Background: pain after Cesarean delivery (CD) can negatively affect ambulation, breastfeeding, and maternal bonding. The aim of this study was to determine whether a correctly performed TAPB can provide better control of acute postoperative pain during the first 48 hours after CS and if it can provide a faster postoperative recovery. Patients and methods: included 32 participants who underwent elective caesarean section assigned randomly into two groups. Group A: 16 patients received TAP block. Group B: 16 patients did not receive any block. Medicine Ten centimeters visual analog scale (VAS) was also explained during preoperative visit. The postoperative pain was evaluated at 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 18 and 24 hours by using VAS for pain scoring that was explained to the patients during preoperative visit as a 100 millimeter horizontal line with verbal anchors at both ends. Results: Our study showed that there is statistically significant difference between the studied groups regarding VAS pain scorebaseline or at any point of time (significantly lower in TAP block group). In each group, there is significant change (increase) in VAS pain score over time. There is statistically significant difference between the studied groups regarding time for first analgesia (significantly longer in TAP block group). Number of patients who need nalufin was significantly higher in control group (ten patients within control group versus only one in TAP block group). Also, there is statistically significant difference between the studied groups regarding patient satisfaction. More than half of patients (56.2%) within TAP block group were very satisfied while half of those within control group felt neutral (neither satisfied or not). Conclusion: Transverse abdominis plane block represents a viable alternative to common analgesic procedures performed for acute postoperative pain control after a CS.


First paragraphs: In  Organic Revolutionary , Grace Gershuny (former staff member of the National Organic Program [NOP] of the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA]) recalls her journey helping blaze a trail for organic certification in the 1990s. Her memoir makes for a powerful recounting of the trials and tribulations of being tasked with the David and Goliath–sized job of leading a team to draft the rules for what would eventually become the first process-based set of regulations governing an entire set of food production practices. Creating definitions for those practices, crafting the rules governing those practices, and calculating how to pass such legislation amid political (and at times consumer-driven) opposition are the steps along Gershuny's journey. For younger readers, who consider eating a political act and who care deeply about the impact their food dollars have on the health of their families, the environment, and the animals upon whom they rely for sustenance, it can be difficult to imagine a time before the existence of the USDA Organic label. Gershuny's book provides a first-hand account of how the label came into existence in 2002. Readers will walk in Gershuny's shoes, navigating a precarious political scene replete with landmines, including key issues such as whether the organic label should appear on foods produced through genetic engineering...


When animals repeatedly choose actions from multiple alternatives, they can allocate their choices stochastically depending on past actions and outcomes. It is commonly assumed that this ability is achieved by modifications in synaptic weights related to decision making. Choice behavior has been empirically found to follow Herrnstein's matching law. Loewenstein & Seung (2006) demonstrated that matching behavior is a steady state of learning in neural networks if the synap-tic weights change proportionally to the covariance between reward and neural activities. However, their proof did not take into account the change in entire synaptic distributions. In this study, we show that matching behavior is not necessarily a steady state of the covariance-based learning rule when the synaptic strength is sufficiently strong so that the fluctuations in input from individual sensory neurons influence the net input to output neurons. This is caused by the increasing variance in the input potential due to the diffusion of synaptic weights. This effect causes an undermatching phenomenon, which has been observed in many behavioral experiments. We suggest that the synaptic diffusion effects provide a robust neural mechanism for stochastic choice behavior.


In this paper research work on welded butt weld connections between hot-rolled seamless tubes and steel castings are presented. Comparison is made between different weld preparations for the butt welds including different steel grades, repair methods, the influence of residual stresses and a study on large scale trusses. The steel grades investigated include S550QH as well as S690QH to complement previous test results on lower steel grades. These investigations are intended to lead towards the development of a concept for improving the fatigue life for bridges using such end-to-end connections.


>Objective To compare the incidence of cancer among women with and without a history of pre-eclampsia. Design Cohort study. Setting Jerusalem perinatal study of women who delivered in three large hospitals in West Jerusalem during 1964-76. Participants 37 033 women. Main outcome measures Age adjusted and multivariable adjusted hazard ratios for cancer incidence for the entire cohort and for women who were primiparous at study entry. Results Cancer developed in 91 women who had pre-eclampsia and 2204 who did not (hazard ratio 1.27, 95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.57). The risk of site specific cancers was increased, particularly of the stomach, ovary epithelium, breast, and lung or larynx. The incidence of cancer of the stomach, breast, ovary, kidney, and lung or larynx was increased in primiparous women at study entry who had a history pre-eclampsia. Conclusions A history of pre-eclampsia is associated with increases in overall risk of cancer and incidence at several sites. This may be explained by environmental and genetic factors common to the development of pre-eclampsia and cancer in this population.


Today's scholarship on Christianity's relationships with, to, and through foods, performatively, theologically, and ethically, must address global constituents and claims. Recent scholarship on Christianity and food moves from the usual markets of textual research, socio-cultural histories, and ethnography to more interdisciplinary approaches stirred by global Christian communities and concerns. This article highlights shifts in more traditional, field-related scholarship about Christianity and food while demonstrating why global Christian perspectives not only build from that research but also push beyond it. The field-related scholarship is reviewed using four frames or categories, offered as organizing and heuristic help. They are the following: socio-cultural and comparative; lived religion and ethnography; feminist, womanist, and liberatory; and global. Two types of material broadly inform these frames: historical and textual, and ethnographic and lived or practiced religion. The current and future diversity, needs, and claims of global Christian communities and contexts cannot be contained or wedged into scholarship traditionally bound to these field-situated approaches. Scholarship related to Christianity, and food must embrace interdisciplinary and innovative strategies shared among world-wide scholars and practitioners. From questions about community identity, to celebratory feasting and observant fasting during, cultural and seasonal cycles, including Eucharist and earth care, the future of research in global Christianity and food promises a feast of possibilities. Scholars will find a rich range of challenging issues involving faith and practice tuned to global viewpoint on ritual and performance, theologies, colonial resistances, and global alliances and politics.


