The rite of the yurupari is typical of representatives of the indigenous groups that are part of the sociocultural community of Vaupes. Yurupari is the seasonal ritual. In the annual cycle of the indigenous groups in which it exists, the yurupari is linked to the maturation of certain types of fruits or fruits of peach palm (Guilielma speciosa Mart.). Yucuna, who live in the southern limit of the area of the propagation of the Vaupés culture, have their own characteristic ritual, which they call the dance of dolls. Yucuna informants say that the doll dance is a rite of yurupari. Why do the Yucuna seek to designate the dance of dolls as the yurupari? Why do they need it and why is it important for them? The anthropologist still has many questions to consider. The article is based on an analysis of the field materials received by the speaker during a visit to barasana in 2014 and Yucuna in 2015, living in the Colombian Amazonia.


This highly acclaimed "Introduction to the Graphical Kernel System (GKS)" has now been revised and updated following the publication of the "International Standard (ISO 7942)" in August 1985 and the draft international standard (ISO 8651) for the FORTRAN, Pascal, and Ada GKS language bindings. The main aim of this book is to provide an introduction to the concepts of GKS and the FORTRAN language binding. A basic knowledge of computer graphics is assumed. The first part of the text covers the background and major ideas of the system, and the second covers those features more likely to be required by the specialist graphics programmer. Appendices and an index allow the work to be used as a reference manual. All application programmers with an interest in computer graphics will find this book an invaluable aid.


In the past 5 years, hybrid halide perovskites have emerged as a class of highly efficient photovoltaic (PV) absorbers, with excellent electronic properties and low cost synthesis routes. Unfortunately, despite much research effort, their long-term stability is poor and presents a major obstacle toward commercialisation. The layered perovskite (CH3NH3)2Pb(SCN)2I2 (MAPSI) has recently been identified as a promising PV candidate material due to its enhanced stability and favourable electronic properties. Here, we demonstrate, using relativistic hybrid density functional theory, that the MAPSI structural motif can be extended to include a range of other metals, halides and even pseudohalides. In this way, the electronic structure of MAPSI can be tuned without affecting its stability with respect towards decomposition. These results indicate the possibility of lead-free MAPSI analogues, with suitable properties for photovoltaic top cells in tandem devices.


Naruto is a ninja-in-training with a need for attention, a knack for mischief, and sealed within him, a strange, formidable power. His antics amuse his instructor Kakashi and irritate his teammates, intense Sasuki and witty Sakura, but Naruto is serious about becoming the greatest ninja in the village of Konohagakure! Zabuza, the ninja assassin, was stopped from his first try at killing Tazuna the bridgebuilder - but Zabuza still lives! While the ninjas recover from their injuries, Kakashi puts Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura on a strict training regimen to protect Tazuna's family - including Tazuna's embittered grandson Inari - and prepare for Zabuza's next attack. But the next time won't be as easy, because joining Zabuza is his apprentice, Haku. And as the bridge comes closer to completion, our heroes must be willing to die - or kill - to protect the ones they love.


The compelling synthesis results of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) demonstrate rich semantic knowledge in their latent codes. To ob-tain this knowledge for downstream applications, encoding GANs has been proposed to learn encoders, such that real world data can be encoded to latent codes, which can be fed to generators to reconstruct those data. However, despite the theoretical guarantees of precise reconstruction in previous works, current algorithms generally reconstruct inputs with non-negligible deviations from inputs. In this paper we study this predica-ment of encoding GANs, which is indispensable research for the GAN community. We prove three uncertainty principles of encoding GANs in practice: a) the 'perfect' encoder and generator cannot be continuous at the same time, which implies that current framework of encoding GANs is ill-posed and needs rethinking; b) neural networks cannot approximate the underlying encoder and generator precisely at the same time, which explains why we cannot get 'perfect' encoders and generators as promised in previous theories; c) neural networks cannot be stable and accurate at the same time, which demonstrates the difficulty of training and trade-off between fidelity and disentanglement encountered in previous works. Our work may eliminate gaps between previous theories and empirical results, promote the understanding of GANs, and guide network designs for follow-up works.


Consistent cross-sensor Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) calibration coefficients are determined using desert, polar ice, and deep convective cloud (DCC) invariant Earth targets. The greatest AVHRR calibration challenge is the slow orbit degradation of the host satellite, which precesses toward a terminator orbit. This issue is solved by characterizing the invariant targets with NOAA-16 AVHRR observed radiances that have been referenced to the Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) calibration using simultaneous nadir overpass (SNO) observations. Another benefit of the NOAA-16 invariant target–modeled reflectance method is that, because of the similarities among the AVHRR spectral response functions, a smaller spectral band adjustment factor is required than when establishing calibrations relative to a non-AVHRR reference instrument. The sensorand band-specific calibration uncertainties, with respect to the calibration reference, are, on average, 2% and 3% for channels 1 and 2, respectively. The uncertainties are smaller for sensors that are in afternoon orbits, have longer records, and spend less time in terminator conditions. The multiple invariant targets referenced to Aqua MODIS (MITRAM) AVHRR calibration coefficients are evaluated for individual target consistency, compared against Aqua MODIS/AVHRR SNOs, and selected published calibration gains. The MITRAM and SNO relative calibration biases mostly agree to within 1% for channels 1 and 2, respectively. The individual invariant target andMITRAMsensor relative calibration biases are mostly consistent to within 1%and 2% for channels 1 and 2, respectively. The differences between theMITRAM and other published calibrations are mostly attributed to the reference instrument calibration differences.


Nowadays, customers are using more self-service options in Egyptian banking sector such as Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Telephone Banking, and Internet Banking, which are more convenient to use. Taking into consideration the huge investments made by banks in Internet infrastructure, customer satisfaction and retention are turning into the crucial factors for success in order to generate positive customer value. In order for banks to retain their e-customers, they should have better understanding of how customers perceive and evaluate the quality of the electronically offered services. This paper proposes a structured model for evaluating the performance of the three electronic banking services; ATMs, Telephone Banking, and Internet Banking using the Preference Ranking Organization Method For Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) in conjunction with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) based on the E-service quality dimensions. AHP is used to determine the relative importance of service quality multi-criteria dimensions from bank customers' point of view, and PROMETHEE method is applied for ranking the performance of different electronic banking services.


Over the last decade issues related to the financial viability of development have become increasingly important to the English planning system. As part of a wider shift towards the compartmentalisation of planning tasks, expert consultants are required to quantify, in an attempt to rationalise, planning decisions in terms of economic 'viability'. Often with a particular focus on planning obligations, the results of development viability modelling have emerged as a key part of the evidence base used in site-specific negotiations and in planning policy formation. Focussing on the role of clients and other stakeholders, this paper investigates how development viability is tested in practice. It draws together literature on the role of calculative practices in policy formation, client feedback and influence in real estate appraisals and stakeholder engagement and consultation in the planning literature to critically evaluate the role of clients and other interest groups in influencing the production and use of development viability appraisal models. The paper draws upon semi-structured interviews with the main producers of development viability appraisals to conclude that, whilst appraisals have the potential to be biased by client and stakeholder interests, there are important controlling influences on potential opportunistic behaviour. One such control is local authorities' weak understanding of development viability appraisal techniques which limits their capacity to question the outputs of appraisal models. However, this also is of concern given that viability is now a central feature of the town planning system.


Purpose- This paper is an event study that aims to find empirical evidence on the significance of the impact of presidential election outcome announcements on stock market return volatility in emerging markets versus developed markets; an application on the Egyptian and the US markets. Design/Methodology/ Approach- A mixed methods approach, combining qualitative data to guide sample selection and quantitative analysis to predominately conduct the empirical test was employed. The study used the mean-adjusted return model on secondary data collected for the EGX100 and S&P500 indices, for a single comparable election from each country. Findings- The empirical results show that presidential elections have no significant impact on stock market volatility in both markets, although the data suggests an increase in abnormal returns and a volatility decrease after each relevant election announcements. It is concluded that both markets efficiently absorb the news and reflect it into stock prices, as no statistically significant shifts in volatility can be detected. Originality/ Value- This study is unique as no existing studies addressed the issue of comparing different markets' behaviour to presidential outcome announcements, and whether markets at different economic development stages may present similar efficiency in reacting to presidential elections. This can provide insight on emerging market behaviour, compared to developed markets, contributing to the comprehension of investors, academics and policymakers.


Combining learning gained from Community-led Total Sanitation experiences in South Asia and sanitation marketing initiatives in parts of Asia and Africa, the global Scaling up Sanitation project is exploring in India, Indonesia and Tanzania what it takes to scale up and sustain rural sanitation project outcomes. New learning from the project being implemented by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), in partnership with the three country governments and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is currently demonstrating that projects need to identify and nurture key components of an enabling policy, institutional and financial environment, for rural sanitation interventions to yield sustainable results at scale. This article explains what constitutes such an enabling environment, how it is being fostered and its progress monitored in the three countries, and the lessons learned thus far in the process.


This paper reports an analytical study to determine the stability requirements for a holographic system intended for the NASA Space Shuttle. The primary emphasis is on optimization of the holographic geometry to minimize the effect of film variations between hologram exposure in space and wave-front reconstruction on the ground. It is shown that it is extremely important to use a balanced geometry (equal reference and object beam angles) and, if possible, a specific object beam angle.


