the traditional doctrines of intra-corporate responsibility. Part two describes the special characteristics of a close corporation and outlines how those characteristics pushed close corporation law to new concepts of fairness and shareholder duties. Part three attempts to delineate those duties of fairness and also to highlight some of the dangers that arise when the law places fairness above predictability. Part four examines cases where close corporation law and employment law overlap, and uses those cases to show that parties can put some limits on the ambiguity of "fairness." Part five uses the lesson from part four and makes concrete suggestions to practitioners.


Purpose
To examine the feasibility of imaging-based spirometry using high-temporal-resolution projection MRI and hyperpolarized xenon 129 (129Xe) gas.

Materials and Methods
In this prospective exploratory study, five healthy participants (age range, 25-45 years; three men) underwent an MRI spirometry technique using inhaled hyperpolarized 129Xe and rapid two-dimensional projection MRI. Participants inhaled 129Xe, then performed a forced expiratory maneuver while in an MR imager. Images of the lungs during expiration were captured in time intervals as short as 250 msec. Volume-corrected images of the lungs at expiration commencement (0 second), 1 second after expiration, and 6 seconds after expiration were extracted to generate forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and FEV1/FVC ratio pulmonary maps. For comparison, participants performed conventional spirometry in the sitting position using room air, in the supine position using room air, and in the supine position using a room air and 129Xe mixture. Paired t tests with Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons were used for statistical analyses.

Results
The mean MRI-derived FEV1/FVC value was lower in comparison with conventional spirometry (0.52 ± 0.03 vs 0.70 ± 0.05, P < .01), which may reflect selective 129Xe retention. A secondary finding of this study was that 1 L of inhaled 129Xe negatively impacted pulmonary function as measured by conventional spirometry (in supine position), which reduced measured FEV1 (2.70 ± 0.90 vs 3.04 ± 0.85, P < .01) and FEV1/FVC (0.70 ± 0.05 vs 0.79 ± 0.04, P < .01).

Conclusion
A forced expiratory maneuver was successfully imaged with hyperpolarized 129Xe and high-temporal-resolution MRI. Derivation of regional lung spirometric maps was feasible.Keywords: MR-Imaging, MR-Dynamic Contrast Enhanced, MR-Functional Imaging, Pulmonary, Thorax, Diaphragm, Lung, Pleura, Physics Supplemental material is available for this article. © RSNA, 2021.


Despite their many differences, Americans have long been bound by a shared sense of federal constitutional commonality, believing that the U.S. Constitution means the same thing in Atlanta and Anaheim and in Austin and Amarillo. With respect to the Fourth Amendment in particular, the Supreme Court has maintained that it is "enforceable in the same manner and to like effect" nationwide and does not "vary from place to place," avoiding citizens being subject to "arbitrarily variable protection." Of late, however, several leading scholars have argued that Fourth Amendment doctrine should in effect be localized: that courts should defer to the preferences of local political branch actors.
In doing so, they align themselves with a broader literature that extols local constitutionalism more generally, invoking as precedent for instance the requirement that local juries determine if material is obscene for First Amendment purposes. If localism works for the First Amendment, and the Second Amendment, as also recently asserted, why not the Fourth Amendment? Or are the interests that the Fourth Amendment protects sufficiently distinct such that they should not be allowed to hinge on local preference? This article examines these and other important questions. In doing so, it explores a structural constitutional issue of major theoretical and practical importance in our federalist system, and offers, going forward, an analytic rubric that allows the benefits of localism to accrue while avoiding its many pitfalls.


Biomass can be thermally treated to generate a wide range of valuable products, which can be used as a fuel or for chemicals production. Pyrolysis is a popular thermal process that is used to transform biomass into either bio-oil or bio-char by controlling the operating conditions (e.g., temperature and residence time); however, because biomass is a highly heterogeneous material, its pyrolysis involves complex chemical and physical changes. Various proposed mechanisms have been successful in capturing different aspects of biomass pyrolysis in different conditions, but there is still lack of consensus on a definitive kinetic mechanism. This review summarizes and discusses different types of kinetic models used to describe biomass pyrolysis and predict product yields.


Zbigniew Brzezinski's multifaceted career dealing with U.S. security and foreign policy has led him from the halls of academia to multiple terms in public service, including a stint as President Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor from 1977 to 1981. He is a renowned policy analyst and author who frequently appears as a commentator on popular talk shows, and his strategic vision continues to carry a great deal of gravitas. in Zbig, Charles Gati has enlisted many of the top foreign policy players of the past thirty years to reflect on and analyze Brzezinski and his work. A senior scholar in Eastern European and Russian studies, Gati observed firsthand much of the history and politics surrounding Brzezinski's career. His vibrant introduction and concluding interview with Brzezinski frame this critical assessment of a major statesman's accomplishments. Contributors: Justin Vaisse, David C. Engerman, Mark Kramer, David J. Rothkopf, Warren I. Cohen and Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, Robert A. Pastor, William B. Quandt, Robert Hunter, James Thomson, Patrick Vaughan, Marin Strmecki, James Mann, David Ignatius, Adam Garfinkle, Stephen F. Szabo, Francis Fukuyama, Charles Gati


Over the last decade, the position of Moluccan pupils in the Dutch educational system has not improved. Undoubtedly, their Dutch language skills are a major factor in their chances of success. Yet Moluccan parents and Dutch teachers do not seem to be overly concerned about these language skills nor do they press for specific strategies in language teaching and language acquisition.This paper offers a summary of linguistic research on Moluccans in the last decade. Research has focused on several aspects, such as the vitality of Moluccan Malay as a minority language, the attitudes of parents towards bilingualism and bilingual education, the Dutch language skills of pupils in primaty and secondary education or the extent of literacy within the Moluccan community. The outcome should convince both parents and teachers that educational policies should include Moluccan pupils. The research provides some insights into the causes of the lack of progress. Still, until now, factors like the use of Dutch in Moluccan homes and local communities or the quality of interaction within the classroom have not been researched at all. Further research is needed to help improve the language policies of Dutch schools towards Moluccan pupils.


The Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) on- board Envisat operated successfully for just over 10 years until the failure of Envisat in April 2012. ASAR was ESA's very first deployment of a C-band phased- array antenna, allowing extended imaging capacity in comparison to its ERS SAR predecessors. As such it operated in various acquisition modes - Image (IM), Alternating Polarisation (AP), Wide Swath (WS), Global Monitoring (GM), and Wave (WV). For IM and AP modes there was a selection of 7 swaths with swath width from 100 km to 56 km: IM was single- polarisation, while AP was dual-pol, offering a choice from HH&VV, HH&HV, or VV&VH. WS and GM modes had a total swath width of 405 km based on the combination of 5 sub-swaths. WV acquired imagettes of 10 km by 10 km every 100 km along the satellite track. This paper is a look back to the 10 years of ASAR operations, covering topics such as the ASAR Instrument (characteristics, acquisition modes, product tree and observation scenario), Instrument Calibration and Performance Verification (including instrument stability, internal calibration, external calibration, absolute radiometric calibration, localisation accuracy, absolute geolocation accuracy, performance verification and product calibration), ASAR specific missions (wave and polarimetric), particular ASAR events such as


Sociology's contribution to our understanding of the Latin American development process has been closely linked to studies on the social structure and stratification of the region and to analyses and interpretations of the various social groups' characters and behaviour. This investigative effort has been directed towards ascertaining the specific forms taken by the structure of social groups and classes in the regi n, since it had been postulated that these traits -which are an inherent part of Latin America- were determinants of the patterns which the development process would follow. The present article reviews the main interpretive approaches which have been or are still being used today by Latin American sociologists for the study of the main social groups' and classes' attitudes and forms of behaviour. The profound nature of the changes now taking place provides grounds for a reconsideration of the hypotheses made in this connection; the aim of this re-examination should be to retain the valuable aspects of these hypotheses and to use them as a basis for their further development and perhaps for the formulation of new hypotheses as well.