JAYNE GACKENBACH (Ed.) Psychology and the Internet (Second edition) Academic Press, 2006, 392 pages (ISBN: 9780123694256, US$59.95 Book/paperback) Reviewed by RICHARD NICKI An Internet search via Google of "Psychology and the Internet, Reviews" reveals that the first edition of Jayne Gackenbach's book was enthusiastically greeted by reviewers as a very welcome source of information about the nature and relevance of the Internet for readers from diverse scholarly disciplines and locales. Internet accolades for the second edition of her book should only exceed those of the first! Indeed, Psychology and the Internet (second Edition) provides the reader with 13 informationladen chapters dealing with topics ranging from Evelyn Ellerman's first chapter, which places the Internet in the context of its development in the 1960s in response to the strategic problem of how the United States government could maintain communications if conventional means were destroyed in a nuclear war, to Jayne Gackenbach's and Jim Karpen's final chapter concerned with the Internet and higher states of consciousness and lucid dreaming. In the former, an interesting comparison is made between the cultural effects of the exponential growth of the radio with its "invisible waves" and its use by the military, trained amateurs, business interests, politicians, educators, and the general public to similar developments of the Internet. The book is mainly organized into three parts, Intrapersonal (Chapters 2-6), Interpersonal (Chapters 7-10), and Transpersonal (Chapters 11-13), dealing with a myriad of topics written by specialists in these areas In the first chapter of Part 1, Connie Varnhagen informs the reader that although children may be subjected to predation, bullying, and exposure to pornography, the Internet provides an overall positive environment for social development. In Chapter 3, Jayne Gackenbach and Heather von Stackelberg discuss new ways of thinking about identity and deepening one's awareness of self online, which seems to be a particular concern of adolescents. They make the interesting observation that as the Internet becomes more common in contemporary society, women will be able to use it more effectively than men because they generally have higher social skills in our society. Adam Joinson's chapter on dis-inhibition makes the point that self-disclosure in the form of online diaries or blogs, flaming or antisocial behaviour, and easy access to all kinds of pornography may stem from a consideration of a wider context involving trust, control, and costs and benefits of having fewer concerns about the judgment of others and the presentation of self. The longest chapter in this section, by Raymond Noonan, deals with the psychology of sex on the Internet. Adult entertainment sites, which already account for at least 10% of the merchant sites on the Web, may only be expected to burgeon along with the advancement of cybersex, erotic chatrooms, blogging, and podcasting or the downloading of audio and video content to compact discs. Sexual diversity with respect to all kinds of erotic images and behaviours is now the norm on the Internet, and Noonan feels that the goals espoused by the World Association for Sexual Health may be fostered by the sexual empowerment of individuals via the Internet. The last chapter by Laura Widyanto and Mark Griffiths in this section revisits the issue of the validity of Internet addiction as an explanatory concept by providing a fairly comprehensive review of psychometric studies purporting to assess this phenomenon. A cogent distinction is made between addiction to the Internet and addiction on the Internet (e.g., excessive cybersex, excessive gambling), and an observation is offered that the true rates of addiction to the Internet are probably quite low among the population. Part II, concerned with interpersonal aspects of the Internet, begins with a chapter by Caroline Haythornthwaite and Anna Nielsen about the usefulness and appropriateness of CMC or computer-mediated-communication for current users who consist, to a greater and greater degree, of people in the world in general. …


We fabricated highly efficient planar type CH3NH3PbI3−xClx (MAPbI3−xClx) mixed halide perovskite solar cells via spray coating with a controlled composition of the solvents. The cells had a power conversion efficiency of 17.8% (forward scan), 18.3% (reverse scan), and 16.08 ± 1.28% (average) for unit cells under 1 Sun conditions. We controlled the ratio of DMF (dimethylformamide), a quickly evaporating solvent, and GBL (γ-butyrolactone), a slowly evaporating solvent, to 10 : 0, 9 : 1, 8 : 2, and 7 : 3 (vol : vol). We obtained the largest MAPbI3−xClx mixed halide perovskite crystal grains in the 8 : 2 sample because the inward flux of the spray solution was balanced with the outward flux of the evaporating solvent. Consequently, the moistened underlying polycrystalline perovskite film with small crystal grains re-dissolved and merged into larger crystalline grains by re-crystallization. By controlling the re-dissolution and crystal grain growth of the MAPbI3−xClx mixed halide perovskite film via spray coating, we fabricated a sub-module (10 cm × 10 cm, active area = 40 cm2) with 10.5 V open circuit voltage, 84.15 mA short circuit current, 70.16% fill factor, and 15.5% power conversion efficiency under 1 Sun conditions.


We simulate SU(2) gauge theory at temperatures ranging from slightly below Tc to roughly 2Tc for two different values of the gauge coupling. Using a histogram method, we extract the effective potential for the Polyakov loop and for the phases of the eigenvalues of the thermal Wilson loop, in both the fundamental and adjoint representations. We show that the classical potential of the fundamental loop can be parametrized within a simple model which includes a Vandermonde potential and terms linear and quadratic in the Polyakov loop. We discuss how parametrizations for the other cases can be obtained from this model.


Excessive wind, ice, and snow regularly cause major disturbances to forests in many parts of the world, significantly impacting both ecological conditions and economic returns to forest landowners. These events cause immediate losses for landowners, and the broken and uprooted trees left in the wake of a storm increase the risk that wildfires, disease, and pest outbreaks will cause secondary damage to the surviving trees. Although weather severity (e.g., windspeed and duration, or form and amount of precipitation) is clearly an important factor in the occurrence and severity of forest damage, site conditions, tree characteristics, and stand characteristics play a major role in determining resistance of a forest stand to wind, ice, and snow loading. However, the relationships between site, tree, and stand characteristics and weather damage are complex and vary spatially and temporally. In this article, we review and synthesize the literature on the risk of forest damages from severe weather—focusing on wind, ice, and snow—and the factors that influence vulnerability. Forest management decisions are found to play an important role in influencing risk associated with severe weather events. The risk of damages can be managed through strategies such as selection of planting site and species, stocking, and selection and timing of silvicultural treatments. Optimal management strategies under endogenous risk vary based on the probability of damage and management objectives.


Patterns of transport and accumulation of manganese were studied in Lupinus albus L. and Lupinus angustifolius L. in a wide range of availability levels in the rooting medium. The recently described 'split seed' disorder, involving discolouration, splitting, and deformity of seeds, was reproduced in sand culture using critically low levels of manganese. The disorder was prevented by maintaining adequate manganese in the medium and its incidence in field and glasshouse was quantitatively related to the managnese level in seed and fruit phloem sap. The use of phloem sap analysis for early diagnosis of the disorder is suggested. High levels of manganese in parent seed is suggested to afford protection against the disorder by improving early vegetative growth in a manganese deficient situation. Direct carry-over of manganese from one seed generation to the next was insignificant.

Manganese proved to be fully mobile in xylem but only sparingly mobile in phloem from vegetative structures to seed. It was accumulated in massive amounts in leaves and fruits when availability was high. Seed manganese content increased 80–100 fold as the level in the rooting medium was increased from 0⋅1 to 500 mg Mn 1−1. L. albus was superior to L. angustifolius in accumulating manganese in leaves and pods, and more efficient in translocating the element to its seeds. These differences were greatest at low or moderate manganese levels. Xylem intake by a fruit was small relative to phloem intake when manganese availability was low, but became increasingly important as the supply in the rooting medium was raised.