Water operators need to be efficient, accountable, honest public institutions providing a universal service. Many water services however lack the institutional strength, the human resources, the technical expertise and equipment, or the financial or managerial capacity to provide these services. They need support to develop these capacities.
The vast majority of water operators in the world are in the public sector – 90% of all major cities are served by such bodies. This means that the largest pool of experience and expertise, and the great majority of examples of good practice and sound institutions, are to be found in existing public sector water operators. Because they are public sector, however, they do not have any natural commercial incentive to provide international support. Their incentive stems from solidarity, not profit. Since 1990, however, the policies of donors and development banks have focussed on the private companies and their incentives. The vast resources of the public sector have been overlooked, even blocked by pro-private policies.
Out of sight of these global policy-makers, however, a growing number of public sector water companies have been engaged, in a great variety of ways, in helping others develop the capacity to be effective and accountable public services. These supportive arrangements are now called 'public-public partnerships' (PUPs). A public-public partnership (PUP) is simply a collaboration between two or more public authorities or organisations, based on solidarity, to improve the capacity and effectiveness of one partner in providing public water or sanitation services. They have been described as: "a peer relationship forged around common values and objectives, which exclude profit-seeking".1 Neither partner expects a commercial profit, directly or indirectly.
This makes PUPs very different from the public–private partnerships (PPPs) which have been promoted by the international financial institutions (IFIs) like the World Bank. The problems of PPPs have been examined in a number of reports. A great advantage of PUPs is that they avoid the risks of such partnerships: transaction costs, contract failure, renegotiation, the complexities of regulation, commercial opportunism, monopoly pricing, commercial secrecy, currency risk, and lack of public legitimacy.2
PUPs are not merely an abstract concept. The list in the annexe to this paper includes over 130 PUPs in around 70 countries. This means that far more countries have hosted PUPs than host PPPs in water – according to a report from PPIAF in December 2008, there are only 44 countries with private participation in water. These PUPs cover a period of over 20 years, and been used in all regions of the world. The earliest date to the 1980s, when the Yokohama Waterworks Bureau first started partnerships to help train staff in other Asian countries. Many of the PUP projects have been initiated in the last few years, a result of the growing recognition of PUPs as a tool for achieving improvements in public water management.
This paper attempts to provide an overview of the typical objectives of PUPs; the different forms of PUPs and partners involved; a series of case studies of actual PUPs; and an examination of the recent WOPs initiative. It then offers recommendations for future development of PUPs.


" Press, Platform, Pulpit "examines how early black feminism goes public by sheding new light on some of the major figures of early black feminism as well as bringing forward some lesser-known individuals who helped shape various reform movements. With a perspective unlike many other studies of black feminism, Teresa Zackodnik considers these activists as central, rather than marginal, to the politics of their day, and argues that black feminism reached critical mass well before the club movement s national federation at the turn into the twentieth century . Throughout, she shifts the way in which major figures of early black feminism have been understood. The first three chapters trace the varied speaking styles and appeals of black women in the church, abolition, and women s rights, highlighting audience and location as mediating factors in the public address and politics of figures such as Jarena Lee, Zilpha Elaw, Amanda Berry Smith, Ellen Craft, Sarah Parker Remond and Sojourner Truth. The next chapter focuses on Ida B. Wells s anti-lynching tours as working within New Abolition and influenced by black feminists before her. The final chapter examines feminist black nationalism as it developed in the periodical press by considering Maria Stewart s social and feminist gospel; Mary Shadd Cary s linking of abolition, emigration, and woman suffrage; and late-nineteenth-century black feminist journalism addressing black women s migration and labor. Early black feminists working in reforms such as abolition and women s rights opened new public arenas, such as the press, to the voices of black women. The book concludes by focusing on the 1891 National Council of Women, Frances Harper, and Anna Julia Cooper, which together mark a generational shift in black feminism, and by exploring the possibilities of taking black feminism public through forging coalitions among women of color. " Press, Platform, Pulpit "goes far in deepening our understanding of early black feminism, its position in reform, and the varied publics it created for its politics. It not only moves historically from black feminist work in the church early in the nineteenth century to black feminism in the press at its close, but also explores the connections between black feminist politics across the century and specific reforms."


When the Spaniards marched into the Inka capital of Cuzco in 1533, chicha (maize beer) was the common, everyday beverage within the vast Inka empire. Recent archaeological research carried out at Marayniyoq, a Middle Horizon Wari site in the Ayacucho Valley in central Peru, uncovered a series of cut stones with hollow depressions. Several features of these artifacts indicate that they functioned as grinding stones. Confirming this observation is the finding in association with the cut stones of several rocker grinders or milling stones, which are the active elements of grinding equipment. While this evidence convincingly indicates that grinding was an important activity at the site, fieldwork also uncovered a large number of large vessels. Most of these vessels had been broken and then repaired in the distant past, a fact which suggests that they were used for storing dry products that perhaps were processed by means of the grinding stones. The evidence from Marayniyoq is very similar to artifacts associated with maize beer production during (later) Inka times, strongly indicating that during the Middle Horizon maize beer appears to have been produced in a fashion very similar to that of the Inka. At the same time, this evidence suggests that maize beer distribution was a function of the state, perhaps as part of reciprocal obligations between elites and commoners.


This paper proposes Self-Imitation Learning (SIL), a simple off-policy actor-critic algorithm that learns to reproduce the agent's past good decisions. This algorithm is designed to verify our hypothesis that exploiting past good experiences can indirectly drive deep exploration. Our empirical results show that SIL significantly improves advantage actor-critic (A2C) on several hard exploration Atari games and is competitive to the state-of-the-art count-based exploration methods. We also show that SIL improves proximal policy optimization (PPO) on MuJoCo tasks.


Abstract The Moine Supergroup of NW Scotland is a thick sequence of early Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks, with minor igneous intrusions, that display evidence for multiple phases of regional deformation and metamorphism. The descriptions and interpretations of the 'Moine Schists' provided by the 1907 memoir (Peach et al. 1907) have been proved to be essentially correct and have laid the groundwork for a century of distinguished and influential research that has reached far beyond the confines of NW Scotland. The Survey workers recognized the sedimentary protoliths of these rocks, realized that they had been deposited unconformably on inliers of reworked basement gneisses that now occupy the cores of major folds, and understood the likely complexity of folding and the kinematic significance of mineral lineations. Further advances in understanding of the Moine rocks were mainly achieved through two techniques that were not available to the Survey workers of 100 years ago – geochronology and palaeomagnetism. Isotopic studies have confirmed the view of the Survey workers that the Moine rocks are of Precambrian age, and furthermore have demonstrated a complex, polyorogenic history.


This series presents Clark Ashton Smith's fiction chronologically, based on composition rather than publication. Editors Scott Connors and Ron Hilger have compared original manuscripts, various typescripts, published editions, and Smith's notes and letters, in order to prepare a definitive set of texts. "The Maze of the Enchanter" includes, in chronological order, all of his stories from "The Mandrakes" (February, 1933) to "The Flower-Women" (May, 1935). This volume also features an introduction, and extensive notes on each story.


Oral health is a significant issue for adults because of its relationship to quality of life, as well as systematic health and well being. Impaired oral health can lead to significant health problems, such as pain and infection. This article considers a tree-based method to assess tooth loss. In particular, a variable importance measure based on extremely randomized trees (Geurts et al., 2006) is proposed for correlated survival data, and is applied to the VA Dental Longitudinal Study. This new variable importance method aims to remove the bias of the traditional random forest variable selection, which may favour input variables with more categories, as shown by Strobl et al. (2007). The multivariate exponential tree algorithm of Fan et al. (2009) is used to build trees, as it has superior prediction accuracy and computational efficiency compared to marginal and semiparametric frailty model-based trees (Nunn et al., 2011). Simulation studies for assessing various variable importance methods are presented. To limit the final number of meaningful prognostic groups, an amalgamation procedure is used to develop tooth prognostic groups from a forest of trees. The resulting prognosis rules and variable importance rankings may be used in clinical practice to increase tooth retention and establish rational treatment plans. By ranking the relative importance of various clinical and genetic factors for tooth loss, we are able to provide clinicians with critical information so that they can develop and implement an effective treatment plan.


The first observation of spatiotemporal self-focusing of spin waves is reported. The experimental results are obtained for dipolar spin waves in yttrium-iron-garnet films by means of a newly developed space- and time-resolved Brillouin light scattering technique. They demonstrate self-focusing of a moving wave pulse in two spatial dimensions, and formation of localized two-dimensional wave packets, the collapse of which is stopped by dissipation. The experimental results are in good qualitative agreement with numerical simulations.


Coaching, Counseling, and Mentoring: How to Choose and Use the Right Technique to Boost Employee Performance by Florence M. Stone 2007. New York, NY: AMACOM 221 pages, $24.95, Hardback Intended Audience(s): F, G, I, J Major Headings from the Table of Contents: Coaching: Three Ways to Develop Your Role as a Coach; Coaching as an Ongoing Responsibility; Let's Talk: Should I Say That? Coaching Traps and Problems; Counseling: Why Counsel Troublesome People? How to Turn Around Problem Employees and Employees with Problems; Let's Talk: Specific Counseling Sessions; Counseling Dilemmas: Traps and Pitfalls to Avoid; Mentoring: What Mentoring Can Do to Help High Achievers, and You; Mentor as a Role Model, Broker, Advocate, and Career Counselor; Let's Talk: Face-to-Face and e-Conversations; Mentoring Traps to Avoid; Epilogue: Your Role as a Leader How Is the Book Most Useful for Its Intended Audience? Provides a step-by-step guideline for overcoming obstacles in addressing employee performance issues, with proven examples that outline the most effective ways to manage these discussions. The Top Five Things You Learned from Reading this Book Utilizing an upfront approach to performance issues is the best method to head off potential problems. An honest and open communication style can provide education and motivation to both the employee and manager. Employee engagement can help to determine alternatives, to a problem, that can lead to creative and productive solutions. How a successful mentoring relationship can be established. The benefits and pitfalls of mentoring. How do managers gain an edge and drive performance of their teams without increasing salaries? How can they motivate their employees? What is a key motivator of employees today? These answers are found in Florence Stone's book, Coaching, Counseling & Mentoring: How to Choose and Use the Right Technique to Boost Employee Performance. Organizations today are focused more on the bottom line than ever before. Additionally, there is a great deal of pressure to consistently achieve at peak levels of performance. How can this level of expectation be sustained? The key to success is the frontline manager. Organizations whose frontline managers possess the skill set necessary to conduct positive coaching and counseling sessions will have an edge on their competition. A great tool for front line managers to use in order to get them to this next level of leadership is Coaching, Counseling, Mentoring. …


Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are a material of interest for components in the hot section of gas turbine engines due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and high temperature capabilities. CMCs are a class of material made of macro scale woven ceramic fibers infiltrated with a ceramic matrix making them significantly different than their nickel superalloy counterparts. As CMCs are implemented into gas turbine engines, the effects of the inherent topology of the CMC weave on convective heat transfer must be understood. In this study, film cooling holes were integrated into a representative CMC weave for three test coupons that were printed using additive manufacturing. The three coupons included: one having a weave topology along the surface of the internal channel supplying coolant to the film cooling holes; one having a weave topology along the external film cooled surface; and one having a weave topology on both the coolant supply channel as well as the external film cooled surface. Overall effectiveness levels for the two cases with a weave surface on the external film cooled wall were measured to be lower than levels for the case with the smooth external surface. The external weave significantly increased the mixing of the coolant jet with the hot mainstream resulting in poor cooling.


Vanadium phosphate catalysts synthesized via VOPO4∙2H2O were further reduced in isobutanol to produce VOHPO4∙0.5H2O precursor. Calcination of this precursor in propane/air environment (1% propane in air) transformed into activated (VO)2P2O7 catalysts. The morphology, structure, oxidant's nature and catalytic performance for propane oxidation to acrylic acid over this catalyst strongly depended on the duration of calcination. The catalyst calcined for 36 h (VPD36P) exhibits low surface area. However, prolonged calcination promoted a higher surface area with better crystallization. VIII and VV phases are detected in all catalysts. The SEM micrographs showed that all propane/air catalysts gave rosebud type agglomerates with various sizes but in a uniform shape.

A comparison of effect of calcinations environments on the vanadium phosphate catalyst in flow of both propane/air and butane/air, the latter calcinations environment produced catalyst with more platelet and higher surface area. Chemical analysis also shows that VPDB catalyst consist of higher amount of VV (26%) and 74% of VIV phase whereas VPDP only contains 76 and 9.8% of VIV and VV phases, respectively. Interestingly, VPDP also showed 14.2% of VIII phase. For n-butane oxidation at 673 K, VPDB gave 83% of conversion and 63% of MA selectivity whereas VPDP gave 75% of conversion and 64% of MA selectivity. The n-butane/air calcined catalyst, VPDB showed better activity (14.1%) in propane oxidation than the propne/air calcined catalyst, VPDP (7.9%).

The addition of 1, 2 and 5 mol % of Zr into (VO)2P2O7 catalysts produced a single vanadyl pyrophosphate phase in VOPO4∙2H2O method with different degree of crystallinity. The presence of lower percentage of Zr (1 and 2%) improved the surface area of the catalysts; however, the surface area of the catalyst with 5% of Zr added is decreased. The SEM micrograph for all Zr modified catalysts gave roughed rosebud agglomerates as compared to the unpromoted catalyst. VPDZr1 catalyst was found to be the most selective catalyst among all the Zr doped catalysts in propane oxidation.


Abstract. Soil erosion and associated sediment transfer are among the major causes of
aquatic ecosystem and surface water quality impairment. Through land use and
agricultural practices, human activities modify the soil erosive risk and the
catchment connectivity, becoming a key factor of sediment dynamics. Hence,
restoration and management plans of water bodies can only be efficient if the
sediment sources and the proportion attributable to different land uses are
identified. According to this aim, we applied two approaches, namely compound-specific
isotope analysis (CSIA) of long-chain fatty acids (FAs) and triterpenoid
biomarker analysis, to a eutrophic lake, Lake Baldegg, and its agriculturally used
catchment (Switzerland). Soils reflecting the five main land uses of the
catchment (arable lands, temporary and permanent grasslands, mixed forests,
orchards) were subjected to CSIA. The compound-specific stable isotope
δ13C signatures clearly discriminate between potential grasslands
(permanent and temporary) and forest sources. Signatures of agricultural land
and orchards fall in between. The soil signal was compared to the isotopic
signature of a lake sediment sequence covering ca. 130 years (before 1885 to
2009). The recent lake samples (1940 to 2009, with the exception of 1964 to
1972) fall into the soil isotopic signature polygon and indicate an important
contribution of the forests, which might be explained by (1) the location of
the forests on steep slopes, resulting in a higher connectivity of the
forests to the lake, and/or (2) potential direct inputs of trees and shrubs
growing along the rivers feeding the lake and around the lake. However, the
lake sediment samples older than 1940 lie outside the source soils' polygon,
as a result of FA contribution from a not yet identified source, most likely
produced by an in situ aquatic source, either algae, bacteria or
other microorganisms or an ex-site historic source from wetland soils and
plants (e.g. Sphagnum species). Despite the overprint of the yet
unknown source on the historic isotopic signal of the lake sediments,
land use and catchment history are clearly reflected in the CSIA results,
with isotopic shifts being synchronous with changes in the catchment, land use
and eutrophication history. The investigated highly specific biomarkers were
not detected in the lake sediment, even though they were present in the soils.
However, two trimethyltetrahydrochrysenes (TTHCs), natural diagenetic
products of pentacyclic triterpenoids, were found in the lake sediments.
Their origin is attributed to the in situ microbial degradation of
some of the triterpenoids. While the need to apportion sediment sources is
especially crucial in eutrophic systems, our study stresses the importance of
exercising caution with CSIA and triterpenoid biomarkers in such environments,
where the active metabolism of bacteria might mask the original terrestrial
isotopic signals.


We present results from a five-year effort to design promising online and text-message interventions to improve college achievement through several distinct channels. From a sample of nearly 25,000 students across three different campuses, we find some improvement from coaching-based interventions on mental health and study time, but none of the interventions we evaluate significantly influences academic outcomes (even for those students more at risk of dropping out). We interpret the results with our survey data and a model of student effort. Students study about five to eight hours fewer each week than they plan to, though our interventions do not alter this tendency. The coaching interventions make some students realize that more effort is needed to attain good grades but, rather than working harder, they settle by adjusting grade expectations downwards. Our study time impacts are not large enough for translating into significant academic benefits. More comprehensive but expensive programs appear more promising for helping college students outside the classroom.


The purposes of this paper are to formulate active constrained layer (ACL) damping treatments through a variational approach, to study the work-energy relation of ACL, and to identify damping mechanisms of ACL treatments. Application of the extended Hamilton principle to ACL results in the equations of motion of ACL and the charge equation of electrostatics for the piezoelectric constraining layer. The work-energy equation together with the charge equation shows that the power dissipated through the active damping is the product of the electric field and the axial velocity of the piezoelectric constraining layer at the boundaries. This unique feature suggests that a set-sensing and actuating piezoelectric constraining layer may be an appropriate design in dissipating vibration energy without causing instability. To identify the damping mechanisms, a sensitivity analysis shows that the effectiveness ofA CL damping primarily depends on the active and passive damping forces transmitted to the vibrating structure through the viscoelastic layer. The active damping force transmitted depends on the controller transfer function as well as a system parameter, termed active damping sensitivity factor, which depends entirely on the configuration of the passive constrained layer and the sensor. Finally, numerical results on ACL beams are obtained to illustrate the theoretical predictions above.


The dynamic behaviour of a permanent magnet brushless DC linear motor (PMBDCLM) is determined to provide the operating potential when applied as a computer numerical control (CNC) feed drive for material removal purposes. Dynamic analysis results are utilized to provide a machine operator interface for milling operating parameters. The five key analyses included here are: (1) the motor slide position versus time and input voltage variants; (2) the velocity of the motor slide versus input voltage variants, (3) the acceleration of the motor slide versus input voltage variants, (4) the normal force versus current density variants under different input voltages, and (5) the development of a user interface providing operating parameters based on FEA results. Preliminary tests were conducted on a BR12-33 DC linear motor model with different input voltages and normal loads. Further tests were conducted on a PMBDCLM-equipped vertical milling machine. The data acquisition system included a digital encoder attached to the motor slide for detecting position and velocity data, a microprocessor board, software, and a microcomputer. Cutting force data were recorded using a force transducer, amplifier, and an A/D board. The solutions, which are obtained from simulation by a finite element analysis (FEA) dynamic module of EMRC-NISA software, provide the data necessary for comparison of experimental results, and are applied to justify feed-rate values. In addition, results obtained are useful in the selection criteria of operating parameters.


This article reports on formative research to develop the Adelante brand, an innovative program for Latino immigrant adolescents and their families. The brand applies social marketing principles used in previous health brands in areas such as tobacco control, substance use, and HIV prevention. Specific objectives were to apply branding principles as an approach to increasing adolescent engagement with, and participation in, a community-based youth development program called Adelante, which is based on positive youth development theory. We collected data in a primarily low-income Latino immigrant community, Langley Park, MD, located near Washington, DC. A total of 39 adolescents, ages 13–19, participated in six focus groups. We designed and tested a brand positioning statement, associations, a logo and graphics, and youth archetypes. We used thematic content analysis to code focus group data into broad topic areas and then analyzed the data using substantive coding to identify themes. The concepts of strength, resilience, and "turning the corner" by overcoming life obstacles and succeeding were the main themes. Latino youth face a challenging environment in which they grow up, finish school, and succeed. Adelante represents a source of support and help to turn the corner. A graphic depicting a city street corner with a darker side (past) and a brighter side (future) was identified as the Adelante logo. Youth characters named Victor and Erika, and an educational entertainment strategy, were conceived as a way to create a brand persona. Adelante is now actively building its brand to increase youth engagement in the program.