The surfactant properties usually required for EOR are investigated with alpha-olefin sulfonates (AOS's), particularly at high temperature, salinity, and hardness, together with their solubility in brine, chemical stability, phase behavior, and adsorption. The use of a cosolvent enables aqueous solutions to be prepared with concentrated brine, even at high divalent cation levels. But the chemical stability of some solutions can be affected by their sensitivity to the oxidation of unsaturated components, resulting in a decrease of the pH. Precautionary measures to stabilize the solutions are stressed-i.e., aneorobic environment, maintenance of an alkaline pH, or addition of alcohol. As already shown, these surfactants provide low interfacial tensions (IFT's) and high solubilization parameters at high salinity and divalent cation content. Properties of optimal formulations have been investigated as a function of surfactant and cosolvent molecular weight and brine composition. Adsorption data on Na/sup -/ and Ca/sup -/ kaolinite are presented. In NaCl solutions, the amount of sulfonate adsorbed increases slightly with salinity. Preliminary measurements in hard water are shown to bring out the specific effect of calcium ions. According to the results concerning properties validly considered as screening criteria, we conclude that this family of sulfonates appears to be a potential candidatemore » for EOR.« less


Asphalt mix design includes the determination of a gradation, asphalt content, other volumetric properties, the evaluation of mechanical properties and moisture damage potentials. In this paper, a computational method is developed to aid mix design. Discrete element method (DEM) was used to simulate the formation of skeleton and voids structures of asphalt concrete of different gradations of aggregates. The optimum gradation could be determined by manipulating the particle locations and orientations and placing smaller particles in the voids among larger particles. This method aims at an optimum gradation, which has been achieved through experimental methods. However, this method takes the mechanical properties or performance of the mixture into consideration, such as inter-aggregate contacts and local stability. A simple visco-elastic model was applied to model the contacts between asphalt binder and aggregates. The surface texture of an aggregate particle can be taken into consideration in the inter-particle contact model. The void content before compactions was used to judge the relative merits of a gradation. Once a gradation is selected, the Voids in Mineral Aggregate (VMA) can be determined. For a certain air void content, the mastics volume or the binder volume or the asphalt content can be determined via a digital compression test. The surface area of all the aggregates and the film thickness can be then calculated. The asphalt content can also be determined using an alternative approach that is based on modeling the inter-particle contact with an asphalt binder layer. In this study, considering the necessity of preservation of the compaction temperature, the effect of various temperatures on Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) samples properties has been evaluated. As well, to evaluate the effect of this parameter on different grading, two different grading have been used and samples were compacted at various temperatures.


Climate change has become reality. In the very many contemporary writings about global warming, the discussion has been centred around the negative impacts of climate change. The burden of climate change has been thematised and cost-sharing strategies heatedly debated. The need for fairness in sharing the burden of climate change has been argued to considering national economies, the world society but also balance inbetween generations. In the current frustration over the neglect of interest in ratifying intergovernmental climate agreements, the question arises whether the incentive structure of burden sharing models is appropriate to move the very many we need for climate stabilization. Only for these reasons, the following article sheds novel light on global warming from an almost unprecedentedly covered angle: The benefits of a warming earth! Considering climate change only as problematic is challenged as unidimensional. The article therefore pursues a more creative approach to overcome the obstacle of climate change. While the contemporary climate negotiations may be stuck in the one-sided grilling to share burden lowering participation motivation; unravelling the unprecedentedly described benefits arising from a warming earth may help build a more whole-rounded participatory incentive structure. State-of-the-art welfare function measurements and economic productivity parameters become the basis for conclusions about a fair spread of the gains and benefits from a warming earth. Contemporary Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measurements serve as basis for estimations about the productivity of the agriculture, industry and service sectors around the world in a changing temperature. Based on the cardinal temperatures for the agriculture, industry and service sectors productivity, the average temperature per country around the world as well as climate projections of the year 2100 under the business as usual path, this article reveals for the very first time climate winners and losers around the world. Overall and simply seen from a narrow-minded GDP perspective, the world will macroeconomically benefit more from climate change until 2100 than lose. Winning and losing from a warming earth is significantly positively correlated with the Paris COP 21 emissions country percentage of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) for ratification, leading to the conclusion that the countries that have the longest time horizon regarding a warming earth also lack motivation to mitigate global climate change. The paper concludes with introducing the climatorial imperative – advocating for the need for fairness in the distribution of the global earth benefits among nations based on Kant's imperative to only engage in actions one wants to experience themselves being done to them. Passive neglect of action on climate mitigation is an active injustice to others. While the method to measure the gains from climate change can certainly be refined in future studies, this article is meant as very first preliminary step to open a gate to legal codifications and policy work to settle for a right, just and fair distribution of benefits from our common warming mother earth. The introduction of the gains from climate change is a novel approach that should solely be seen in connection to the imperative to distribute the gains in a fair manner among all world inhabitants. Focusing on gains may serve as means to hopefully draw attention to climate change of agnostic market actors or those who shy away from action given the overall negative connotation of climate change burden sharing and economic productivity loss aversion.


Emotions can shape decision processes by altering valuation signals, risk perception, and strategic orientation. Although multiple theories posit a role for affective processes in mediating the influence of frames on decision making, empirical studies have yet to demonstrate that manipulated affect modulates framing phenomena. The present study asked whether induced affective states alter gambling propensity and the influence of frames on decision making. In a between-subjects design, we induced mood (happy, sad, or neutral) in subjects (N=91) via films that were interleaved with the framing task. Happy mood induction increased gambling and apparently accentuated framing effects compared to sad mood induction, although the effect on framing could have resulted from the fact that the increased tendency to gamble made the framing measure more sensitive. Happy mood induction increased gambling, but not framing magnitude, compared to neutral mood induction. Subjects experiencing a sad mood induction did not exhibit behavioral differences from those experiencing a neutral mood. For those subjects who experienced the happy mood induction, both gambling propensity and framing magnitude were positively correlated with the magnitude of the change in their mood valence. We discuss the broader implications of mood effects on real-world economic decisions.


The paper considers Edgeworth expansions for estimators of volatility. Unlike the usual exapsions, we have found that in order to obtain meaningful terms, one needs to let the size of the noise to go zero asymptotically. This is reflected in our expansions. The results have application to Cornish-Fisher inversion and bootstrapping.


This Article develops a new standard for gap filling in incomplete contracts. It focuses on an important class of situations in which parties leave their agreement deliberately incomplete, with the intent to further negotiate and resolve the remaining issues. In these situations, neither the traditional no-enforcement result nor the usual gap filling approaches accord with the parties' partial consent. Instead, the Article develops the concept of pro-defendant gap-fillers, under which each party is granted an option to enforce the transaction supplemented with terms most favorable (within reason) to the other party. A deliberately incomplete contract with pro-defendant gap fillers transforms into two complete contracts, each favorable to a different party, with each party entitled to enforce only the contract favorable to her opponent. Under this approach, partial consent gives rise to a correspondingly intermediate burden of liability. The Article demonstrates that this regime promotes the interests of negotiating parties who enter agreements-to-agree. It also identifies various doctrinal practices that already incorporate the pro-defendant gap filling logic.


Reconstruction of magnetic resonance images from data not falling on a Cartesian grid is widely used for fast acquisitions, and it is a Fourier inversion problem typically solved using convolution interpolation, also known as gridding. This work presents a comparison between two gridding reconstruction methods to reconstruct magnetic resonance images from acquisitions using spiral trajectories through k-space. One method (grid-driven) is not based on a density compensation function while the other one (Direct Summation) uses Voronoi cells for the determination of the necessary areas to estimate the corresponding density compensation function. Both methods have been applied to the same image to see the reconstruction quality of each method. Both methods have correctly reconstructed the original image using only 13.73% of the original full-grid data from a Cartesian trajectory.