The basis for memory loss in early Alzheimer's disease (AD) seems likely to involve synaptic damage caused by soluble Abeta-derived oligomers (ADDLs). ADDLs have been shown to build up in the brain and CSF of AD patients and are known to interfere with mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, acting as gain-of-function ligands that attach to synapses. Because of the correlation between AD dementia and synaptic degeneration, we investigated here the ability of ADDLs to affect synapse composition, structure, and abundance. Using highly differentiated cultures of hippocampal neurons, a preferred model for studies of synapse cell biology, we found that ADDLs bound to neurons with specificity, attaching to presumed excitatory pyramidal neurons but not GABAergic neurons. Fractionation of ADDLs bound to forebrain synaptosomes showed association with postsynaptic density complexes containing NMDA receptors, consistent with observed attachment of ADDLs to dendritic spines. During binding to hippocampal neurons, ADDLs promoted a rapid decrease in membrane expression of memory-related receptors (NMDA and EphB2). Continued exposure resulted in abnormal spine morphology, with induction of long thin spines reminiscent of the morphology found in mental retardation, deafferentation, and prionoses. Ultimately, ADDLs caused a significant decrease in spine density. Synaptic deterioration, which was accompanied by decreased levels of the spine cytoskeletal protein drebrin, was blocked by the Alzheimer's therapeutic drug Namenda. The observed disruption of dendritic spines links ADDLs to a major facet of AD pathology, providing strong evidence that ADDLs in AD brain cause neuropil damage believed to underlie dementia.


Most of us will agree that the legal profession gets little respect in the United States. There are scores of websites dedicated to lawyer jokes and almost all the humor is negative. Indeed, the humor is not only negative but is often is filled with hate and anger towards attorneys. In many of the jokes, it is clear that the only good lawyer is one who is dead. For example, try this joke with any other profession and it does not work. "What do you call 5000 dead________ at the bottom of the ocean? A good start!" It only works with lawyers. Why are lawyers so hated? One doubts that there is any other profession that has resulted in so many vicious jokes. This paper discusses how lawyer jokes can be used to teach the importance of ethics. Scores of lawyer jokes are provided for educators who teach business law or ethics to use in the classroom.


Damage to coniferous seedlings and trees by forest rodents, including forest lagomorphs, is a major factor limiting prompt regeneration and causing significant losses in young stands. Manipulating the vegetation to adversely influence food and cover thereby reducing animal numbers is proposed as an approach to alleviating damage. The adaptability, high reproductive potential, opportunistic feeding behavior, and mobility of forest rodents combined with the species diversity of rodent communities, rapid recovery of vegetation, and need for long-term protection make habitat manipulation for damage control a difficult approach. However, an example is presented where herbicide-induced reduction in vegetative cover and availability of summer foods resulted in a significant reduction of clipping damage to Douglasfir seedlings by snowshoe hares.


Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are common and underdiagnosed medical conditions in India. Prevalence of these chronic diseases is high both in rural and urban areas. However, the exact prevalence of PAH in Indian COPD patients is unclear. Comorbid conditions like PAH have a great impact on the outcome of COPD in the form of severity, exacerbations, morbidity, and mortality. Right heart catheterization remains the gold standard test for diagnosis of PAH, but it is invasive and practically not feasible. Aims and objectives: The present study objective was to screen COPD patients for PAH using two-dimensional transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (ECHO) in Tertiary Care Hospital. Results: A total of 2040 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COPD were enrolled in the study. Among these patients, 1509 were males (73.9%), 531 were females (23.06%), and 1428 were known or ex-smokers (70%). None of the females were smokers, but there was a history of biomass fuel exposure for >10 years. As per global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease criteria, mild, moderate, severe, and very severe COPD was noted in 525,629,511, and 375 patients, respectively. When they were screened using ECHO, prevalence of PAH was 41.96% as 856 subjects had PAH. Prevalence of PAH among mild, moderate, severe, and very severe COPD was 23.8%, 34.81%, 48.53%, and 70.4%, respectively. There was a linear relationship between PAH and severity of COPD. Conclusion: PAH is very common in COPD patients in India. As the severity of COPD increased, the frequency and degree of PAH also increased. ECHO is an excellent tool for detection of PAH in COPD patients. All patients with severe to very severe COPD should be routinely screened by ECHO for PAH and with mild to moderate COPD, who have dyspnea out of proportion to their clinical condition should also be screened for PAH.


We introduce an approach for learning human actions as interactions between persons and objects in realistic videos. Previous work typically represents actions with low-level features such as image gradients or optical flow. In contrast, we explicitly localize in space and track over time both the object and the person, and represent an action as the trajectory of the object w.r.t. to the person position. Our approach relies on state-of-the-art techniques for human detection [32], object detection [10], and tracking [39]. We show that this results in human and object tracks of sufficient quality to model and localize human-object interactions in realistic videos. Our human-object interaction features capture the relative trajectory of the object w.r.t. the human. Experimental results on the Coffee and Cigarettes dataset [25], the video dataset of [19], and the Rochester Daily Activities dataset [29] show that 1) our explicit human-object model is an informative cue for action recognition; 2) it is complementary to traditional low-level descriptors such as 3D--HOG [23] extracted over human tracks. We show that combining our human-object interaction features with 3D-HOG improves compared to their individual performance as well as over the state of the art [23], [29].