Women's economic empowerment could reduce poverty for everyone. In order to achieve it, we need to first fix the current broken economic model which is undermining gender equality and causing extreme economic inequality. The neoliberal model has made it harder for women to have better quality and better paid jobs, address inequality in unpaid care work, and women's influence and decision making power is constrained. To achieve women's economic empowerment, we need a human economy that works for women and men alike, and for everyone, not just the richest 1%.


OBJECTIVE
To provide an overview of the impact of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and the steps that can be taken to reduce its burden through greater awareness of the disease, improved diagnosis, and better treatment, with emphasis on the use of antiplatelet agents.

DATA SOURCES
Recent (1990-2003) published scientific literature, as identified by the author through Medline searches, using the terms peripheral arterial disease, atherothrombosis, pathophysiology, risk factors, treatment, clinical trials, and reviews on treatment.

STUDY SELECTION
Recent systematic English-language review articles and reports of controlled randomized clinical trials were screened for inclusion.

DATA SYNTHESIS
PAD is a distinct atherothrombotic syndrome marked by stenosis and occlusion of peripheral arterial beds, typically those in the lower extremities. Symptoms range from intermittent claudication (IC) during exercise to peripheral limb ischemia requiring limb amputation. IC, the most common symptom, is experienced by 2% to 3% of men and 1% to 2% of women aged 60 years and older. Despite its recognition as a major atherothrombotic risk factor, PAD is not widely appreciated by clinicians, and most cases remain undiagnosed. Asymptomatic PAD, as indicated by a reduced ankle brachial systolic pressure index, should alert the health care provider to the presence of diffuse atherothrombotic disease and need for treatment. Risk factors for development and progression of PAD include smoking, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and physical inactivity. The aim of pharmacotherapy is to improve the symptoms of PAD (especially IC), defer onset of limb-threatening ischemia, and improve long-term survival. Successful treatment strategies include risk factor modification, particularly smoking cessation; initiation of regular exercise; control of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia; and use of antiplatelet agents to reduce the risk of atherothrombotic events. Available data suggest that aspirin reduces morbidity and mortality in PAD, while clopidogrel reduces the risk of atherothrombotic events such as myocardial infarction and stroke in these patients.

CONCLUSION
Increased awareness among members of the health care community about the prevalence of PAD and benefits associated with risk-factor reduction and antiplatelet therapy could produce substantial decreases in the burden of this disease.


Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry: A Guide to Best Practice, is fully updated with new legal information, data, statistics and examples. Taking a 'process' approach, it provides the reader with an essential understanding of the purpose, policies and processes concerned with managing an enterprise's workforce within the current business and social environment. Since the eighth edition of this book there have been many important developments in this field and this ninth edition has been completely revised and updated in the following ways: Extensively updated content to reflect recent issues and trends including: labour markets and industry structure, impacts of IT and social media, growth of international multi – unit brands, role of employer branding, talent management, equal opportunities and managing diversity. All explored specifically within the Hospitality Industry The text explores key issues and shows real life applications of HRM in the Hospitality industry and is informed through the authors' research projects within Mitchells & Butler's plc, Pizza Express, Marriott Hotels and Cafe Rouge. An extended case study drawing from the authors' experience working with Forte and Co., Centre hotels, Choice Hotels and Bass, Price Waterhouse and Grant Thornton Written in a user friendly style and with strong support from the Institute of Hospitality, each chapter includes international examples, bulleted lists, guides to further reading and exercises to test knowledge.


In this thesis, a demand elasticity model is developed and tested for the dispatch of high voltage power systems and microgrids. The price obtained from dispatching a network in a base-case scenario is used as input to a price-elastic demand model. This demand model is then used to determine the price-responsive demand for the next iteration, assuming that the load schedule is defined a day-ahead. Using this scheme, trends for demand, hourly prices, and total operation costs for a system can be obtained to study the impact of demand response on unit commitment and dispatch of distributed energy resources. This way, the effect on the scheduling of dispatchable generators and energy storage systems can be analyzed with respect to price-elastic loads. The results for a test power system and a benchmark microgrid show that as the demand is more elastic, the longer it takes for the dispatch to converge to a final condition. The 24-hour model eventually converges to a steady state, with prices and costs at their lowest values for different scenarios, which is good for most system participants and desirable in a market environment, thus highlighting the importance of price-responsive loads in electricity markets.


More and better quality private sector investment in food systems will be needed for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Recent developments in food systems have resulted in new challenges and controversies, both with respect to their sustainability, and the extent to which they are contributing to diets that are more nutritious. The key challenge addressed in this brief is how to redirect investment such that it is both adequate to drive dynamic food system development and has the quality of promoting inclusive and sustainable systems. Three areas of action are considered: instruments that translate growing consumer awareness into SDG compliant investment; instruments that encourage investment in food systems in high-risk contexts; and improvements to food system governance. It is suggested that the G20 (i) acts to strengthen global platforms for the benchmarking and coordination of private sector sustainability initiatives; (ii) provides support to the coordinated implementation of voluntary guidelines to foster SDG-compliant investment in higher risk contexts; and (iii) promotes greater coordination between multilateral fora to strengthen the global governance of complex and interlinked food system challenges.


The DNA nucleotide compositions vary among species. This fascinating phenomenon has been studied for decades with some interesting questions remaining unclear. Recent years, thousands of genomes have been sequenced, but general evaluations on the nucleotide compositions across different phylogenetic groups are still absent. In this letter, I analyzed 371 genomes from different kingdoms and provided an overview on DNA nucleotide compositions. A number of important topics were discussed, including GC content, DNA strand symmetricity, CDS purine content, codon usage, thermophilicity in prokaryotes and non-coding RNA genes. I also gave explanations to two long debated questions: 1) both genome GC content and CDS purine content are correlated with the thermophilicity in archaea, but not in bacteria; 2) the purine rich pattern of CDS in most species is mainly a consequence of coding requirement, but not mRNA interaction dynamics. This study provides valuable information and ideas for future investigations.


Suit of taupe wool consisting of:

A) Jacket. Single breasted with closure of two large, plastic, textured taupe colored buttons and bound buttonholes. Notched collar and long, set-in sleeves. Two pleated plackets at sides of waistline with bound openings create loops for belt. Lined in matching silk jacquard of "Christian Dior" pattern.
Designer's label at inside left opening: "Christian Dior-New York, Inc."
Evidence of removed label at center back neckline.

B) Skirt. Slightly A-lined with left side zipper and hook & eye. 1" waistband. Lined in rust colored silk crepe.

C) Self-covered belt with rectangular buckle. 1-1/2" wide.
Stamped on reverse: "16 Christian Dior / New York, Inc"


Polarization division multiplexing (PDM) has been proposed as a scheme for increasing data rates in fiber optic communication systems. In the PDM scheme, the use of two orthogonal polarizations as alternative data paths is a promising approach in terms of doubling the information rate relative to conventional schemes. However, due to the severe distortion caused by the propagation medium, especially the Polarization mode dispersion (PMD), the development of receiver compensation methods are critical for the deployment of PDM based transceivers. This article proposes a receiver compensation method for high symbol rate fiber optic communication links, where the two data streams sent through orthogonal polarizations are mixed by the fiber channel not only in space but also in time. The proposed receiver algorithm adaptively recovers the original pair of data streams from their space-time mixtures. We also provide simulation results for an end-to-end fiber communication link to illustrate the performance of the proposed approach.


Background Rising prevalence of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an emerging public health issue. Objectives To investigate the association of maternal hyperglycemia exposure during pregnancy with obesity and abnormal glucose tolerance in offspring, and the age at occurrence. Methods We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for observational studies on obesity and diabetes in offspring of diabetic mothers (gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and T2DM), and those on non-diabetic mothers. We performed fixed effect meta-analysis for all studies except when heterogeneity was detected. The quality of studies was evaluated using the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Nonrandomized Studies (RoBANS) Results Twenty observational studies were included involving a total of 26,509 children. Offspring of GDM mother had higher BMI z-score in childhood (pooled MD: 0.14, 95%CI: 0.04–0.24, seven studies, 21,691children, low quality of evidence). Offspring of T1DM mothers had higher BMI z-score from prepubertal to adolescent (pooled MD: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.13–0.58, three studies, 844 children, low quality of evidence) compared with control. After adjustment for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, this association remained in offspring of T1DM, but disappeared in those of GDM mothers. Offspring of GDM mother had higher 2-hour plasma glucose from prepubertal to early adulthood (pooled MD: 0.43 mmol/L, 95% CI: 0.18–0.69, five studies, 890 children), while those of T1DM mothers had higher rate of T2DM in 2–5 years old to early adulthood (pooled odds ratio [OR], 6.10: 95% CI: 1.23–30.37, two studies, 448 children, very low quality of evidence) compared with control. As there was only one study with offspring of T2DM mothers, evidence is sparse. Limitations Only observational studies were included, with a few adequately adjusted for covariables. Conclusions Exposure to maternal hyperglycemia was associated with offspring obesity and abnormal glucose tolerance especially in offspring of T1DM mothers, but the evidence relies on observational studies with low quality of evidence only.