Title of Dissertation: ANTIBIOTIC CONCENTRATIONS AND THE COMPOSITION OF BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES IN MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER AND RECLAIMED WATER Prachi Kulkarni, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016 Dissertation directed by: Dr. Amy R. Sapkota, Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health Before reclaimed water is used more widely within the current United States (U.S.) wastewater treatment infrastructure, it is important to examine the potential public health impacts of this emerging, alternative freshwater resource. My dissertation evaluated antibiotic concentrations and the composition of bacterial communities in conventionally treated municipal wastewater and resulting reclaimed water. I also evaluated the efficacy of a point-of-use filtration system in reducing antimicrobials present in reclaimed water. My objectives were to: 1) Assess the fate of antibiotics and; 2) Characterize the total bacterial community structure of differentially treated wastewater, and reclaimed water that has undergone on-site treatment and storage; and 3) Evaluate zero-valent iron (ZVI)-biosand filtration as a potential point-of use treatment technology for the reduction of antimicrobials from conventionally treated reclaimed water. I extracted nine antibiotics and total genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from differentially treated wastewater and reclaimed water samples from two Mid-Atlantic and two Midwest WWTPs, and one associated Mid-Atlantic spray irrigation site. I quantified the presence of antibiotics using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), and characterized total bacterial community structure using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. I also used HPLC-MS/MS to quantify the reduction of thirteen antimicrobials from conventionally treated reclaimed water after ZVI-biosand filtration. Statistical analyses included the Kruskal Wallis test, paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and differential abundance using normalization achieved by cumulative sum scaling. Activated sludge treatment used at all four WWTPs resulted in the reduction of some antibiotics and the increase of genera containing potentially pathogenic bacteria (Mycobacterium and Legionella). Treatment plant chlorination and spray irrigation site ultraviolet radiation (UV) treatment and open-air storage reduced the concentration of azithromycin and increased the relative abundance of Mycobacterium. ZVI-biosand filtration achieved significant reductions in azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, linezolid, oxolinic acid, pipemidic acid, penicillin and vancomycin. This research provided additional scientific evidence that activated sludge treatment and chlorination alone may not be sufficient for the removal of antimicrobials and potentially pathogenic bacteria from municipal wastewater and resulting reclaimed water. However, ZVI-biosand filtration may be an efficient reuse site technology for the reduction of antimicrobials from conventionally treated reclaimed water. ANTIBIOTIC CONCENTRATIONS AND THE COMPOSITION OF BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES IN MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER AND RECLAIMED WATER


The results of Doppler spread and envelope fading based on CW measurements in the indoor radio channel are presented in this work. In this work, the temporal variations in the channel are caused by a moving receiver, or moving people in the vicinity of the transmitter and receiver. The result of the channel temporal variations is signal fading. The rate of fading can be measured by the Doppler spread. CW measurements were taken at different carrier frequencies from 14 to 14.5 GHz with an increment of 50 MHz. Different locations, antenna separation distances and positions (LOS or NLOS) were selected to collect the data. Each measurement consists of 2.5 seconds of temporal variations of the channel. The autoregressive spectral estimation method is used as a. tool to estimate the Doppler spread using CWmeasurements in the indoor radio channel. Results demon strated that this method provided good estimates of the Doppler spread. with a re�on able resolution and smoother spectrum than traditional spectrum estimation methods. The values of the Doppler spread under different measurement conditions are com pared. Statistical analysis of envelope fading distributions based on the K-S and Chi Square goodness tests and level crossing rates are presented. Those results can be used in future designs of wireless communication systems.


Sensor network performance is governed by the physical placement of sensors and their geometric relationship to the events they measure. To illustrate this, the entirety of this thesis covers the following interconnected subjects: 1) graphical analysis of the variance of the estimation error caused by physical characteristics of an acoustic target source and its geometric location relative to sensor arrays, 2) event/anomaly detection method for time aggregated point sensor data using a parametric Poisson distribution data model, 3) a sensor reduction or placement technique using Bellman optimal estimates of target agent dynamics and probabilistic training data (Goode, Chin, & Roan, 2011), and 4) transforming event monitoring point sensor data into event detection and classification of the direction of travel using a contextual, joint probability, causal relationship, sliding window, and geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) method.


Backgroud/Aims: The effects of rapamycin (RPM) on wound healing have been previously studied. However, reciprocal contradictory data have been reported, and the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aims to uncover differential role of RPM in regulation of wound healing and explore the possible mechanism. Methods: C57BL/6J mice and epidermal cells were treated with different doses of RPM. The wound re-epithelialization was observed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. The expression of IL-15 and IGF-1 were detected by immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time PCR. Epidermal cell survival was determined by CCK-8 assays. Moreover, the mTORC1 and mTORC2 pathway were examined by western blot analysis. Results: This study showed that differential doses of RPM could lead to separate consequences in epidermis. Histological analyses showed that low-dose RPM promoted wound healing, and enhanced the expression of IL-15 and IGF-1. Furthermore, western blot analysis showed that the effect of low-dose RPM in epidermis were not through mTORC1 pathway. Instead, activation of the Akt/mTORC2 pathway was involved in low-dose RPM-induced IL-15 and IGF-1 production in epidermis, while high-dose RPM inhibited the expression of IL-15 and IGF-1 and the activity of mTORC1 and mTORC2 pathway. Conclusion: This study for the first time demonstrated that RPM-mediated wound healing was dose-dependent.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the period of uncertainty created by the referendum. The focus is the UK real effective exchange rate (REER). The authors set out to measure the additional impact of the uncertainty surrounding the referendum. The authors distinguish this from the longer trend value of Sterling.

Design/methodology/approach
The study applies a reduced form exchange rate model, first introduced by Edwards (1994), and makes use of Bank of England daily data for the period November 2015–July 2016.

Findings
The results indicate a sharp depreciation of Sterling with reference to its long-term trend. The authors set out some of the possible context which may account for fluctuations during the referendum campaigning period. This can be distinguished from other longer-term factors likely to be previously responsible for trend depreciation, and also from the further sharp depreciation effects triggered by the referendum outcome. The principal finding is that during the week of the referendum, up to the declaration of the result, exchange rate depreciation deviated from the long-run trend by approximately 3.5 per cent, but the actual immediate effect on the exchange rate was an 8 per cent depreciation. Over the period from the announcement of the referendum, the exchange rate fluctuated markedly around its trend and one can also identify a larger effect based on the "wrong-footing" of markets at the point when the outcome was announced.

Research limitations/implications
The research has important implications, as one might further infer that this marks a step change in attitudes to Sterling as Brexit became a real issue rather than a notional concern. One can thus consider the exchange rate as both symptom of and indicator for determinations of the underlying economic strength or weakness of the economy. In essence, it has acted as a litmus test.

Practical implications
The research has important practical implications in understanding the dynamics of the exchange rate market and the role of uncertainty in its dynamics.

Social implications
The study has important social implications as the changes to exchange rates are a perennial cause for concern. Exchange rates sit as one among many problems for the contemporary UK economy. Brexit has resulted in a significant subsequent depreciation of Sterling. Inter alia, though the immediate effect of Brexit on growth was muted due to unexpected sustained consumer spending, throughout the latter half of 2016 and the first two quarters of 2017, business investment slowed, the rate of deficit reduction slowed (but without any concomitant meaningfully rise in government investment in infrastructure, etc.) and both main measures of inflation began to rise.

Originality/value
The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by exploring the period of uncertainty created by the referendum and its implications for the UK REER. The study differentiates and reflects on the weakness of Sterling due to the weak external position of UK's economy and the further role played by the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. In this sense, it important contribution to theory as well as practice.


We expect a president to respond to public opinion as an elected official in a democracy. Indeed, the president needs public support to overcome opposition to his policies in Congress and the bureaucracy. At the same time the president may want to pursue policies that do not have widespread support. How does public opinion affect presidential policy making? Jeffrey Cohen finds that presidents are responsive to the public in selecting issues to focus on. If an issue has captured the interest of the people, then the president will focus on that issue. Cohen finds that having chosen to work on an issue, presidents pay less attention to public opinion when making a policy. The president will try to maintain control over the details of the policy so that the outcome fits his policy agenda.Cohen examines the way presidents from Eisenhower through Clinton have dealt with public opinion in policy making. He uses case studies of issues such as Clinton and gays in the military, Bush and the extension of unemployment benefits, and Kennedy and cutting the income tax, to explore the relationship between presidents and public opinion. In addition Cohen uses a quantitative analysis of State of the Union addresses and positions on roll call votes of presidents from Eisenhower through George Bush to test his theories.This book should appeal to political scientists and historians interested in the presidency and in public opinion, as well as general readers interested in the history of the American presidency.