Siobhan Hapaska, The Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, September/November, 2010, curated by Liam Kelly. (This exhibition formed part of the visual arts programme of the Belfast Festival at Queens which runs from the 15th-30th October 2010).The Ormeau Baths Gallery (OBG) hosted a major exhibition of the Belfast born artist Siobhan Hapaska which opened on September 2010.The exhibition was the first in her native city and included a combination of new and recent works. It was curated by Liam Kelly.Siobhan Hapaska is a graduate of Goldsmith's College, London (1992) and has consistently exhibited in major exhibitions internationally including Documenta X, Germany, Venice Biennale 2001 and Magasin 3, Stockholm. She also shows regularly in Dublin at the Kerlin Gallery and in New York at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. Her works are in a number of private and public collections including The Tate Gallery, London.Hapaska is renowned for her inventive and challenging mixed media sculptures and installations and recently exhibited 'The Nose that Lost its Dog' (2010) at he Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York (2010). Throughout her career, the artist has received critical acclaim for her work including the esteemed IMMA Glen Dimplex award (1998) and the Paul Hamlyn award for visual art (2003). Her art practice is multilayered and feelings of uncertainty, restlessness and change have marked her work and certain binary conditions such as nature and artifice; presence and absence; life and death have preoccupied the artist in the past.This exhibition ,inter alia, will engage with the lingering theme of dislocation and loss of instinct in recent work.She has said of her practice 'Uncertainty in my work is very important to me. I'm really not interested in definitive explanations of things – I find certainty so claustrophobic'. Ambivalence is a also a recurring feature of her practice which always resists easy classification. Earlier in her career she moved between forms of aberrant naturalism (e.g. St. Christopher (1995) and Delirious (1996) and a wayward abstraction.Works like Want (1997), Hanker (1997) and Mule (1997) made of highly polished fibreglass recalled the more baroque forms of modernist architecture, aerodynamic modelling of car design and perhaps also a Brancusi-like striving after a certain purity of form. But there was always a subversion and irony at work – most unlike Brancusi. This subversive tendency was further extended by purposefully setting up questioning ensembles of the apparently abstract fragments with more figurative and neo-surreal works. The artist has said of this dichotomy within her work,'The forms in themselves are meant to embody some possible better world, but there is this persistent entropy which pulls them back'With Hapaska mutations and cross-fertilisation of forms and life systems evolved more and more into hybrid manifestations. Organic life forces would emerge from fabricated objects. And not without humour as in Safe (2003) where a coconut 'face' peeps out from a shell/egg-like form.Engagements with conflict, tension and violence underwrite generally much of her work and at times more overtly. Island ( 2003) has palm tree trunks bolstered by sand bags rather than naturally surrounded by sand: paradise seriously interfered with, if not lost. In Sunlight (2004) a yellow structure spurts a cluster of spent bullet cartridges topped with wheat sheaves. That metaphor of persistent sustenance/denial and conflict is further developed in 'Downfall' (2009) which will form a centre piece in her exhibition at the OBG.Trees have always featured in a number of Hapaska's works such as Perpetual (2001) and Holding (2002). In Downfall an uprooted olive tree with root ball is suspended horizontally above two trays: one containing the trees leaves; the other with soil (unproductive and in support of nothing).There is an elegant simplicity in Downfall's concept and display related to territory and the denial of sustenance. The olive tree is natural to Mediterranean countries and also cultivated in Israel, Palestinian Territories and Lebanon. The olive leaf is symbolic of abundance and peace and has many references as such in The Bible and The Koran. The root system of the olive tree is robust but in Downfall (a multi-layered title) it is subverted and dislocated.The work relates to The Palestinian/Israeli problem which, like N.Ireland, is essentially about cultural identity and territory. The death of the tree in Hapaska's work is underpinned by two states/ two conditions – one abundant; one denied vitality.Downfall was recently exhibited in New York with The Dog that Lost its Nose( 2009). This work is made up of eleven stainless steel spheres suspended in line from the gallery ceiling, with each sphere increasing in size and coiled with a roll of animal skin (a favourite motif). Each sphere can rotate on a different axis. As such it continues an ongoing interest of the artist in movement, collision, travel and change and the importance of a state of in-betweeness.Siobhan Hapaska's work depth charges a number of cultural and socio-political issues. The Belfast exhibition opened up for assessment the extent to which biography/identity have been underpinning its development.


We present AutoConnect, an automatic method that creates customized, 3D-printable connectors attaching two physical objects together. Users simply position and orient virtual models of the two objects that they want to connect and indicate some auxiliary information such as weight and dimensions. Then, AutoConnect creates several alternative designs that users can choose from for 3D printing. The design of the connector is created by combining two holders, one for each object. We categorize the holders into two types. The first type holds standard objects such as pipes and planes. We utilize a database of parameterized mechanical holders and optimize the holder shape based on the grip strength and material consumption. The second type holds free-form objects. These are procedurally generated shell-gripper designs created based on geometric analysis of the object. We illustrate the use of our method by demonstrating many examples of connectors and practical use cases.


Since their implementation at the Uruguay Round, tariff rate quotas (TRQs) have become a widely used instrument of trade policy in agricultural trade. With almost 1300 TRQs scheduled at the WTO, it seems worthwhile to examine their economic effects more closely. This is what this paper does. First, the theoretical background of TRQs is examined. Then a short overview of the Uruguay Round as their institutional background is given. We demonstrate that official statistics, which do not count TRQs as non-tariff barriers, are at least highly misleading. Very often, their effects are the same as those of regular quotas, including redistributive effects. The prominent example of the European Banana regime is used to illustrate all of these points.


AIMS: To document current United Kingdom practice for antenatal screening for inherited disorders of globin chain synthesis and to compare such practice with guidelines published by the British Committee for Standards in Haematology and the Standing Committee on Sickle Cell, Thalassaemia and other Haemoglobinopathies (SMAC). METHODS: The members of the UK Forum on Haemoglobin Disorders were surveyed about their current practice for antenatal haemoglobinopathy screening. The UK Forum is a national group of haematologists, paediatricians, laboratory scientists, and counsellors working in the field of diagnosis and management of disorders of haemoglobin synthesis; such disorders including the alpha and beta thalassaemias, sickle cell disease, and other haemoglobinopathies. RESULTS: Completed questionnaires from 38 hospitals (or cooperating groups of hospitals) were analysed. The great majority of hospitals were applying appropriate laboratory methods, but problems were commonly encountered in ensuring that appropriate testing of antenatal patients and, when necessary, of their partners, was carried out early in pregnancy. When screening was selective there was quite often a failure to identify all women in whom testing was indicated, and cut off points used as an indication for further testing were sometimes inappropriate. CONCLUSIONS: Many practical problems are still encountered in following guidelines for the antenatal diagnosis of haemoglobinopathies. A need for improved administrative procedures and increased funding was identified. In addition there is a need for agreed guidelines giving more specific advice on technical aspects of laboratory practice.


This paper describes a tri-modal asymmetric bidirectional differential memory interface that supports data rates of up to 20 Gbps over 3" FR4 PCB channels while achieving power efficiency of 6.1 mW/Gbps at full speed. The interface also accommodates single-ended standard DDR3 and GDDR5 signaling at 1.6-Gbps and 6.4-Gbps operations, respectively, without package change. The compact, low-power and high-speed tri-modal interface is enabled by substantial reuse of the circuit elements among various signaling modes, particularly in the wide-band clock generation and distribution system and the multi-modal driver output stage, as well as the use of fast equalization for post-cursor intersymbol interference (ISI) mitigation. In the high-speed differential mode, the system utilizes a 1-tap transmit equalizer during a WRITE operation to the memory. In contrast, during a memory READ operation, it employs a linear equalizer (LEQ) with 3 dB of peaking as well as a calibrated high-speed 1-tap predictive decision feedback equalizer (prDFE), while no transmitter equalization is assumed for the memory. The prototype tri-modal interface implemented in a 40-nm CMOS process, consists of 16 data links and achieves more than 2.5 × energy-efficient memory transactions at 16 Gbps compared to a previous single-mode generation.


The article deals with the role of terminology activities in scientific progress. It seems language development is the first step to achieving development. One way of developing a language is to understand subtleties of developed languages. As physics in Iran is an established course, its terminologies have been studied diachronically, over a period of 150 years, to know whether its language is well developed. To measure language evolution some criteria are suggested: terminologization, increasing of precision, standardization, reducing of loan-words and increasing of scientific concepts in native language. The criteria are applied to the data compiled from three distinct periods of the history of the language of physics in Iran. Today's terminologies represent an improvement in the language of physics, compared with old word-formations. This means that physics has satisfied the precondition of development.