The wine market is an excellent example of monopolistic competition, demonstrating both vertical and horizontal product differentiation. The propensity toward monopolistic competition and the asymmetric preferences of wine consumption can justify the coexistence of different sized wineries. The main goal of this chapter is to analyze the economic performance of wineries, using indicators widely employed in economic and business literature, and to assess the potential influence of size on firm ' s performance. To achieve this goal, different statistical tests are applied to firms´ data collected from two representative Portuguese demarcated wine regions (Douro and Vinho Verde). The results confirm that the wine firm ' s performance is a multidimensional construct, exhibiting similarities and differences, according to the index used. The size of firms increases their export performance but exhibits a nonstatistical effect on the financial performance. The indices of productivity and productive efficiency show that there is no standard behavior. The results of this study can be useful both for managers and public decision-makers, given the importance of controlling economic performance in order to guarantee the industry ' s competitiveness in an increasingly globalized wine business.


Communication by facial expressions and body postures plays an important role in the social dynamics of macaques. Macaques use gestures to mediate both competitive and cooperative interactions with other group members. Gestures convey information on the emotional state of the sender and its impending behavior but can also be used to inhibit the behavior of another individual or to request its participation in specific activities such as grooming, agonistic support, mating or play. Although most gestures are used to mediate simple approach and avoidance interactions, the size of the gestural repertoire and the subtleties of gestural communication in macaques are unparalleled in other nonprimate animals.


This volume provides a fascinating glimpse into the complex language ecologies of Southeast Asia. Adopting a relational perspective, it considers their significance for the region, its peoples, the policy and practice of language teaching, learning and assessment and the fate of local languages. It gives particular prominence to the relationship between English and Chinese, it's likely transformation at a time of significant global change and the impact that these two languages and their synergy will have on the place of other languages and dialects. Dynamic Ecologies: A Relational Perspective on Languages Education in the Asia-Pacific Region draws on the research and insights of key scholars in the field and provides case studies that illustrate the impact of relevant language policy in countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia.


Driks, A. 2004. The Bacillus spore coat. Phytopathology 94:1249-1251. Bacilli, which are abundant in the soil, form highly resistant dormant cell types, called spores, in response to starvation. The spore is organized into a series of concentrically arranged structures, each of which contribute in a different way to resistance against environmental stress. In certain bacteria, including Bacillus subtilis, the outermost of these structures is a multilayered protein shell, called the coat. The coat is both an armor plating and, almost certainly, possesses enzymatic activities, allowing it to have active roles as well. Assembly of the proteins comprising the coat is carefully controlled during spore assembly, resulting in a distinct pattern of layers, seen in cross section, and a discreet pattern of ridges on the surface. Although our understanding of spore coat composition and assembly is deepening, we still know little about the roles of the coat in interactions between spores and other organisms, particularly in the soil. Critical future directions for spore coat research include continued identification of the proteins that comprise the coat surface, characterization of the global chemical characteristics of this surface, and elucidation of how these features impact on other organisms in the soil. Additional keyword: exosporium.


This paper presents a PC-cluster based multi-camera system for real-time multiple objects tracking. The PC-cluster, a group of linked computers, is developed by using PCI-to-PCI data mover card to improve real-time processing performance and provide system scalability. Five processing modules have been designed and implemented to control system operations. Target objects are in spherical shape. Four IEEE-1394a cameras with hardwired synchronization are used for system testing. After identifying correspondence objects in different views, 3-D coordinates of each target have been reconstructed. Experimental results show that the system can identify and track multiple objects moving in 3-D space correctly. The maximum frame rate for tracking is 12 frames per second. In the near future, the system can be applied for specific application when additional processing modules are added to the system


The presence of apple leafcurling midge (ALCM) on apples is of concern for many of New Zealand's export apple markets. High pressure washing (HPW) systems have been implemented in export packhouses to reduce the risks associated with various pests; however, higher removal rates of ALCM are required to improve access to challenging markets. A range of pre-treatment dips to improve ALCM removal efficacy when applied before HPW were tested, and the impact of these pre-treatment dips on pest viability determined. Removal of ALCM cocoons by HPW alone was 41%, compared with pre- treatments of hot water at 51˚C (66%), Saturate® (58%), Prospect oil® (57%), malic acid (53%), citric acid (48%), lactic acid (46%), acetic acid (39%), HarvestCide® (37%) or sodium bicarbonate (37%). However, only the hot-water treatment significantly enhanced removal compared with HPW alone. In a second trial, removal of ALCM cocoons with HPW was 69% and hot water + UV-C increased removal to 76%, although this difference was not statistically significant. Overall, none of the pre-treatment dips was found to reduce ALCM viability significantly compared with HPW alone.


The bandwidth demands of the World Wide Web continue to grow at a hyper-exponential rate. Given this rocketing growth, caching of web objects as a means to reduce network bandwidth consumption is likely to be a necessity in the very near future. Unfortunately, many Web caches do not satisfactorily maintain cache consistency. This paper presents a survey of contemporary cache consistency mechanisms in use on the Internet today and examines recent research in Web cache consistency. Using trace-driven simulation, we show that a weak cache consistency protocol (the one used in the Alex ftp cache) reduces network bandwidth consumption and server load more than either time-to-live fields or an invalidation protocol and can be tuned to return stale data less than 5% of the time.


Guided sparse depth upsampling aims to upsample an irregularly sampled sparse depth map when an aligned high-resolution color image is given as guidance. When deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) become the optimal choice to many applications nowadays, how to deal with irregular and sparse data still remains a non-trivial problem. Inspired by the classical normalized convolution operation, this work proposes a normalized convolutional layer (NCL) implemented in CNNs. Sparse data are therefore explicitly considered in CNNs by the separation of both data and filters into a signal part and a certainty part. Based upon NCLs, we design a normalized convolutional neural network (NCNN) to perform guided sparse depth upsampling. Experiments on both indoor and outdoor datasets show that the proposed NCNN models achieve state-of-the-art upsampling performance. Moreover, the models using NCLs gain a great generalization ability to different sparsity levels.


This article explores a number of key questions that serve to introduce this special issue on the ethics of research on activism. We first set out the limitations of the bureaucratic response to ethical complexities in our field. We then examine two approaches often used to justify research that demands time consuming and potentially risky participation in research by activists. We label these approaches the ethic of immediate reciprocity and the ethic of general reciprocity and question their impacts. We note, in particular, the tendency of ethics of reciprocity to preclude research on 'ugly movements' whose politics offends the left and liberal leanings predominant among movement researchers. The two ethics also imply different positionalities for the researcher vis-à-vis their subject movement which we explore, alongside dilemmas thrown up by multiple approaches to knowledge production and by complex issues of researcher and activist identities. The overall move to increasing complexity offered by this paper will, we hope, provide food for thought for others who confront real-world ethical dilemmas in fields marked by contention. We also hope that it will encourage readers to turn next to the wide range of contributions offered in this issue.


This paper reports the results of an empirical study that probed the adoption of early supplier involvement (ESI) in the product development process. ESI is defined as a form of vertical co-operation in which manufacturers involve suppliers at an early stage in the product development/innovation process, generally at the level of concept and design. Previous research has shown that Western automobile manufacturers obtained significant benefits by emulating the ESI practices of their Japanese competitors; the bulk of research knowledge is, in fact, located in this domain. This study focused on a group of assembly-based industries outside the automotive setting to determine if the adoption and benefits of ESI are found in other domains as well. Twenty-five companies in three non-automotive industries participated in the research. A model of ESI adoption was developed and tested, and an ESI index created to determine the degree to which this practice was applied. The results reveal, among other things, that the level of ESI practice is strongly related to a higher number of supplier base initiatives, lower product integration, broader supplier scope and a higher proportion of parts purchased. Significant results were also obtained in comparisons between industry sectors and geographic regions (USA, Western Europe and Japan). We suggest that promising directions for future research include broad-based samples across industrial sectors and industry-focused empirical study.


There is great variability in how much nursing home providers are paid for a day of care for a Medicaid recipient, how the payment level is set, and what mechanisms are used to reimburse facilities. Given the absence of recent, comprehensive in-depth analyses of state reimbursement systems, this article undertakes a comparative case analysis of Medicaid nursing facility reimbursement in Alabama, California, Minnesota, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Findings indicate that states design their methods of reimbursement to achieve desired policy outcomes related to facility cost and quality, access to care, payment equity, service capacity, and budgetary control. The result, however, has been the development of enormously complex and demanding rate-setting methodologies, the adverse consequences of which can outweigh and overwhelm the discrete policy objectives contained in the reimbursement formula. This complexity highlights the potential trade-off between achieving desired goals and costly administrative burdens, opportunities for appeal and disagreement, difficulties understanding the ramifications of system changes, reliance on simplified decision-making rules, and exclusion of otherwise interested parties from the policy process.


This article reviews accounts of the origins and growth of the global Internet with an interest in their implications for the future. Many accounts take overly restricted views of technical development. For instance, the Internet is often seen simply as the outgrowth of U.S. Defense Department work and popular enthusiasm. Recent interdisciplinary studies of technology present a more complex picture of how innovations are developed. They highlight technical alternatives, contributions of diverse groups, variety in meanings of technologies, and the overall surprising character of technology development. They suggest that the Internet has multiple origins and numerous particular reasons for its spread. Current discussions of the entry of Internet technologies into consumers' homes and the convergence among computing, media, and telecommunications enterprises represent examples of more complex accounts of technology development. Such accounts will likely provide more powerful bases for policy, management, and...