Background and Aim: Selecting the appropriate form of anterior teeth in patients without teeth is important factor in restoring the missing beauty of the patient. For this purpose, the study of natural teeth in terms of investigating the relationship between dimensions and forms and its prevalence in the Iranian community is essential. Materials and Methods: This analytic and descriptive study was done with participation of 300 eligible patients and students with different genders. Where a maxillary impression was taken and poured in yellow stone. They were measured for length and 3 horizontal distances on the upper incisor consisting of cervical width, middle width and incisal width, by digital caliper with 0.01mm accuracy, and the prevalence of tooth form determined. Normal distribution variables were analyzed with logistic regression. Results: Analysis indicated that Average length and width of the maxillary central incisor in order is 9.12 ± 0.87 mm and is 8.44 ± 0.59 mm and average ratio of length and width is 0.92 ± 0.08 mm Horizontal and vertical dimensions of the clinical crown in the men slightly more than women, and the prevalence of tooth form thus obtained: oval incisior (53%), tapered-square (21.3%), tapered (16.7%), and square (9%). A significant correlation only could be shown between shape and width (p<0.05). Conclusion: With increasing the width of the central maxillary tooth, oval shape was observed more frequently than square form. Meantime of choosing dental form, oval form considered more because of its high incidence.


The U.S. Government's Race to the Top program inspired a wave of education reforms across the nation aimed at holding teachers individually accountable for their students' "growth" on test scores. These individualized programs implemented new forms of audit technologies aimed at orienting teachers' priorities toward the calculations produced by students, rather than towards students' holistic growth and well-being. In so doing, these programs signify an ideological rupture for teachers in that their long-shared sense of interpersonal accountability is institutionally re-directed – and reinforced with consequences – toward calculative accountability. In this dissertation, I investigated teachers' experiential navigation of the introduction of one such individualized consequential accountability policy in New York City. Taking a multi-contextual approach, I conducted four distinct narrative analyses that (a) examined prevalent patterns in teachers' experiential accounts, (b) situated their narration in the context of mediatized narrative constructions, (c) attended to their voicing of ideological dilemmas, and (d) focused on the life history of one exemplary teacher. In the foundational study of this dissertation, I found that the enactment of the new policies engendered assaultive social organizational processes in schools, which facilitated teachers' sense that they were engaged in the violation of their relational morality. In a complementary voice-based analysis, I found that this violation was not merely an affront to their ideological position, but also an embodied assault that struck at the core of their being. The teachers frequently narrated ways that this assault compelled them to leave their jobs, and accordingly, most of the teachers in this study made their exit. Moreover, while the teachers navigated institutional conditions that facilitated the violation of their sense of relational morality, teachers' expression of that valuestance was absent in the most prominent news media outlets of their time. Such an omission is congruent with the historic pattern in which non-educators have dominated the discursive construction of the policy paradigms that coordinated the lives of teachers. In my final analysis, I found that that the assault, domination, and moral injuries that were common throughout the teachers' narratives were vivified in the contours of one teachers' life history, which illuminated dynamic resonances between her more contemporary narration of policy enactment and previous traumatic experiences. Collectively, these complementary analyses illuminate how the enactment of individualized consequential accountability is a multi-layered process entangled in embodied, moral, interpersonal, existential, sociopolitical, and sociohistorical spheres of meaning-construction. Accordingly, this research expands upon dominant contemporary conceptions of education reform by illuminating the psychological consequences of teachers navigating individualized consequential accountability policies. Moreover, this dissertation also provides a potential model for narrative researchers pursuing multi-contextual investigative approaches grounded in the meaning-making processes of those who are the subjects of policy.


This research discusses an integer batch scheduling problems for a single-machine with positiondependent batch processing time due to the simultaneous effect of learning and forgetting. The decision variables are the number of batches, batch sizes, and the sequence of the resulting batches. The objective is to minimize total actual flow time, defined as total interval time between the arrival times of parts in all respective batches and their common due date. There are two proposed algorithms to solve the problems. The first is developed by using the Integer Composition method, and it produces an optimal solution. Since the problems can be solved by the first algorithm in a worst-case time complexity O(n2 n-1 ), this research proposes the second algorithm. It is a heuristic algorithm based on the Lagrange Relaxation method. Numerical experiments show that the heuristic algorithm gives outstanding results.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the pharmacokinetic properties of 1 IM injection of ceftiofur crystalline-free acid (CCFA) in American black ducks (Anas rubripes).

ANIMALS
20 adult American black ducks (6 in a preliminary experiment and 14 in a primary experiment).

PROCEDURES
Dose and route of administration of CCFA for the primary experiment were determined in a preliminary experiment. In the primary experiment, CCFA (10 mg/kg, IM) was administered to ducks. Ducks were allocated into 2 groups, and blood samples were obtained 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 48, 96, 144, 192, and 240 hours or 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 24, 72, 120, 168, and 216 hours after administration of CCFA. Plasma concentrations of ceftiofur free acid equivalents (CFAEs) were determined by use of high-performance liquid chromatography. Data were evaluated by use of a naive pooled-data approach.

RESULTS
The area under the plasma concentration versus time curve from 0 hours to infinity was 783 h•μg/mL, maximum plasma concentration observed was 13.1 μg/mL, time to maximum plasma concentration observed was 24 hours, terminal phase half-life was 32.0 hours, time that concentrations of CFAEs were higher than the minimum inhibitory concentration (1.0 μg/mL) for many pathogens of birds was 123 hours, and time that concentrations of CFAEs were higher than the target plasma concentration (4.0 μg/mL) was 73.3 hours.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
On the basis of the time that CFAE concentrations were higher than the target plasma concentration, a dosing interval of 3 days can be recommended for future multidose CCFA studies.


The current model describing the sealing mechanism of high-pressure hydrocarbon traps and the ensuing methodology for predicting top seal integrity and capacity in high-pressure plays assumes that the caprock, defined as the low matrix permeability formation immediately overlying the reservoir, is the seal. This study challenges this assumption and proposes the existence within the caprock of a fluid waste zone consisting of a system of fractures cutting from the reservoir upwards into the caprock and, therefore, charged with reservoir fluids. Because of the waste zone fractures the reservoir fluids are not sealed at the base of the caprock. Instead the seal coincides with the fracture waste zone tip point, which occurs at an important stress and stratigraphic boundary termed the ultimate seal. Six case studies demonstrate that in the UK Central Graben the top seal for Mesozoic high pressure hydrocarbon accumulations lies between the Base Cretaceous Unconformity and the base of the Chalk Group and that the Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation is not necessarily the seal for these traps. The data used for the construction of structural and stress models for the case studies include pore pressure measurements, formation integrity measurements, well logs and reflection seismic profiles. An important conclusion of this study is that the shorter the waste zone the higher the chance of finding a hydrocarbon column in the reservoir.


This thesis will focus on the design, synthesis, and validation of synthetic techniques to introduce s-tetrazine into peptides and proteins. The s-tetrazine molecule is effective for restricting peptides/proteins to macrocyclic conformations (i.e. stapling). Importantly, the incorporated s-tetrazine chromophore will undergo photodisassociation upon absorp-tion of a photon permitting the release of the restricted conformations (i.e. unstapling). In chapter one, we aimed to study a fundamental folding process known as the helix-coil transition by phototriggering coupled with transient two-dimensional infrared spec-troscopy (2D IR). The s-tetrazine molecule possesses the photochemical properties of an ideal phototrigger, as such, s-tetrazine was employed towards the development of tech-niques capable of capturing the fastest structural transitions of biomolecules with both high spatial and high temporal resolution. Tripeptide linchpins, containing the s-tetrazine phototrigger, were prepared by solid-phase peptide synthesis. The latter were then em-ployed toward the construction kinked helices near equilibrium via a fragment coupling procedure. The relaxation of the kinked helical structures were observed by pump/probe transient 2D IR spectroscopy. In chapter two, new synthetic protocols have been developed and validated for the in-troduction of s-tetrazine into peptides and proteins to staple and unstaple the confor-mations. Conditions for the introduction of stetrazine into cysteine sulfhydryl groups of unprotected peptides conducted with aqueous biphasic conditions, permitting the con-struction of macrocyclic peptides with a wide range of functionally and ring topology, bridging from one to 27 amino acid residues adjoining the cysteines. Importantly, the sta-pled conformations were released photochemically to their thiocyanate counterparts, and in turn the resulting thiocyanates removed to regenerate the native peptide. To the best of our knowledge s-tetrazine comprises the first example of a readily removable peptide sta-ple. Finally, the stapling and unstapling protocol has been extended to include thioredox-in as an example of a protein with an incorporated s-tetrazine construct that can also serve a useful role in conjugation strategies. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemistry First Advisor Amos B. Smith


This paper undertakes a comprehensive analysis of alternative investment vehicles in private equity, using unexplored custodial data about 112 limited partners over four decades. We differentiate between alternative vehicles that are GP-directed versus those where the LP has some discretion. Of the roughly 5500 distinct investments made by the LPs in our sample, 32% of investments (17% of capital commitments) were in such alternative vehicles; the allocation increased by more than 10 percentage points over the last decade. Alternative vehicles were far more likely to be offered by larger and North America-based buyout funds. The average performance of these alternative vehicles lagged that of the GPs' corresponding main funds. The best LP performance was among endowments, private pensions, and insurers. Finally, LPs with better past performance invested in alternative vehicles with better performance, even after conditioning on the GPs' past records. This result suggests that bargaining between GPs and LPs leads to gradation in investment performance based on the parties' outside options.