Recently, we can observe a shift – or let us term it a "rediscovery" – of cultural management approaches with regard to cultural politics in rural areas as well as in urban settings. This rediscovery highlights cultural managers as the central players within cultural development processes. It recognizes a new need for the reorganization of cultural infrastructure that is deeply rooted in socio-environmental changes such as globalization, demographic and technological change, and financial crises. What cultural managers actually do is to screen, explore and finally reorder the existing network structures of a given field and facilitate the implementation of new networks. Hence, it was only a matter of time to introduce basic network theoretical thoughts into the academic field of cultural management and cultural sociology research. The article gives an overview about the contemporary state of the art with regard to recent changes in cultural management approaches. In addition, it will provide the concept of cultural managers as 'masters of interspaces' who need to be empowered – not only by formal institutions, but also by local stakeholders. In this way, they can successfully fulfil their task and contribute to fruitful transformation processes within the cultural field. 'Interspace management' is the most important skill that modern cultural managers need to obtain. Here, network theory comes into play. Basic network theories are used to lay a foundation for a better understanding of the mechanisms that underpin cultural interventions. This starts from trust building and ends with the transformation of structural holes into weak ties. Here, five different roles that cultural managers can exercise during their mission are introduced. At the end of the article, an empirical case study of a cultural development process in the German state Thuringia is introduced in order to give an example for the importance of network theories and methodologies connected to cultural management.


The maturation and maturity of the grapes are concepts which in recent decades have gained knowledge and approaches. In the classical system the maturation was considered as a process of accumulation of sugars in the grape followed by the modification of their appearance and weight, while in the present, grape maturation is clearly differentiated from grape maturity. The maturation of the grape represents a dynamic mathematical model of the compounds with enological value, while the maturity is a moment during the grapes evolution which is characterized by an enological potential. The researches were conducted during 2007–2013 period at the Research and Development Institute for Viticulture and Enology, Valea Calugareasca, located in the Dealu Mare viticultural area. The experimental device was organized in 4394 vineyard parcel representing a collection of varieties from Valea Calugareasca viticultural area wine assortment. The varieties which were taken into study were: 'Burgund mare', 'Cabernet Sauvignon', 'Feteasca neagra', 'Merlot' and 'Pinot noir'. The methodology concerning the maturation and maturity of the red grapes was developed during 2007 year by IC-DVV, Valea Calugareasca. The samples were taken during the ripening process, every 7 days and the following parameters were determined: sugars (g/l), titrable acidity (g/l sulfuric acid), weight of 100 grains (g), glucoacidimetric index, total phenolic potential and anthocyanins. Grape polyphenolic potential has been evaluated at harvest by means of standard Glories method. The information was organized into a database which has the following components: climate, maturation and oenological potential. The processing of information was done by mathematical modeling. The obtained results have allowed the identification and parametrization of the three types of grapes maturation and three levels of enological potential.


Previously published as "Alcestis and Other Plays", the "Penguin Classics" edition of Euripides' "Medea and Other Plays" is translated by John Davie with introductions and notes by Richard Rutherford. "Medea", in which a spurned woman takes revenge upon her lover by killing her children, is one of the most shocking of all the Greek tragedies. Medea is a towering figure who demonstrates Euripides' unusual willingness to give voice to a woman's case. "Alcestis" is based on a magical myth in which Death is overcome, and the "Children of Heracles" examines conflict between might and right, while "Hippolytus" deals with self-destructive integrity. These plays show Euripides transforming awesome figures of Greek myths into recognisable, fallible human beings. John Davie's accessible prose translation is accompanied by a general introduction and individual prefaces to each play. Euripides (c.485-07 BC) was an Athenian born into a family of considerable rank. Disdaining the public duties expected of him, Euripides spent a life of quiet introspection, spending much of his life in a cave on Salamis. Late in life he voluntarily exiled himself to the court of Archelaus, King of Macedon, where he wrote "The Bacchae", regarded by many as his greatest work. Euripides is thought to have written 92 plays, only 18 of which survive. If you enjoyed "Medea and Other Plays", you might like Aeschylus' "The Oresteia", also available in "Penguin Classics". "One of the best prose translations of Euripides I have seen". (Robert Fagles). "John Davie's translations are outstanding. The tone throughout is refreshingly modern yet dignified". (William Allan, "Classical Review").


E. G. Poole writes: The Enville Formation of the English Midlands has long (Murchison 1839) been regarded as Lower Permian in age with conclusive determinations of plants, amphibian and reptile remains specifically comparing with the type Upper Autunian of Germany (von Heune 1908; Haubold & Serjeant 1973; Paton 1974), and there is no support for the Westphalian D-Stephanian classification shown in fig. 3. Similarly the underlying Keele Formation contains tetropod tracks (amphibia and reptiles) which compare with those of the type Stephanian B deposits of Thuringia and the USA (Haubold & Serjeant 1973). The underlying Halesowen Formation (and its equivalents elsewhere) contains fossils such as Anthraconauta pruvosti Chernyshev and plants of the highest floral zones H and I (Dix 1934) many of which are accepted as Stephanian forms on the Continent. Although one cannot conclusively prove by fossils that the Halesowen Formation is of Stephanian or Westphalian age (Weir 1967, p. 406), it behaves in an identical manner to the basal Stephanian A Holzer Konglomerat of the Saar Basin, Germany, which uncomforably overlaps all the Namurian and Westphalian deposits after a major period of uplift, tectonics and erosion (Poole 1975, figs 3 & 4). The underlying Etruria Formation is a primary red-bed facies which may be of any age from Westphalian B in the Dudley area (Poole 1970, fig. 1) to highest Westphalian (D?) in the South Lancashiere Coalfield where the primary red Barren Group (c. 100 m thick) is conformably overlain by the brackish water, grey beds with Spirorbis


Background and Purpose: Diabetes in the elderly is mostly associated with increased risk of development and worsening of geriatric syndromes. In addition, it has a significant impact on various aspects of individuals with these syndromes. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in elderly diabetic patients. Methods: This descriptive and analytical study was conducted on 88 elderly diabetic patients (selected from 1400 diabetic patients) with medical records at diabetes centers in Kashan, Iran in 2006. The study tools were demographic questionnaire and Older People's Quality of Life Questionnaire (41-item version), applied to evaluate the general (13-52 scores), specific (27-108 scores) and total (40-160 scores) aspects of QOL. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. Results: In total, 65.9% of the patients were female and 34.1% were male. In terms of the aspects of QOL (i.e., general, specific and total), 68.2%, 77.3% and 53.4% of the elderly patients had weak scores, respectively. Conclusion: Given the low QOL in the majority of elderly diabetic patients, our results indicated that these type of patients need special healthcare. In other words, this study reaffirmed the role of caring for the health of elderly diabetic patients.