Portuguese authors published widely in Spanish during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially during the Spanish occupation from 1580 to 1640. As the literary language of prestige, Spanish offered them avenues of fame and wealth that were not available otherwise. While most Portuguese writers abandoned their native tongue at one time or another to write in Spanish, not all did so in order to conform to the wave of castilianization absorbing the peninsula. Ângela de Azevedo, for one, used her Spanish proficiency to glorify Portugal and perpetuate its cultural heritage abroad. The setting, characterization, and language in each of Azevedo's comedias clearly establish a strong sense of patriotism and revolt within her works. Discovering the relationship between Azevedo's Portuguese identity and the content of her plays not only promotes a better understanding of the dramatist and her works, but also advances the important correlation between language, nationality, and literature. (JWW)


In recent years, flexible electronic devices such as printed electronics are gathering attention. To make flexible connect between one circuit device and another circuit device, interposer is necessary. However, most of conventional interposers are not flexible, because there are made of silicon or glass substrate. To solve this problem, we have been developed fabrication process of flexible interposer.
 Master mold was fabricated by photolithography process. First, SU-8 resist was coated on silicon substrate with 5μm thickness. Then, photolithography process was carried out to SU-8 resist. After development, pillar shape master molds with diameters of 10 or 20 μm were obtained. After release coating of master molds, hole patterns for vias were transferred by UV nanoimprint lithography. The obtained hole patterns were diameter of 10 μm or 20 μm, and pitch of 21.0 μm and 40.1 μm, respectively. Next, these holes were filled with silver ink by roll press method. Then, sintering process was carried out to evaporate of solvent of silver ink. After that, flexible interposer was obtained.
 As a result, we have been succeeded in filling the holes array with silver ink. Obtained interposer vias, which were silver region, were 8.2 μm diameter and 3.3 μm height, or 20.3 μm diameter and 5.3 μm height for 10 mm square size.


Monodispersed chitosan/silica core–shell microspheres-supported Pd catalysts were prepared by a simple and affordable microfluidic device. Merely 5 mg of supported Pd catalyst (1 wt %) showed superior capability in Sonogashira coupling reactions between various aryl iodides and terminal alkynes in a mild environment (ligand-free, copper-free, amine-free, water–ethanol as solvent at 65 °C) even after eight cycles of use. These novel porous composite microspheres provide a new carrier to reduce the loading, enhance the activity, and increase the stability of noble metal catalyst.


An optimization algorithm for the design of puncturing patterns for low-density parity-check codes is proposed. The algorithm is applied to the base matrix of a quasi-cyclic code, and is expanded for each block size used. Thus, storing puncturing patterns specific to each block size is not required. Using the optimization algorithm, the number of 1-step recoverable nodes in the base matrix is maximized. The obtained sequence is then used as a base to obtain longer puncturing sequences by a sequential increase of the allowed recovery delay. The proposed algorithm is compared to one previous greedy algorithm, and shows superior performance for high rates when the heuristics are applied to the base matrix in order to create block size-independent puncturing patterns.


Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Due to the increase in exposure to cancer-causing environmental factors, the presence of chronic conditions, and the increase in age-related mutations in normal tissue, cancer incidence is positively correlated with age. Because of the increase in life expectancy due to advances in medicine, the frequency of cancer incidence is expected to rise in the future. For these reasons, devising methods to efficiently diagnose and treat cancer is extremely important. Effective targeting of cancer cells within tumors would allow for improvement in the efficacy of treatment and the reduction of side effects. Tumor targeting falls into three broad categories: passive targeting, active targeting, and physical targeting. Passive targeting generally employs the enhanced permeability and retention effect, a phenomenon that leads to the localization of a certain range of sizes of macromolecules in tumor tissue due to the non-intact vasculature present in this tissue. Passive targeting can work well to deliver some therapeutic agents to solid tumors, but lacks targeting specificity and can therefore result in substantial targeting of healthy tissue, especially the liver, lymph nodes, and spleen. Active targeting relies on a much greater presence of certain characteristics, called biomarkers, on or in cancer cells than on/in normal cells. To exploit active targeting, therapeutic agents are conjugated to targeting moieties like antibodies, aptamers, or small molecules that have a high affinity to these biomarkers. Active targeting has some advantages over passive targeting, namely, higher targeting specificity. However, one significant disadvantage of active targeting is its reliance on the overexpression of biomarkers in cancer cells: tumor tissue is very heterogeneous, with varying levels of expression across the cancer cell population; additionally, these biomarkers are usually present in normal tissue, leading to the undesirable targeting of healthy tissue. Physical targeting relies on a difference in physical properties, such as temperature, oxygenation, or pH, between normal tissue and cancer tissue. These physical characteristics can be more universal to tumor tissue, regardless of the tissue vasculature or biomarker expression. Physical targeting offers specificity advantages over passive targeting, and offers advantages over active targeting based on the universality and specificity of the targeted physical traits, compared to the broader, varying levels of expression of active-targeted biomarkers. It has been known for over fifty years that tumor tissue undergoes acidification due to a switch in metabolic pathway resulting in the production of high levels of lactic acid and protons, a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect. In addition, cancer cells overexpress certain membrane proteins that catalyze reactions in the blood that result in further acidification. Although cell surface acidity is a feature that is ubiquitous to solid tumors, as a biomarker it has been greatly overlooked in favor of expressed traits like growth factors, protein receptors, and antigens. pH Low Insertion Peptides (pHLIPs) comprise a family of pH-sensitive peptides, and sense and target the acidity present at the surface of cancer cells. pHLIPs can be conjugated to many different types of imaging and therapeutic agents, and, targeting the physical characteristic of pH, are able to selectively deliver these agents to tumor tissue while avoiding normal tissue. The mechanism of action of pHLIP is based on membrane-associated folding triggered by low pH: at low pH, a high concentration of protons results in the protonation of certain residues in pHLIP which leads to an increase in peptide hydrophobicity and drives the peptide to partition into the hydrophobic core of the membrane; here, pHLIP folds into a transmembrane helix, leaving one terminus in the extracellular space while the other terminus is translocated across the cell membrane into the cytoplasm. The main goal of this work was to optimize various pHLIPs and to evaluate the utility of pHLIP conjugates in the selective delivery of imaging and therapeutic agents used in specific medical applications: namely, for PET imaging and for the intracellular delivery of toxic cargo. Over the course of this work, we introduced several new imaging and drug-delivery conjugates based on existing pHLIP variants, as well as several new drug-delivery conjugates based on novel pHLIP variants. An emphasis was placed on the biophysical characterization of new peptides and conjugates, and the measurement of the ability of drug-laden conjugates to induce cell death in in vitro assays in a pH-dependent manner. Aside from these points upon which we place special emphasis, the effects of physiological levels of free divalent cations on protein folding were investigated via biophysical measurements for the first time.


Macrophage foam cells are integral in the development of atherosclerotic lesions. Gene expression analysis of lesional macrophage foam cells is complicated by the cellular heterogeneity of atherosclerotic plaque and the presence of lesions of various degrees of severity. To overcome these limitations, we tested the ability of laser capture microdissection (LCM) and real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR to selectively analyze RNA from lesional macrophages of apolipoprotein E (apoE)-deficient mice. Proximal aortic tissue sections were immunostained for macrophagespecific CD68/macrosialin by a rapid (≈15-min) protocol. Alternating sections from each animal were used to isolate RNA either from entire sections (analogous to isolation from whole tissue) or by LCM selection of CD68-positive cells. We measured the mRNA levels of CD68, a macrophage-specific marker, α-actin, a smooth muscle cell marker, and cyclophilin A, a control gene. Compared with whole sections, CD68 mRNA levels were greatly enriched (33.6-fold) in the laser-captured lesional macrophages. In contrast to whole sections, LCM-derived RNA had undetectable levels of α-actin. To illustrate the ability of this method to measure changes in lesional macrophage gene expression, we injected 100 μg of lipopolysaccharide i.p. into apoE-deficient mice and detected in laser-captured lesional macrophages increased mRNA expression for vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (11.9-, 32.5-, and 31.0-fold, respectively). By selectively enriching foam cell RNA, LCM provides a powerful approach to study the in situ expression and regulation of atherosclerosis-related genes. This approach will allow the study of macrophage gene expression under various conditions of plaque formation, regression, and response to genetic and environmental perturbations.


We investigate the localized nonlinear matter waves of the quasi-two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates with spatially modulated nonlinearity in the harmonic potential. It is shown that all of the Bose-Einstein condensates, similar to the linear harmonic oscillator, can have an arbitrary number of localized nonlinear matter waves with discrete energies, which are mathematically exact orthogonal solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Their properties are determined by the principal quantum number n and secondary quantum number l: the parity of the matter wave functions and the corresponding energy levels depend only on n, and the numbers of density packets for each quantum state depend on both n and l, which describe the topological properties of the atom packets. We also give an experimental protocol to observe these phenomena in future experiments.


In this study, three intensity metrics (ΔS.dB, VarcoS.dB and nPVI.dB) devised on the basis of the well-known durational metrics were tested on both L1 (English and Mandarin) and L2 (L2 English). The results suggested that they were effective in distinguishing "stress-timed" English from perceptually "syllable-timed" Mandarin and L2 English (by Mandarin speakers). These metrics break the impasse that although the L1 and L2 varieties of English were similar on durational measurements, they were perceptually different in rhythmicity. Therefore, it is advised that intensity metrics be applied in future rhythm research.