The development of constitutive models for the analysis of the creep (and fatigue) of structures at high temperature has a long history. Nevertheless, with a few exceptions, it is common in engineering practice to use relatively simple models, typically based on time- or strain-hardening coupled with a simple power-law derived from steady-state behavior. The use of simple constitutive models is usually adopted even when advanced finite element simulation of complex structures is undertaken. An inherent feature of the use of such simple models is that the presence of scatter in the original creep data is ignored – the parameters in the material models are obtained from a 'best-fit' to the raw scattered data. In practice creep design is often carried through using 'worst-case' property values, although these can also be difficult to accurately define. This is quite problematic for design: the assessment of the stress, strain, and possibly failure, of complex structures at high temperature must then be carried out in the context of major uncertainties about the fundamental materials modeling – and usually by analysts whose experience of stress analysis could be principally based on low temperature behavior where elastic properties such as Young's Modulus and, to some extent, time independent inelastic properties such as uniaxial yield stress and post-yield hardening are fairly certain, showing little variation. This situation in high temperature design leads to the identification of both types of known uncertainties in creep modeling and analysis: aleatory – scatter and randomness, that is stochastic uncertainty, and epistemic – lack of knowledge. The former has been studied in the literature, but to no great extent and has scarcely been embraced in design with the exception of the estimation of creep lifetime. The latter, to the writer's knowledge, has hardly been studied for high temperature design. Epistemic uncertainty in the present context extends not only to lack of experience/knowledge on the part of the designer or analyst, but also to the use of simplified constitutive models based on limited, and scattered, creep tests. The latter can be reduced, for example, by using more detailed material models and conducting more tests. A significant feature of epistemic uncertainty is that much of what we do know about creep scatter has been gained from carefully conducted laboratory tests: how this relates to real components under actual service conditions is largely unknown. The aim of this paper is to review available work on aleatory uncertainty in creep mechanics related to the effect of scatter in stress analysis, to examine the consequences for modeling and design and to propose a way forward.


Underpinned by the work of Schultze and Boland (2000) on situated knowledge work context, and using Bourdieu's (1990) theory of practice, this paper draws attention to potential sources of likely misalignment between Knowledge Management (KM) software and the implementing organisation. Using the case of a global IT-Management consultancy firm, the paper elucidates KM softwareorganisation misalignments as the consequence of differences between organisational and KM technology developer's 'situated' knowledge work contexts with due consideration of the case organisation's large and diverse user base. Such contextual differences reflect the differing 'situated' knowledge work structures that KM technology developers and adopting organisations deliberately acquire and evolve over time. Theoretically, by giving a more comprehensive account of how knowledge work structures were emergent and then embedded into the organisation that either develops or implements the technology, we wish to provide readers with insights into the sources of misalignment, thereby enriching theory of KM technology implementation. Practically, studies of this nature would help make organisations more aware of the factors that can influence KM software package implementation, particularly in the case of large firms that are characterised by high-value, text-based knowledge for decision-making, such as consultancies, R&D, healthcare or legal


Technology is a game changer. The advent of the 21st century brought many technological challenges to school libraries. It affected the ways school librarians plan and implement library programs, as well as, the conduct of library services and operations. This paper compares two paradigms in which traditional library practice is based on versus current schools of thought on library practice as espoused by thinkers in the profession. From here, the 21st century roles of the school library and the school librarian are enumerated. Position statements on the contributions of school libraries to the attainment of literacy goals are included together with researches that prove the relevance of school libraries to student achievement. The last part of the paper is a brief report on school libraries, literacy and reading initiatives in the Philippines.


The present study investigates empathic capacity during life span from young adulthood to old age, by using the Italian version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI, Davis, 1980, Italian version: Albiero, Ingoglia, & Lo Coco, 2006), a widely used questionnaire for the evaluation of empathic responsivity. The IRI has been administered to 509 participants divided in three age groups, young adults (18-34 years of age), adults (35-64 years) and elderly people (65-85 years), equally represented by females and males. The results of the exploratory and confirmatory analyses support the hypothesized four-factorial model (empathic concern, personal distress, fantasy and perspective taking), as seen in previous studies (Albiero et al., 2006; Davis, 1980) although a far more extended age group has been considered. Moreover, gender and some other personal and contextual factors seem to influence the empathic capacity of the participants.


The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the mammalian circadian clock, is a heterogenous structure made of several neuron types that generate a circadian electrical activity profile. However, it is unclear how such regulation in endogenous neuronal excitability is maintained. Background two-pore domain potassium channels (K2P), such as TASK-3, play an important role in inhibiting neuronal activity. Here, we utilize a TASK-3 KO mouse model to unravel the role played by this channel in SCN circadian neuronal regulation and behavioral photoentrainment. Our results reveal that TASK-3 is needed to adapt to challenging lighting conditions, such as those experienced through seasonal changes and jet lag. From our investigations this appears to be very distinct from pathways that drive acute, 'one-off' adjustments in clock phase, in response to single pulses of light. These findings provide crucial information on the intricate pathways linking clock output to behavioral adaptation to light-dark cycles.


Targeted knockout of only part of the γ-secretase complex lessens toxicity and still improves disease phenotypes. Intramembrane proteolysis by the γ-secretase complex is important during development and in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. γ-Secretase has usually been considered as a homogeneous activity. Serneels et al. (see the Perspective by Golde and Kukar) now show that the Aph1B component of the γ-secretase complex is responsible for the generation of long β-amyloid species involved in Alzheimer's disease. In a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, full knockout of Aph1B improved disease phenotypes, without the sort of toxicity previously observed when targeting γ-secretase more generally. L. Serneels, J. Van Biervliet, K. Craessaerts, T. Dejaegere, K. Horré, T. Van Houtvin, H. Esselmann, S. Paul, M. K. Schäfer, O. Berezovska, B. T. Hyman, B. Sprangers, R. Sciot, L. Moons, M. Jucker, Z. Yang, P. C. May, E. Karran, J. Wiltfang, R. D'Hooge, B. De Strooper, γ-Secretase heterogeneity in the Aph1 subunit: Relevance for Alzheimer's disease. Science 324, 639–642 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text] T. E. Golde, T. L. Kukar, Avoiding unintended toxicity. Science 324, 603–604 (2009). [Summary] [Full Text]


This Commentary uses the lens of "moral panics" to evaluate public support for equipping law enforcement with body cameras as a response and solution to events in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014. Body cameras are a generally good policy idea. But the rhetoric surrounding them erroneously treats them as the single guaranteed solution to the problem of excessive force and police-citizen conflicts, particularly by ignoring the limitations of video evidence and the difficult questions of implementing the body camera program. In overstating the case, the rhetoric of body cameras becomes indistinguishable from rhetoric surrounding responses to past moral panics.


Feeling and expressing love is at the core of romantic relationships, but individuals differ in their proclivity to worry about their relationships and/or avoid intimacy. Saying "I love you" signals a commitment to a future with our romantic partner. Contrary to gender stereotypes, research in the United States demonstrates that men are more likely to confess love first. We aimed to replicate this sex difference in an online cross-national sample (seven countries, three continents), while testing for variation according to attachment style and environment (the national sex ratio). Men were more likely to confess love first in a relationship, with preliminary evidence that this was more likely when men had more choice (more female-biased sex ratio). Independent of biological sex, highly avoidant respondents were less happy to hear "I love you" than less avoidant respondents, and highly anxious respondents were happier to hear "I love you" than less anxious respondents. Our findings suggest that prior observations generalize beyond an ethnically homogenous sample and incorporate attachment theory into the study of love confessions. Our research suggests a dissociation between initial declarations of love (moderated by biological sex) and emotional responses to love confessions, moderated by attachment style but not by biological sex.