Gram-negative bacteria have evolved mechanisms to resist the bactericidal action of cationic antimicrobial peptides of the innate immune system and antibiotics such as polymyxin. The strategy involves the addition of the positively charged sugar 4-amino-4-deoxy-l-arabinose (Ara4N) to lipid A in their outer membrane. ArnA is a key enzyme in the Ara4N-lipid A modification pathway. It is a bifunctional enzyme catalyzing (1) the oxidative decarboxylation of UDP-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcA) to the UDP-4' '-ketopentose [UDP-beta-(l-threo-pentapyranosyl-4' '-ulose] and (2) the N-10-formyltetrahydrofolate-dependent formylation of UDP-Ara4N. Here we demonstrate that the transformylase activity of the Escherichia coli ArnA is contained in its 300 N-terminal residues. We designate it the ArnA transformylase domain and describe its crystal structure solved to 1.7 A resolution. The enzyme adopts a bilobal structure with an N-terminal Rossmann fold domain containing the N-10-formyltetrahydrofolate binding site and a C-terminal subdomain resembling an OB fold. Sequence and structure conservation around the active site of ArnA transformylase and other N-10-formyltetrahydrofolate-utilizing enzymes suggests that the HxSLLPxxxG motif can be used to identify enzymes that belong to this family. Binding of an N-10-formyltetrahydrofolate analogue was modeled into the structure of ArnA based on its similarity with glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase. We also propose a mechanism for the transformylation reaction catalyzed by ArnA involving residues N(102), H(104), and D(140). Supporting this hypothesis, point mutation of any of these residues abolishes activity.


New York Public Library, Whitney MS 1 consists of fifteen vellum leaves and contains a selection of Middle English cooking recipes written down in the first half of the fifteenth century, (1) probably c.1425. The first group of recipes on folios 1 to 12r, here called Cures (2) of Metis (The Cooking of Food), appears in other manuscripts under the title The Forme of Cury, that is, the (proper) Method of Cookery, (3) or more loosely, How to Cook. (4) The collection as excerpted in the Whitney MS provides recipes for dishes running from "Firmenty" or frumenty, "a dish of boiled, hulled wheat, resembling a modern wheat porridge or pilaff," (5) through "Puerate" or peverade (later poivrade), a pepper sauce for veal or venison. (6) Porridges and vegetarian pottages were the first courses served in medieval English aristocratic menus; accordingly The Forme of Cury begins with a dozen recipes for such dishes. (7) The Whitney MS skips five of these (see note 6) but retains stewed turnips, herbs in broth, pottage of onions, pottage of squash (courgettes), rice in broth, and mushrooms and leeks in broth. (8) Only the frumenty is thickened with almond milk, according to Constance Hieatt and Sharon Butler a feature that "came from the East, either via Spain and/or Italy or as direct importations by returning Crusaders." (9) Heavier meat dishes came next on the menu and next in The Forme of Cury's recipes, beginning with various organ meats in broth, then preparations for veal, chicken and other fowl, kid, rabbit, hare, pork, mutton and lamb followed (after some more meatless dishes) by fish and seafood. (10) The meatless recipes include some for unexpectedly familiar dishes, including salad (field greens with oil and vinegar), ravioli, and macaroni and cheese. (11) According to the headnote in one manuscript of The Forme of Cury, the recipe collection is organized so as first to teach one "to make commune potages and commune mettis for howshold as bey shold be made craftly and holsomely. Aftirward it techib for to make curious potages & meetes and sotiltees for alle manere of states both hye and lowe" (British Library, MS Additional 5016). (12) As Hieatt and Butler point out, (13) our modern practice of ending a meal with dessert descends from this medieval practice of saving the delicacies (the "curious and subtle" dishes) for last, although medieval menus incorporated dainty savory dishes as well as sweet ones. The final section of The Forme of Cury, recipes numbers 153 to 205 as printed in Hieatt and Butler, presents recipes for the later courses, including fritters, tarts, custards and ending withypocras (modern hippocras) or spiced wine. (14) A number of the dishes in this final section are listed as appropriate for third courses in surviving medieval menus, such as a menu for meat days printed as Menu 3 in Hieatt and Butler, (15) which lists as its third- and second-to-last items daryols (custard tarts, see Forme of Cury number 191) and flampoyntes (tartlets filled with ground pork, see Forme of Cury number 192). (16) Working back from this final section, we find Forme of Cury recipes number 151 and 152 are brief notes on roasting cranes and herons, then peacocks and partridges. (17) These more exotic fowl (along with woodcocks, plovers, larks, mallards, teal and snipe) were served as second and third courses on the menus printed in Hieatt and Butler, before the pastry dishes. (18) Prior to these directions for roasting fowl, Forme of Cury recipes numbers 139 to 150 are all for sauces, from poivrade or pepper sauce (the final recipe in the Whitney MS selection contained on fols. 1-12r) through "Lombard" or honey-mustard sauce. (19) In order to round off my bibliographical description thus far, I provide a transcription followed by a modern English translation of the first and last recipes from The Forme of Cury as contained in Whitney MS 1, fols. 1 and 12r: (20) [f. 1] Here begynnes [Cu]res of metis. …


Objective 1. To gain an understanding of Singapore Emergency Physicians (EPs) knowledge and practice habits when assessing concussions in the Emergency Department (ED). 2. To determine what knowledge exists regarding current international concussion management and return-to-play guidelines Design A 21 item anonymous internet survey was developed and disseminated to EPs in Singapore. A limited time period for completion was given. Because of anonymity, non-responders could not be specifically targeted. Participation was voluntary and no incentives were offered. Results 26 responses which included 9 Associate Consultants or above, 4 Registrars, 14 junior doctors. 63% were Singapore trained. 88.9% were aware of the concussion diagnosis but only 50% could document the salient points required to diagnose concussion. The highest percentage (33.3%) reported seeing cases of concussion monthly, 18.5% fortnightly, 29.6% weekly and 14.8% daily. 33.3% of EPs were aware of Internationally Recognised guidelines but only 11% use them. 70.4% refer concussions for follow up (47.4% to Neurosurgery and 21.1% to Sports Medicine). Only 14.8% of EPs have had specific training in sports concussion management. Conclusions 1. It is likely that concussion is under diagnosed; many EPs only report seeing cases monthly and are unaware of the salient features to diagnose concussion. 2. International guidelines regarding return-to-play and standardised assessment have not reached the majority of EPs. 3. A small proportion of concussion cases are referred to Sports Clinics for follow up. 4. Further training in sports concussion management in Singapore EDs is needed. 5. Further studies in this area are required. Competing interests Joanne Probert – Trainer for World Rugby.


The wireless economy is expanding internationally, led by the popularity in mobile phones. We view the wireless economy as growing in three distinct, but inter–related areas: consumer transactions (mCommerce), enterprise solutions (mEnterprise); and, other services to individuals and organisations (mServices). This paper surveys the wireless landscape, specifically from a non–technologist's perspective, while providing wide–ranging and contemporary examples of mobile applications in Australia.


Many researchers in both economics departments and business schools recently have become interested in examining how much of an effect human resource decisions and policies have on firm performance. This paper surveys the literature on unionism and productivity and discusses its implications for future research on more general issues. The main focus is on (I) conclusions as to whether unions raise or lower productivity and (2) procedures used to identify the channels through which unions affect productivity. The studies of unions and productivity have documented large productivity differences between seemingly comparable union and nonunion establishments. In many cases unionism is associated with higher productivity, especially when unionized firms are in a competitive environment. However, the mechanisms responsible for union-nonunion productivity differences in each study remain poorly understood, either because detailed information on how unions affected company decisions was not available or because the available information produced inconclusive results. These conclusions suggest that human resource policies can have a very large effect on financial outcomes, but our ability to estimate the magnitude of that effect for a particular policy is currently very limited.


Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) RNA synthesis occurs in cytoplasmic inclusion bodies (IBs) in which all the components of the viral RNA polymerase are concentrated. In this work, we show that RSV P protein recruits the essential RSV transcription factor M2-1 to IBs independently of the phosphorylation state of M2-1. We also show that M2-1 dephosphorylation is achieved by a complex formed between P and the cellular phosphatase PP1. We identified the PP1 binding site of P, which is an RVxF-like motif located nearby and upstream of the M2-1 binding region. NMR confirmed both P-M2-1 and P-PP1 interaction regions in P. When the P–PP1 interaction was disrupted, M2-1 remained phosphorylated and viral transcription was impaired, showing that M2-1 dephosphorylation is required, in a cyclic manner, for efficient viral transcription. IBs contain substructures called inclusion bodies associated granules (IBAGs), where M2-1 and neo-synthesized viral mRNAs concentrate. Disruption of the P–PP1 interaction was correlated with M2-1 exclusion from IBAGs, indicating that only dephosphorylated M2-1 is competent for viral mRNA binding and hence for a previously proposed post-transcriptional function.


Spectra of nearly 20,000 pointlike objects to a Galactic reddening–corrected magnitude of i = 19.1 have been obtained to test the completeness of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasar survey. We focus on spatially unresolved quasars, which comprise 94% of all SDSS quasars to the main survey magnitude limit. The objects were selected from all regions of color space, sparsely sampled from within a 278 deg2 area (effective area 233 deg2) of sky covered by this study. Only 10 quasars were identified that were not targeted as candidates by the SDSS quasar survey (including both color and radio source selection). The inferred density of unresolved quasars on the sky that are missed by the SDSS algorithm is 0.44 deg-2, compared with 8.28 deg-2 for the selected quasar density, giving a completeness of 94.9% to the limiting magnitude. Omitting radio selection reduces the color-only selection completeness by about 1%. Of the 10 newly identified quasars, three have detected broad absorption line systems, six are significantly redder than other quasars at the same redshift, and four have redshifts between 2.7 and 3.0 (the redshift range where the SDSS colors of quasars intersect the stellar locus). The fraction of quasars (and other unresolved sources) missed because of image defects and blends, independent of the selection algorithm, is ≈4%, but this number varies by a few percent with magnitude. Quasars with extended images comprise about 6% of the SDSS sample, and the completeness of the selection algorithm for extended quasars is approximately 81%, based on the SDSS galaxy survey. The combined end-to-end completeness for the SDSS quasar survey is ≈89%. The total corrected density of quasars on the sky to i = 19.1 is estimated to be 10.2 deg-2. The SDSS completeness restricted to z ≳ 3 quasars is expected to be considerably lower and is a strong function of redshift. The determination of the global completeness is required for the statistical properties of quasars to i = 19.1 derived from the SDSS data set, such as the luminosity function and correlation function, to be accurately determined.


The stage for the origin of life may have been set during a period that was as short as 20 million years within the first 100 million years after the formation of the Moon (at ~4.5 Ga). The atmosphere at that time contained more carbon dioxide than at any other period thereafter. Carbon dioxide sustained greenhouse conditions, accelerated the weathering of a primitive crust, and may have led to conditions conducive to forming the building blocks of life. The conversion of inorganic carbon and nitrogen to the essential building blocks of life may have been facilitated by clays, zeolites, sulfides, and metal alloys that had been formed as the crust reacted with a warm and carbonated (seltzer) ocean. Geochemical modeling constrains the conditions favorable for the formation of these potential mineral catalysts.


Organic donor–acceptor (D–A) systems formed by the electron-donor tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) linked to the electron-acceptor perchlorotriphenylmethyl (PTM) radical through different π-conjugated bridges exhibit interesting physical properties such as bistability in solution or conductivity in solid state. Understanding the interplay between intra- and intermolecular charge transfer processes in solution is of high interest in order to rationalize the self-assembling ability and conducting properties of such dyads in solid state. In this Highlight we examine the self-assembling properties of different TTF–π–PTM radical dyads that have potential applications as molecular switches or conductors in the field of molecular electronics.


In nearly 25 years as a sports journalist for the Independent, Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Times, Martin Johnson has covered sporting events all over the world, including cricket and tennis in Australia, golf in America, Formula One in Kuala Lumpur, boxing in Cairo, petanque in Gran Canaria, beach volleyball in Brazil, Olympics in Sydney, football in China, and rugby in South Africa. Sounds like a nice job? You must be joking. Get the true story from sports journalism's equivalent of Victor Meldrew. Ever tried to get a phone call out of Nagpur? Make contact with the office from Norfolk Island? Trudged several miles up a Japanese mountain to watch Britain's No 1 woman skier plough straight through the first gate? Attempted to write a semi-coherent report after a night out with Ian Botham? Nearly frozen to death at a cricket match in New Zealand? Been hi-jacked in Moscow by a drunken Russian? It's hell out there, says Martin, who makes out his case for a life of hardship, deprivation, and a breathless dedication to duty in the face of overwhelming odds. Frankly, however, we still think it reads more like the Life of Riley.


This paper is part of the Compendium of Evidence on the Effectiveness of Innovation Policy Intervention. This report synthesises key findings and insights from the Compendium of Evidence on the Effectiveness of Innovation Policy Intervention Project. The Compendium compiles and appraises available evidence about the impacts of a range of innovation policies. In total, the Compendium consists of 18 separate reports on innovation policy instruments and one report on policy mix and interplay. Overall, nearly 800 evaluation reports and academic papers were reviewed, covering instruments across the UK and major developed countries. The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research produced the Compendium, with sponsorship from NESTA. The review presents the typology that was developed to capture the variety of innovation policy intervention. This typology distinguishes between supply-side instruments (influencing innovation generation) and demandside instruments (influencing those requesting, buying or applying innovations). The typology also organises instruments according to seven major innovation policy goals: (1) increasing research and development investment; (2) augmenting skills; (3) enabling access to expertise; (4) strengthening system-wide capabilities and exploiting complementarities; (5) enhancing innovation demand; (6) improving frameworks for innovation, including regulation and standards; and (7) facilitating exchange and dialogue about innovation. This review summarises the available evidence about the performance of specific measures across this typology against rationales and policy objectives, keeping in mind the limits of evaluation and assessment methodologies. This offers insights as whether instruments achieve policy goals, what effects they have in their particular circumstances, and what caveats are applicable. The review concludes that the available evidence offers a great reservoir for policy learning, but stresses the importance of policy analysis that more systematically links innovation policy intervention to longer term behavioural effects and to economic growth, job creation and societal challenges.