Synthesis of various metal-incorporated bis- and tris-homocubane analogues has been reported. Room temperature reactions of [Cp*MCl2]2 (Cp* = η5-C5Me5, M = Ir or Rh) with chalcogenated borohydride reagents, Li[BH2E3] (E = S or Se), yielded a series of bimetallic bis- and tris-homocubane derivatives (1–7). The bishomocubane analogues belong to the 1,3-bishomocubane family with the general formula [(Cp*M)2(μ-E)2(μ3-E)4(μ3-BH)2] (1: M = Ir, E = S; 2: M = Ir, E = Se; 5: M = Rh, E = S and 6: M = Rh, E = Se), and [(Cp*Ir)2(μ-S)2(μ3-S)4(μ-BH2)2], 3, can be described as an unusual bishomocubane having two (μ-BH2) units with a missing-bond. In addition to these bishomocubanes, two trishomocubane derivatives [(Cp*M)2(μ-E)3(μ3-E)4(μ3-BH)2] (4: M = Ir, E = S and 7: M = Rh, E = Se) were isolated from the above reactions. Trishomocubane 4 adopts a 1,2,4-trishomocubyl structure, whereas 7 is a D3-trishomocubyl analogue. In a similar fashion, thermolysis of [Cp*CoCl]2 with Li[BH2E3] (E = S or Se) led to the formation of Co-1,3-bishomocubane analogues, [(Cp*Co)2(μ-E)2(μ3-E)4(μ3-BH)2] (8: E = S and 9: E = Se). All the compounds were characterized by multinuclear NMR and IR spectroscopies and mass spectrometric analysis. The core geometries of 1–4 and 8 were unequivocally established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Density functional theory (DFT) computations further demonstrated that metals and chalcogen atoms play an important role in determining the thermodynamic stability of the bis- and tris-homocubane species.


Abstract Gemstone minerals in Serbia have never been regarded as an interesting and significant resource. Nevertheless, more than 150 deposits and occurrences have been recorded and some of them preliminarily explored in the last 50 years. The majority of deposits and occurrences are located within the Serbo-Macedonian metallogenic province and the most significant metallogenic units at the existing level of knowledge are the Fruska Gora ore district, Cer ore district, Sumadija metallogenic zone, Kopaonik metallogenic zone and Lece-Halkidiki metallogenic zone. The most important genetic type of deposits is hydrothermal, particularly in case of serpentinite/peridotite as host/parent rock. Placer deposits are also economically important. The dominant gemstones are silica minerals: chalcedony (Chrysoprase, carnelian, bluish chalcedony etc.), jasper (picture, landscape, red etc.), common opal (dendritic, green, milky white etc.), silica masses (undivided), and quartz (rock crystal, amethyst etc.). Beside silica minerals significant gemstones in Serbia include also beryl (aquamarine), garnet (almandine and pyrope), tourmaline, fluorite, rhodochrosite, carbonate-silica breccia, carbonate-silica onyx, silicified wood, howlite, serpentinite, marble onyx, and kyanite. This paper aims to present an overview of Serbian gemstone deposits and occurrences and their position based on a simplified gemstone metallogenic map of Serbia, as well as genetic-industrial classification of gemstone deposits and gemstone varieties.


A new zinc phthalocyanine-zinc porphyrin dyad (ZnPc-ZnP) fused through a pyrazine ring has been synthesized as a receptor for imidazole-substituted C60 (C60Im) electron acceptor. Self-assembly via metal-ligand axial coordination and the pertinent association constants in solution were determined by 1H-NMR, UV-Vis and fluorescence titration experiments at room temperature. The designed host was able to bind up to two C60Im electron acceptor guest molecules to yield C60Im:ZnPc-ZnP:ImC60 donor-acceptor supramolecular complex. The spectral data showed that the two binding sites behave independently with binding constants similar in magnitude. Steady-state fluorescence studies were indicative of an efficient singlet-singlet energy transfer from zinc porphyrin to zinc phthalocyanine within the fused dyad. Accordingly, the transient absorption studies covering a wide timescale of femto-to-milli seconds revealed ultrafast energy transfer from 1ZnP* to ZnPc (kEnT ∼ 1012 s-1) in the fused dyad. Further, a photo induced electron transfer was observed in the supramolecularly assembled C60Im:ZnPc-ZnP:ImC60 donor-acceptor complex leading to charge separated states, which persisted for about 200 ns.

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The first demonstration of a molecularly imprinted polymer patterned by electron beam lithography (EBL) direct writing is reported. The polymeric mixture is based on a linear co-polymer that behaves simultaneously as a positive-tone EBL resist and, after polymerization in the presence of rhodamine 123 (R123) as a model analyte, as a selective and sensitive synthetic receptor for the template. Analyte binding was evaluated by fluorescence confocal microscopy and the imprinting effect was confirmed in the presence of compounds structurally related to R123.


This Comment argues that RAFHA, as currently written, cannot stand in light of First Amendment jurisprudence. Part I reviews the history and development of relevant free speech case law and restrictions on expression, including the recent trend in the states of passing legislation similar to RAFHA. Part II assesses the Act's constitutionality against this background. First, Part II contends that the statute is a content-based restriction of free speech and is thus subject to strict scrutiny. Second, even if deemed content neutral, the Act could not survive the courts' intermediate scrutiny. Finally, this Comment reasons that even if able to survive the above challenges, the Act is still unconstitutional under First Amendment case law because it provides for standardless prior restraint. This Comment concludes that RAFHA is an unconstitutional regulation of speech and should be challenged in court.


Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse how abiotic and biotic constraint and facilitation agents determine tree recruitment in the alpine zone in climatically different regions as well as across species; Birch, pine and spruce. Location: The study was located to Grodalen, Haltdalen and Roros representing a coastal-inland gradient, where birch was included along the entire climatic gradient and all three species in one region (Haltdalen). Methods: Variables collected for seedling/sapling (specimen <2m) locations and associated control locations were; surrounding vegetation layers at ground-, field- and shrub level, occurrence and tyoe of shelter, soil samples, topography (land cover and slope position) and plant measurements (height, base diameter, crown area and age; Not recorded for control locations). Statistical analyses consisted of ANOVA and chi-squared tests were used to compare across regions and among variables. Results: The occurrence of shelter (shrub, depression and boulder) and moist location characteristics such as dominance of bryophytes, facilitated seedling recruitment equally across all regions and species. Shrub shelters and high amounts of organic material in the soil only facilitated birch height growth in the drier regions. Benefits from surrounding vegetation positively influenced the growth and survival of birch seedlings/saplings in drier regions. Dwarf shrub vegetation and shrub shelters increase moisture availability in the soil and provide shelter from wind scouring. Yet, dwarf shrub vegetation did not show any influence on height growth and survival for pine and spruce. In addition, pine recruitment was less affected by shelter presence and moist location characteristics than birch and spruce. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that there is an interplay of regional and local facilitation agents effecting seedling recruitment and that these agents vary across species. This complicates production of general predictions regarding future response of tree recruitment to changing climate. Identifying relevant facilitation agents supplies the necessary building blocks for estimating the potential for further recruitment and growth of seedlings and saplings into the tundra environment.


SUMMARY

We describe and present results from a finite-volume (FV) parallel computer code for forward modelling the Maxwell viscoelastic response of a 3-D, self-gravitating, elastically compressible Earth to an arbitrary surface load. We implement a conservative, control volume discretization of the governing equations using a tetrahedral grid in Cartesian geometry and a low-order, linear interpolation. The basic starting grid honours all major radial discontinuities in the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM), and the models are permitted arbitrary spatial variations in viscosity and elastic parameters. These variations may be either continuous or discontinuous at a set of grid nodes forming a 3-D surface within the (regional or global) modelling domain. In the second part of the paper, we adopt the FV methodology and a spherically symmetric Earth model to generate a suite of predictions sampling a broad class of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) data types (3-D crustal motions, long-wavelength gravity anomalies). These calculations, based on either a simple disc load history or a global Late Pleistocene ice load reconstruction (ICE-3G), are benchmarked against predictions generated using the traditional normal-mode approach to GIA. The detailed comparison provides a guide for future analyses (e.g. what grid resolution is required to obtain a specific accuracy?) and it indicates that discrepancies in predictions of 3-D crustal velocities less than 0.1 mm yr−1 are generally obtainable for global grids with ∼3 × 106 nodes; however, grids of higher resolution are required to predict large-amplitude (>1 cm yr−1) radial velocities in zones of peak post-glacial uplift (e.g. James bay) to the same level of absolute accuracy. We conclude the paper with a first application of the new formulation to a 3-D problem. Specifically, we consider the impact of mantle viscosity heterogeneity on predictions of present-day 3-D crustal motions in North America. In these tests, the lateral viscosity variation is constructed, with suitable scaling, from tomographic images of seismic S-wave heterogeneity, and it is characterized by approximately 2 orders of magnitude (peak-to-peak) lateral variations within the lower mantle and 1 order of magnitude variations in the bulk of the upper mantle (below the asthenosphere). We find that the introduction of 3-D viscosity structure has a profound impact on horizontal velocities; indeed, the magnitude of the perturbation (of order 1 mm yr−1) is as large as the prediction generated from the underlying (1-D) radial reference model and it far exceeds observational uncertainties currently being obtained from space-geodetic surveying. The relative impact of lateral viscosity variations on predicted radial motions is significantly smaller.