This paper reports on the design and construction of a lightweight GFRP roof structure in Basel, Switzerland. The sandwich construction allowed for an integration of static, building physical and architectural functions that enabled the prefabrication of the entire roof in only four lightweight elements that were easily transported to the site and rapidly installed. Cutting of foam blocks with a computerized numerical control machine and adhesive bonding proved to be advantageous procedures for the fabrication of the complex roof shape, without the use of expensive moulds. The applied design methods were validated through small- and full-scale experiments. The safety level of the design was adjusted during the design process through experimental verification. Although some of the characteristic material properties were overestimated in the preliminary design, the design properties for the final design were higher than for the preliminary design since it was possible to reduce the resistance factors after testing by a factor of 2.0.


This paper explains the use of a specific computer-based simulation program, CAPSIM, as an experiential learning model to embed the development of a reflective practice and the application of trans-disciplinary knowledge to solve complex business problems. The learning environment involved teams of students from different cultural backgrounds from two separate universities enrolled in a common management course. Findings indicate that opportunity presented by the simulated business program to reflect, assess, and arrive at decisions can challenge assumptions and beliefs about process and practice. Further, the environment stimulates motivation and results in deeper learning not only about the concepts and materials being studied but also enables individual learners to grow personally. Cultural approaches and mode of engagement are also highlighted as variables of interest.


Ground fresh rhizomes of Zingiber zerumbet and Curcuma xanthorrhiza were exhaustively extracted using acetone, ethanol and water. Acetone extract of Z. zerumbet and ethanol extract of C. xanthorrhiza gave highest yield of crude extract. The crude extracts were fractionated between water and hexane, ethyl acetate and butanol. All the crude extracts and fractions were screened for antioxidant activity. Ethyl acetate and butanol fractions exhibited good antioxidant activity, of which ethyl acetate fractions from both plants showed strongest antioxidant activity.

High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) profiling was done to analyse the peak patterns of extracts and fractions of both plants. Liquid chromatography- UV diode-array and electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) have been used to characterize the active fractions of Z. zerumbet and C. xanthorrhiza. The active fraction (ethyl acetate) from Z. zerumbet was analysed to afford kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside (A) and its isomeric acetyl derivative as kaempferol-3-O-(2" or 3"-O-acetyl)rhamnoside (B), kaempferol-3-O-(4"-O-acetyl)rhamnoside (C), kaempferol-3-O-(3",4"-O-diacetyl)rhamnoside (D) and kaempferol-3-O-(2",4"-O-diacetyl)rhamnoside (E). All the structures were confirmed by using various spectroscopic method including HPLC (spiking method), ESI-MS, IR, UV and NMR spectroscopy. Three components, bisdemethoxycurcumin (F), demethoxycurcumin (G) and curcumin (H) were identified from active ethyl acetate fraction of C. xanthorrhiza. The LC-DAD-MS/MS profiling of Z. zerumbet and C. xanthorrhiza have been developed for the first time as per our knowledge.

Phytochemical studies on the rhizomes of Z. zerumbet have yielded 7 pure compounds. Hexane fraction afforded zerumbone (1), while ethyl acetate fraction gave demethoxycurcumin (9), kaempferol (11), kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside (15) or (A), kaempferol-3-O- (4"-O-acetyl)rhamnoside (14) or (C), kaempferol-3-O- (3", 4"-O-diacetyl)rhamnoside (6) or (D) and kaempferol-3-O- (2", 4"-O-diacetyl)rhamnoside (18) or (E).


This paper examines the causal link that runs from classroom quality to student achievement using data on twin pairs who entered the same school but were allocated to different classrooms in an exogenous way. In particular, we apply twin fixed-effects estimation to assess the effect of teacher quality on student test scores from second through eighth grade, arguing that a change in teacher quality is probably the most important classroom intervention within a twin context. In a series of estimations using measurable teacher characteristics, we find that: (a) the test performance of all students improve with teacher experience; (b) teacher experience also matters for student performance after the initial years in the profession; (c) the teacher experience effect is most prominent in earlier grades; (d) the teacher experience effects are robust to the inclusion of other classroom quality measures, such as peer group composition and class size; and (e) an increase in teacher experience also matters for career stages with less labor-market mobility which suggests positive returns to on the job training of teachers.


Background: This paper presents an overview of support offered to a hospital information committee by a Hospital Information Committee Support Project (HICSP) in a rural area of South Africa. A specific focus is on the support required at various stages of the project, which was underpinned by Change Theory: any change in practice should be an on-going, phased process (pre-contemplation, contemplation and action). Additionally, change must be seen as having some benefit. Methods: A cross-sectional, mixed-methods evaluation was conducted to determine whether the project had met its aims and to explore participants' experiences. Quantitative data included: number of meetings held, number of workshops held to develop templates, number of templates developed and in use, and number of action plans developed and implemented. Qualitative data included participants` views of the HICSP. In relation to Change Theory, data was analysed to summarise the type of support required during various stages of the HICSP. Results: Quantitative data revealed that the aims of the HICSP were met. In accordance with Change Theory, support must be regularly provided and must be on-going over a relatively prolonged period of time. Qualitative data illustrated that, generally, the support given was considered to be appropriate and participants continued to collect, analyse, use and monitor data and information on completion of the HICSP. Discussion and conclusions: The need for the strategic use of data at a local level to inform decision making and action is unquestionable. The study demonstrates that in an isolated, rural area an information committee can, in accordance with the stages of Change Theory, be supported and empowered so that hospital and nursing managers can confidently use data in a way that is locally meaningful and responsive.


Rural development has become more and more important issue in Hungary since rural areas also contribute to the efficiency of the national economy. Development of rural areas also very important issue in the European Union, which could contribute to the improvement of profitability of small family businesses, higher employment rate in rural areas as well as slow down the migration of people from rural into urban areas. Nowadays the bee-keeping - as one of the activities can provide alternative income for small businesses in rural areas – has become more and more important topic in Hungary. Bee-keeping sector provides income roughly 15 thousands families in Hungary. At the same time it takes important role in the preservation of rural landscape, traditions and their regional values. However, the sector has serious problems, as well (for instance quality issues, competitors on the market, etc.). It can be stated that the market position of Hungarian honey can be preserved through the improvement of quality assurance and product development. These developments can be carried out by the utilization of national and European Union funds.


The measurement of per capita daily expenditures which are compared with a monetary poverty line is the most widely used approach regarding poverty assessment. It is, however, based on the implementation of time and cost-intensive household surveys and, therefore, not an operational method for targeting poor households with development services. The paper shows how to identify an alternative poverty assessment tool for Peru. It consists of a maximum of 15 powerful predictors of per-capita household expenditures selected out of a wide range of indicators from different poverty dimensions such as education, assets and housing characteristics. By applying the maximizing-R-squared regression technique to identify the best 5 to 15 predictors, we avoid an arbitrary indicator selection and the application of external weights. In a second step, an innovative approach based on the percent point function of the predicted expenditures is used for the poverty classification of households. The resulting poverty classification of households, as validated by different accuracy measures and their 95% confidence intervals, reveals that the 15 indicator tool correctly identifies over 81% of the poor households when taking the national poverty line as the relevant benchmark. The high accuracy in terms of its predictive power is confirmed by out-of-sample tests and suggests that the tool is an interesting alternative to the collection of detailed expenditure data. Before employing the tool in practice, the indicators still have to be tested for their robustness across time and then transformed to a short, focused questionnaire suitable for both ex-ante poverty targeting and ex-post impact assessment.


A method to produce multifunctional nanocomposite materials is presented. Polymer stabilized nanoparticles (e.g. hydroxides, oxides, metals, salts, etc.) are incorporated into a bulk inorganic matrix (zinc oxide/hydroxide, aluminum oxide/hydroxide, ferric oxide, silica, ceria, etc) through the formation of an inorganic phase around the polymer stabilized nanoparticles. This results in the precipitation of a porous nanocomposite that possesses multiple functionalities that come from the different combinations of components of the composite. Nanocomposites that can be used as catalysts, sorbents for heavy metals and arsenic, ion exchangers, and pigments have been made, and data illustrating these properties will be shown .


In the contemporary United States, higher education is touted as the primary vehicle for upward mobility. Despite the introduction of numerous policies that encourage working-class students to attend college, class inequalities in enrollment persist. Existing explanations of the enrollment gap focus on the rising costs of tuition as well as class-based differences students' abilities and aspirations. We argue that none of these explanations fully explain enrollment patterns. Drawing on 120 interviews with three generations of working- and middle-class Americans, we demonstrate that college enrollment requires a distinctly 21st century synthesis of social and cultural capital that hinges on strategic planning in the marketplace. We label this capital "savvy" and situate its development within the rise of college-for-all ideology, the expansion and differentiation of the higher education system, and the privatization of childrearing. We conclude that increasing differences in access to savvy is a key driver of the reproduction of inequality.


Two-phase ejectors are devices capable of improving the performance of refrigeration and air conditioning cycles by means of expansion work recovery. Ejector studies often focus on the design and performance of the two-phase ejector and the effect it can have on the performance of the ejector cycle. However, the ejector is not the only component of the system that can have a significant influence on the performance of the ejector cycle. Recent experimental work has shown that the effect of evaporator design on ejector cycle performance can be quite significant, though there is very little research available on the relation between evaporator design and ejector cycle performance. In this paper, a numerical model of a microchannel air-to-refrigerant evaporator, capable of accounting for heat transfer and pressure drop effects, is developed and used to investigate the effect that different evaporator dimensions have on the performance of ejector cycles. The model has been previously validated with experimental data in previous studies. There are two ejector cycles of interest: The standard ejector cycle, in which the ejector is used to directly lift the compressor suction pressure, and the ejector recirculation cycle, in which the ejector recirculates excess liquid through the evaporator but does not directly lift compressor suction pressure. The effects of microchannel port hydraulic diameter, number of evaporator passes, refrigerant outlet state, and air-side resistance are investigated. The analysis is performed with refrigerants R410A and CO2 (R744) in order to demonstrate how proper evaporator and ejector cycle design is different for different refrigerants.


SUMMARY 1. Intravascular coagulation has been assessed by following the catabolism of l3 'I-fibrinogen in relation to '' %labelled antigen disposal during anaphylaxis and acute and chronic serum sickness glomerulonephritis in rabbits. 2. As a result of antigen challenge early in the bovine serum albumin (BSA) immunization schedule, in vivo formation of immune complexes caused platelet damage, intravascular coagulation shown as 'rebound defibrination' (that is a transient fall of labelled fibrinogen), and also activation of kinins and of fibrinolysis. 3. 'Rebound defibrination' was associated with precipitating antibody to BSA, with rapid removal of antigen, and with the appearance of fibrin microthrombi in the renal glomeruli. It also appeared to be related to the development of proliferative glomerular histology. Further, inhibition of fibrinolysis before antigen challenge may lead to patchy renal cortical infarction. 4. Florid 'rebound defibrination' occurred in animals with anaphylaxis and was accompanied by obstruction of the vasculature of lungs and kidneys by fibrin. These animals had high levels of precipitating antibody. 5. Animals which developed chronic proteinuria late in immunization had relatively more non-precipitating antibody to BSA and showed slower removal of antigen, no rebound effect and thus normal fibrinogen catabolism. Glomerular histology showed little proliferative response. 6. Long-term horse serum injection produced glomerulonephritis accompanied by fibrinoid vasculitis, and accelerated fibrinogen catabolism.


Literature on the processing, microstructure and properties of NbSi2 and other disilicides have been briefly reviewed, along with earlier work on the alloying behaviour of NbSi2 and the oxidation of both niobium and niobium silicides. Solidification microstructures and phase selection in ingots and melt spun ribbons of binary and ternary NbSi2 based alloys with additions of Cr and Fe have been studied. Low levels of interstitial contamination were achieved in all alloys (< 200wppmO2, < 10wppmH2) using a cold hearth non-consumable tungsten arc melting technique. The following alloys were prepared (at%): Nb-67Si, Nb-58Si, Nb-67Si-8Cr, Nb-60Si-20Cr, Nb-67Si-8Fe and Nb-60Si-20Fe. Evaluation of the microstructure and properties was performed using optical microscopy, SEM, EPMA,TEM,XRD, DSC/TG, isothermal oxidation, room temperature hardness, microhardness, high temperature hardness and nano-indentation. Alloys containing increased levels of Nb or Fe additions exhibited less porosity and cracking in their as-cast structures and lower melt viscosities in comparison to the other alloys. Extensive solubility of Cr in the NbSi2 matrix and of Nb in the CrSi2 matrix was noted and upon heat treatment widescale partitioning between the two phases was evident. Increased Cr additions led to the formation of the ternary phase Nb2Cr3Si6. In contrast the solubility of Nb in both FeSi and FeSi2 was extremely limited along with that of Fe in NbSi2. Rapid solidification refined the microstructures of the alloys by two orders of magnitude. Suppression of Nb5Si3 and NbFeSi2 took place under RS conditions. Segregation free microstructures were formed in zone A of Nb-67Si ribbons. The addition of either Cr or Fe destabilised the S/L front in the ternary alloys preventing the formation of zone A in the ribbons of these alloys. RS processing suppressed the eutectoidal decomposition of betaNb5Si3 to alphaNb5Si3 and the peretectoidal transformation of alphaFeSi2 to betaFeSi2. Three oxidation regimes were identified in binary Nb-67Si, which were associated with the oxidation kinetics of the various niobium oxide forms (NbO2, alphaNb2O5 and betaNb2O5). Pesting of the alloy occurred between 823 and 1123K, but was reduced in the ternary alloys and fully suppressed in Nb-60Si-20Cr. Duplex oxide structures were formed on the ternary alloys consisting of SiO2 and Cr2O3 layers in the Nb-Si-Cr alloys and two silicon oxide layers containing iron oxide particles in the Nb-Si-Fe alloys. Additions of Cr and Fe increased the hardness of the alloys. This was attributed to the volume fraction of the Fe and Cr silicide phases with FeSi and CrSi2 being harder than NbSi2. The elastic moduli of NbSi2 and Nb5Si3 were also measured using the nano-indentation technique. The hardness of Nb-67Si and Nb-67Si-8Cr were retained up to 1173K whilst that of the other ternary alloys decreased rapidly above 950K.


The proliferation of false discoveries is a pressing issue in Financial research. For a large enough number of trials on a given dataset, it is guaranteed that a model specification will be found to deliver sufficiently low p-values, even if the dataset is random.Most academic papers and investment proposals do not report the number trials involved in a discovery. The implication is that most published empirical discoveries in Finance are likely to be false. This has severe implications, specially with regards to the peer-review process and the Backtesting of investment proposals.We make several proposals on how to address these problems.


Overconsumption is a widely used term in science, media and among concerned consumers. What do we mean by this term? This study is based on the assumption that both the public debate on consumption and consumer research could benefit from better understanding how this term is used and from clarifying the definition. The primary aim of this study was to describe how the term 'overconsumption' is being used in the contemporary scientific debate in fields related to consumer studies. This was done by studying the use of the term in scientific journal papers between 2010 and 2012 using qualitative content analysis. It is concluded that overconsumption is often described as consumption of hedonic goods by individuals with undesirable personality traits, low moral or belonging to minority groups. Furthermore, overconsumption is described as having detrimental effects both on the individual consumer, the society and the environment; however, direct individual effects are more frequently mentioned in the studies. The term is seldom defined explicitly. This might lead to confusion and misunderstanding between research fields and between different stakeholders. A structured framework for generating clear and useful definitions is suggested in this study, based on the reviewed papers and a theoretical framework from moral philosophy.


Some of your words are kind. But some of them are not. Words are not for hurting. What do hurtful words do?" Children are known for speaking their minds. We can't expect them to watch every word, but we can help them to understand that their words affect other people. We can gently guide them to choose words that are helpful instead of hurtful, and to say two very important words--"I'm sorry"--when hurtful words come out before they can stop them. Like Free Spirit's earlier board books "Hands Are Not for Hitting "and "Teeth Are Not for Biting," "Words Are Not for Hurting" helps little ones learn big ideas: that they are responsible for what they do and say; that their actions and words affect others; and that they can make positive choices. Simple words and delightful full-color illustrations make it perfect for reading aloud one-on-one or in small groups. The book also includes helpful tips for parents and caregivers.