Chicken anemia virus (CAV) from non-attenuated and attenuated isolates were characterized based on sequence and phylogenetic analysis. The CAV BL-5 isolate, isolated from UPM was propagated and attenuated in MSB-1 cells until
passage 90. The whole genome of non-attenuated isolate, BL-5P5 and attenuated isolate, BL-5P90 were amplified, cloned and subjected for sequencing. The sequences were analyzed and compared with other 25 isolates from local and foreign countries. Sequence analysis of VP1, VP2 and VP3 coding regions revealed that most of the variations were at the VP1 region. Sequence analysis of VP1 revealed that the BL-5P5 isolate was closely related to BL-5P90, CAF475 (China), AF313 (USA), C140 and A2 (Japan) and 3-1/P60 (Malaysia) isolates between 98% to 99% homology and distantly related to CAU269/7 (Australia) and SMSC-1 (Malaysia) isolates with 95% homology. However, analysis based on amino acid sequence indicated that the BL-5P5 isolate was closely related (98% to 99%) to all the above isolates, including the CAU269/7 isolate. It was found that the CAU269/7 has a very unusual low nonsynonymous/synonymous (NS/S) ratio of 0.188 when compared to the BL-5P5. Similarly, phylogenetic analysis based on the VP1 nucleotide sequences revealed that the BL-5P5 was closely related to BL-5P90, CAF475 (China) and
AF313 (USA) and distantly related to CAU269/7 (Australia) and SMSC-1 (Malaysia) isolates . Analysis based on amino acid sequences revealed that the BL-5P5 was closely related to BL-5P90, CAU269/7 (Australia), Cf.F475 (China) and AF313 (USA) and distantly related to ConnB (USA), SMSC-1 (Malaysia) and P3102A9-resist isolates. The BL-5P90 showed only 15 nucleotide differences compared to BL-5P5 isolates. However, these differences associated with 11 amino acid changes which were found mainly in the hypervariable region of VP1. Thus, the NS/S ratio (2.75) is significantly higher than the SINS ratio (0.36). The BL-5P90 isolate has an amino acid substitution at position 144 from glutamic acid
(E) to lysine (K) in VP1 hypervariable region. This amino acid substitution might play an important role in viral attenuation. The CAV VP3 gene from nonattenuated BL-5P5 isolate was expressed as a fusion protein in prokaryotic
system. The SOS-PAGE and Western blot analysis indicated that the expressed VP3 protein of a pproximately 18 kOa was observed from the cell lysate sample after 4 hours post induction with isopropyl-I3-0-thiogalactosidase (IPTG).
However, the protein was expressed in insoluble form and was relatively non-immunogenic since hyperimmune serum against the expressed protein showed non-specific reactions following Western blot and indirect immunofluorescence
anti body test (IFAT) assay. Thus, the expressed VP3 protein in the present form is not suitable for use as antigen in production of antibody for the development of
VP3 protein as diagnostic marker. Further studies on the application of the VP3 as diagnostic protein of CAV remains to be confirmed.


Children with von Willebrand disease (VWD) in whom DDAVP is ineffective or contraindicated require treatment with a coagulation factor concentrate containing von Willebrand factor (VWF) and factor VIII (FVIII). The aim of this study was to monitor the safety, efficacy and tolerability of Wilate® (a VWF:FVIII concentrate with a 1:1 ratio) used across the North London Paediatric Haemophilia Network since May 2010. In total, 47 children (aged 0.0–17.0 years) with type 1 (n = 28), type 2 (n = 7), type 3 (n = 10) and acquired VWS (n = 2) have been treated for bleeds, surgery and/or prophylaxis using 260 000 IU Wilate®. Analysis of dose and frequency of treatment show expected responses to treatment with mean doses of 55, 50 and 50 IU kg−1 for bleeds, surgery and prophylaxis respectively. Most bleeds responded to a single treatment. Surgical procedures were covered with clinician approved dosing schedules with 95% (39/41) reported as having excellent or good efficacy. There was no accumulation of FVIII or VWF and no thromboembolic events. This case series confirms the efficacy, safety and tolerability of Wilate® in neonates, children and adolescents when used on‐demand, prophylactically and in the surgical setting.


Experimental data has revealed that in addition to feedforward connections, there exist abundant feedback connections in a neural pathway. Although the importance of feedback in neural information processing has been widely recognized in the field, the detailed mechanism of how it works remains largely unknown. Here, we investigate the role of feedback in hierarchical information retrieval. Specifically, we consider a hierarchical network storing the hierarchical categorical information of objects, and information retrieval goes from rough to fine, aided by dynamical push-pull feedback from higher to lower layers. We elucidate that the push (positive) and pull (negative) feedbacks suppress the interferences due to neural correlations between different and the same categories, respectively, and their joint effect improves retrieval performance significantly. Our model agrees with the push-pull phenomenon observed in neural data and sheds light on our understanding of the role of feedback in neural information processing.


The important role of the Prophet Muhammad in the everyday lives of Muslims is usually overlooked by Western scholars and has consequently never been understood by the Western world. Using original sources in the various Islamic languages, Annemarie Schimmel explains the central place of Muhammad in Muslim life, mystical thought, and poetry. She sees the veneration of Muhammad as having many parallels in other major religions. In order to understand Muslim piety it is necessary to take into account the long history of the veneration of Muhammad. Schimmel discusses aspects of his life, birth, marriage, miracles, and heavenly journey, all of which became subjects for religious devotions. By using poetic texts and artistic expressions and by examining daily Muslim religious practices, Schimmel shows us the gentler side of Islamic religious culture, providing a much-needed understanding of religion as it is experienced and practiced in the Islamic world. This is the first book in English to deal with all aspects of the veneration of the Prophet Muhammad. It is an expanded version of Schimmel's Und Muhammad Ist Sein Prophet , originally published in German in 1981.


The Sideling Range is comprised of Mathinna Group sediments on the western
margin of the Scottsdale Batholith. The Sideling Range is situated close to an
informally proposed stratigraphic transition within the Mathinna Group that has been
documented but not comprehensively mapped or defined. The Sideling Sandstone has
been informally proposed as a distinct unit from the underlying Bellingham
Formation.
Recent prospecting around the Sideling Range has also revealed a small area of gold
mineralisation within a contact aureole, opening the possibility that the gold is related
to granite intrusion rather than a typical turbidite hosted mesothermal gold vein style.
This thesis studies the structure and sedimentology of the Sideling Range. It defines
the Sideling Sandstone and discusses the proposed stratigraphic transition. It also
investigates the nature of the gold mineralising fluid.
The Sideling Range consists of first generation NNW trending folds that conform to
the regional structure of the Mathinna Group. Faulting within the Sideling Range is
rare and small-scale and post Dl deformation is mainly only evident within the
contact aureole.
The Sideling Sandstone unit is approximately 1500 metres thick. It is a fine to
medium-grained sandstone that is dominated by thick and massively bedded
sandstones that are interlayered with thinner bedded classical turbidites as well as
siltstone. The Sideling Sandstone is more thickly bedded than the Bellingham
Formation and is from a more proximal environment on the submarine fan. The
Sideling Sandstone was deposited in an ancient channel environment.
The study of sulphides within the gold mineralised veins revealed that the fluid, which
formed the veins, had a magmatic component.


Social changes become essential during considerable transformations of all the society. The social position of a human being changes too. A lot of and in the same time huge risk problems arise during the time of reformation. Social security becomes more and more important in the growing democratic society. The group of circumstances, existing on a national and international level, has an effect upon making social policy. Social development in the state goes on in the context of different realia and limits: ideological, economical, geographical, historical, cultural and others. Therefore, models of social security should be chosen and implemented. There are no universal and ideal variants of social policy. In forming social policy attention should be paid to globalization. The agendas of social policy are under the influence of international level problems: the surrounding pollution, aging, drugs, AIDS, etc. National agendas of social policy in the process of globalization are becoming more and more global, but the process of decision-making and implementation remains in the competence of the state. In the growing democratic society there is a wide spectrum of social changes and their huge non-determination. There are needs arising for deepening of theoretical understanding related to the existing processes, increasing the research, prediction of the evolution of social changes and their consequences.


Due to extreme meteorological and soil hydrological situations the agricultural production security is highly unpredictable. To release the extent and duration of inland excess water (IEW) inundations or two-phase soil conditions during the period intended for cultivation, subsurface drainage (SD) has been used as a best practice in several countries. SD interventions took place between 1960's and 1990 in Hungary. After 1989, land ownership conditions changed, thus professional operation and the necessary maintenance of the SD networks designed as a complex system became insignificant. In this paper, our aim was to present the IEW hazard in one of the most equipped areas by SD in Hungary. The occurrence frequency of IEW inundations in drained and non-drained (control) areas in different time intervals were compared. According to our results, we could state that the frequency of IEW on the subsurface drained areas was moderately lower in only a few periods compared to the control areas. IEW hazard of the arable areas at the Körös Interfluve was classified as nonhazarded in 52.7% of the area. Another 38.2% were moderately hazarded, 8.26% of the lands were meanly hazarded and less than 1% were highly hazarded area by IEW.


Many free-ranging wild animals consume significant amounts of tannins and other polyphenolics. Historically, attention has focused on their negative effects: Tannins reduce apparent digestibility, impair the use of absorbed nutrients, can be toxic and reduce the palatability of many forages. Thus, tannins act as feeding deterrants. However, recently the antioxidant and cardioprotective potential of tannins/polyphenolics has been emphasized in human nutrition.
Wild animals in captivity are fed a diet relatively low in tannins. It has been hypothesized that this might lead to a "lacking" in species that have evolutionarily adapted to and potentially become dependent on tannins. Potentially positive effects of tannins are a reduction in ruminal protein degradation with an increased flow of valuable amino acids into the lower gut, the prevention of bloat, a reduction of gastrointestinal parasites and of pathogenic bacteria, and the chelation of iron. With respect to iron chelation, it could be hypothesized that some species have evolutionarily adapted to a natural diet with low iron availability due to its tannin content, and therefore cannot restrict iron absorption on captive diets high in available iron.
Several observations from zoos can be compared to these effects. Especially, but not exclusively during the transition from the wild into captivity, many folivorous animals suffer from gastrointestinal disorders such as bloat, enteritis and helmithic infestations. Long-lived species whose natural diet contains tannins can suffer from cardiovascular disease in captivity. Additionally, some folivorous, hindgut-fermenting species develop excessive iron storage on captive diets. It is tempting to suggest the lack of tannins as an underlying factor.
The potentially beneficial effects of a more natural dietary tannin supply should be investigated, especially with respect to the antioxidant properties of polyphenolics in the face of iron storage disease. However, studies on the possibility to prevent the mentioned conditions by other dietary means, most notably a reduction in overall concentrate intake, should also be performed.