Oil spill or leakage into waterways and ocean spreads very rapidly due to the action of wind and currents. The study of the behavior and movement of these oil spills in sea had become imperative in describing a suitable management plan for mitigating the adverse impacts arising from such accidents. But the inherent difficulty of discriminating between oil spills and look-alikes is a main challenge with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite data and this is a drawback, which makes it difficult to develop a fully automated algorithm for detection of oil spill. As such, an automatic algorithm with a reliable confidence estimator of oil spill would be highly desirable. The main objective of this work is to develop comparative automatic detection procedures for oil spill pixels in multimode (Standard beam S2, Wide beam W1 and fine beam F1) RADARSAT-1 SAR satellite data that were acquired in the Malacca Straits using two algorithms namely,  post supervised classification, and neural network (NN) for oil spill detection. The results show that NN is the best indicator for oil spill detection as it can discriminate oil spill from its surrounding such as look-alikes, sea surface and land. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) is used to determine the accuracy of oil spill detection from RADARSAT-1 SAR data. The results show that oil spills, lookalikes, and sea surface roughness are perfectly discriminated with an area difference of 20% for oil spill, 35% look–alikes, 15% land and 30% for the sea roughness. The NN shows higher performance in automatic detection of oil spill in RADARSAT-1 SAR data as compared to Mahalanobis classification with standard deviation of 0.12. It can therefore be concluded that NN algorithm is an appropriate algorithm for oil spill automatic detection and W1 beam mode is appropriate for oil spill and look-alikes discrimination and detection.

 Key words: Oil Spill, RADARSAT-1 SAR data, Mahalanobis classification, neural network (NN).


The aim of the study was to determine the long term variability of fog occurrence in Krakow in the light of the changeability of fog favoring factors. The annual number of days with several fog characteristics was studied for the period 1966–2015, using data from two meteorological stations located in the city center and in the suburbs. For all these data series on fog, a strong decrease was observed in the study period, i.e., the number of days with fog decreased on average by about 60%, with the tendency being more distinct in the city center. Fog favoring conditions were determined by atmospheric circulation, wind speed, relative humidity, urban heat island (UHI) and air pollution and correlated with data on fog. Results statistically significant at p < 0.01 show that the relationship is the strongest between fog frequency and air pollution. However, as the air pollution levels decreased, especially after the change of political and economic system in 1989, environmental factors became decisive in controlling fog occurrence. Although the role of atmospheric circulation in fog formation is unquestionable, fog favoring circulation types (Sa, SWa, Ca, Ka) show no meaningful tendency and no significant correlation with long-term fog occurrence frequency. Therefore, decreasing trends in days with low wind speed and in days with relative humidity RH ≥ 80% and RH ≥ 95% are considered as additional factors which contributed to the observed fog frequency decrease. UHI showed no impact on fog frequency as in Krakow relief modified UHI (RMUHI) is observed and no significant changes in the part of UHI defined for the lowest part of the city were observed.


This paper will seek to analyze whether Bitcoin, as a digital decentralized cryptocurrency, can be considered a form of money from a traditional economic perspective, and whether it may serve as an alternative to other fiat currencies. The article will split into two sections – the first will provide an explanation of the Bitcoin system, namely, its functions and origins; the second will provide analysis as to the extent to which it relates to the traditional functions of money. The paper will conclude with a summary of the author's normative assessment of bitcoin as a form of money, and the risks its implementation as fiat currency pose.


Digital image editing is usually an iterative process; users repetitively perform short sequences of operations, as well as undo and redo using history navigation tools. In our collected data, undo, redo and navigation constitute about 9 percent of the total commands and consume a significant amount of user time. Unfortunately, such activities also tend to be tedious and frustrating, especially for complex projects. We address this crucial issue by adaptive history, a UI mechanism that groups relevant operations together to reduce user workloads. Such grouping can occur at various history granularities. We present two that have been found to be most useful. On a fine level, we group repeating commands patterns together to facilitate smart undo. On a coarse level, we segment commands history into chunks for semantic navigation. The main advantages of our approach are that it is intuitive to use and easy to integrate into any existing tools with text-based history lists. Unlike prior methods that are predominately rule based, our approach is data driven, and thus adapts better to common editing tasks which exhibit sufficient diversity and complexity that may defy predetermined rules or procedures. A user study showed that our system performs quantitatively better than two other baselines, and the participants also gave positive qualitative feedbacks on the system features.


Argentina's economic crisis has strong similarities with previous crises stretching back to the nineteenth century. A common thread runs through all these crises: the interaction of a weak, undisciplined, or corruptible banking sector, and some other group of conspirators from the public or private sector that hasten its collapse. This pampean propensity for crony finance was dubbed gaucho banking' more than one hundred years ago. What happens when such a rotten structure interacts with a convertibility plan? We compare the 1929 and 2001 crises the two instances where rigid convertibility plans failed and reach two main conclusions. First, a seemingly robust currency-board can be devastated by an ill-conceived approach to the problems of internal and external convertibility (or, to rephrase Gresham, bad inside money drives out good outside money'). Second, when modern economic orthodoxy collides with caudillo-style institutional backwardness, a desperate regime with its hands tied in both monetary and fiscal domains will be sorely tempted by a capital levy' on the financial sector (for, as Willie Sutton said when asked why he robbed banks, because that's where the money is).


This article narrates our work through archive and cartography to discuss a body of research that runs throughout our lives - as producers, developers, non-artists, artists, archivists, researchers. We have been engaging in networks that develop the internet, tactical media, and free knowledge since the beginning of 2000 in Brazil, in a series of festivals, projects, platforms and other forms of gatherings. A lot of this history is lost in databases and we have been putting our efforts together to bring this digital and material archive together, republishing, editing and re activating it. At the same time, it is inevitable that we bring our own perspective to building the archive, what we identify as a feminist perspective, a weaving of histories (reinventeceduras) and modes of production that are also a "maintenance" of technical infrastructure as a practice of care, connected to the reproduction of our own lives. Cartography is a concept and tool that allows for the gathering of the polyphony of the voices engaged, a cartography that is not total, opening up for collective analysis and for the intervention in the present and future.


This thesis enquires into the process of normalisation of violent masculinity and masculinism in India through the use of religion. Masculinism is defined as the presence of excessive masculine values, malecentred view of social relationships and symbolisation of masculine hegemony (Kriesky 2014). This thesis shows the pervasive existence of masculinism across the Indian political spectrum through analysis of the major works of three leaders from different ideological positions – Swami Vivekananda, M. S. Golwalkar, and M. K. Gandhi. These three leaders had very different visions of the future of India; however, this thesis
found recurrent connections between masculinity and violence in the works of all three.

This link is shown to have been bolstered in the works of all three – even in the 'non-violent' teachings of Gandhi – through the use of religion. Religious texts like the Bhagavad Gita, and ideas like karma, dharma, and karma yoga are used to link ideas of masculinity with structural, symbolic violence in the form of caste, class, and racial discrimination. This research found three different forms of religion-influenced masculinity in the works of Vivekananda, Golwalkar, and Gandhi – ascetic masculinity, culinary masculinity and violent masculinity. A feminist rhetorical analysis of the written works of these leaders shows how these religionsanctioned masculinities result in Bourdieusian symbolic violence against women, dalits, and other minority communities in India. All these leaders subscribed to a hegemonic idea of masculinity – virile, upper caste, and heteronormative – with its forms of violence practiced to this day.

Vivekananda espoused a spiritual, ascetic form of masculinity, distinctly religious in its aspiration of Hindu conquest. Golwalkar's political violent masculinity also aimed to re-establish Hindu supremacy in India. The 'Othering' of Muslims in Golwalkar's writings was also a response to Gandhi's alleged effeminate influence on Hindu masculinity. Ironically, this work shows how despite these allegations, masculinism in Gandhi's writings resulted in his supporting honour killings and structural forms of violence, like the caste system. The continued relevance of the ideas of these three leaders and the allied prevalence of masculinism is underlined through an analysis of contemporary Indian politics, which shows that all these three forms of masculinities remain relevant. The beef lynchings by Gau Raksha committees, the growing political capital ascribed to celibacy, increasing violence against women and the rising nationalist othering of minority communities are evidence of religiously motivated violent masculinities gaining ground in contemporary India.