Abstract. By using the CHAllenge Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) radio occultation (RO) data, a description of different types of the ionospheric impacts on the RO signals at the altitudes 30–90 km of the RO ray perigee is given and compared with the results of measurements obtained earlier in the satellite-to-Earth communication link at frequency 1.5415 GHz. An analytical model is introduced for describing propagation of radio waves in a stratified medium consisting of sectors with spherically symmetric refractivity distribution. This model gives analytical expressions for the phase, bending angle, and refractive attenuation of radio waves and is applied to the analysis of radio wave propagation phenomena along an extended path including the atmosphere and two parts of the ionosphere. The model explains significant amplitude and phase variations at altitudes 30–90 km of the RO ray perigee and attributes them to inclined ionospheric layers. Based on this analytical model, an innovative technique is introduced to locate layers in the atmosphere and ionosphere. A necessary and sufficient criterion is obtained for a layer to be located at the RO ray perigee. This criterion gives both qualitative and quantitative estimation of the displacement of an ionospheric and/or atmospheric layer from the RO ray perigee. This is important, in particular, for determining the location of wind shears and directions of the internal wave propagation in the lower ionosphere, and, possibly, in the atmosphere.


Background Cancerous state is a highly stimulated environment of metabolically active cells. The cells under these conditions over express selective receptors for assimilation of factors essential for growth and transformation. Such receptors would serve as potential targets for the specific ligand mediated transport of pharmaceutically active molecules. The present study demonstrates the specificity and efficacy of protein nanoparticle of apotransferrin for targeted delivery of doxorubicin. Methodology/Principal Findings Apotransferrin nanoparticles were developed by sol-oil chemistry. A comparative analysis of efficiency of drug delivery in conjugated and non-conjugated forms of doxorubicin to apotransferrin nanoparticle is presented. The spherical shaped apotransferrin nanoparticles (nano) have diameters of 25–50 ηm, which increase to 60–80 ηm upon direct loading of drug (direct-nano), and showed further increase in dimension (75–95 ηm) in conjugated nanoparticles (conj-nano). The competitive experiments with the transferrin receptor specific antibody showed the entry of both conj-nano and direct-nano into the cells through transferrin receptor mediated endocytosis. Results of various studies conducted clearly establish the superiority of the direct-nano over conj-nano viz. (a) localization studies showed complete release of drug very early, even as early as 30 min after treatment, with the drug localizing in the target organelle (nucleus) (b) pharmacokinetic studies showed enhanced drug concentrations, in circulation with sustainable half-life (c) the studies also demonstrated efficient drug delivery, and an enhanced inhibition of proliferation in cancer cells. Tissue distribution analysis showed intravenous administration of direct nano lead to higher drug localization in liver, and blood as compared to relatively lesser localization in heart, kidney and spleen. Experiments using rat cancer model confirmed the efficacy of the formulation in regression of hepatocellular carcinoma with negligible toxicity to kidney and liver. Conclusions The present study thus demonstrates that the direct-nano is highly efficacious in delivery of drug in a target specific manner with lower toxicity to heart, liver and kidney.


This article aims to highlight the current management of failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) based on a systematic review of current literature. Literatures reviewed were from the Internet medical search engine such as PubMed, MEDLINE, and Embase. The search was narrowed down to the topic under review. In all, 1,345 articles were initially obtained. These were subsequently narrowed to 83 reviews so as to meet the objective of the review which describes persistent or recurring low back pain with or without sciatica following one or more spine surgeries. The increase in the number of patients undergoing back surgery has led to a corresponding increase in patients whose expectations are not met. Poor outcome following back surgery ranges from 10% to 40%. Outcome worsens with increase in the number of reoperation. Evaluation of this patient should be by detailed history, physical examination, and investigation. The treatment approach should be holistic and all encompassing. Patients psychological state and expectations should be assessed. Etiology of FBSS may include wrong diagnosis, failure to address the primary pathology, and intraoperative surgical errors. Treatment of FBSS is multidisciplinary. The treatment modalities include pharmacological, physical, interventional, spinal cord stimulation, psychological, and surgical.


Magnetic nanostructures have long been in the focus of intense research in the magnetic storage industry. For data storage the nonvolatility of magnetic states is of utmost relevance. As information technology generates the need for higher and higher data‐transfer rates, research efforts have moved to understand magnetization dynamics. Here, spin waves and their particle‐like analog, magnons, are increasingly attracting interest. High‐quality nanopatterned magnetic media now offer new ways to transmit and process information without moving electrical charges. This new functionality is enabled by spin waves. They are confined by novel functioning principles, which render them especially suitable to operate at the nanoscale. Magnonic crystals are expected to provide full control of spin waves, similarly to what photonic crystals already do for light. Combined with nonvolatility, multifunctional metamaterials might be formed. We report recent advances in this rapidly increasing research field called magnonics.


The potential contribution of HLA-A alleles to viremic control in chronic HIV type 1 (HIV-1) infection has been relatively understudied compared with HLA-B. In these studies, we show that HLA-A*7401 is associated with favorable viremic control in extended southern African cohorts of >2100 C-clade–infected subjects. We present evidence that HLA-A*7401 operates an effect that is independent of HLA-B*5703, with which it is in linkage disequilibrium in some populations, to mediate lowered viremia. We describe a novel statistical approach to detecting additive effects between class I alleles in control of HIV-1 disease, highlighting improved viremic control in subjects with HLA-A*7401 combined with HLA-B*57. In common with HLA-B alleles that are associated with effective control of viremia, HLA-A*7401 presents highly targeted epitopes in several proteins, including Gag, Pol, Rev, and Nef, of which the Gag epitopes appear immunodominant. We identify eight novel putative HLA-A*7401–restricted epitopes, of which three have been defined to the optimal epitope. In common with HLA-B alleles linked with slow progression, viremic control through an HLA-A*7401–restricted response appears to be associated with the selection of escape mutants within Gag epitopes that reduce viral replicative capacity. These studies highlight the potentially important contribution of an HLA-A allele to immune control of HIV infection, which may have been concealed by a stronger effect mediated by an HLA-B allele with which it is in linkage disequilibrium. In addition, these studies identify a factor contributing to different HIV disease outcomes in individuals expressing HLA-B*5703.


Winner, 2011 National Book Award for Poetry Winner, 2012 GLCS Award for Poetry Winner, 2012 SIBA Book Award for Poetry Nominee, 2012 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry The poems in Nikky Finney's breathtaking new collection "Head Off & Split "sustain a sensitive and intense dialogue with emblematic figures and events in African American life: from civil rights matriarch Rosa Parks to former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, from a brazen girl strung out on lightning to a terrified woman abandoned on a rooftop during Hurricane Katrina. Finney's poetic voice is defined by an intimacy that holds a soft yet exacting eye on the erotic, on uncanny political and family events, like her mother's wedding waltz with South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond, and then again on the heartbreaking hilarity of an American president's final State of the Union address. Artful and intense, Finney's poems ask us to be mindful of what we fraction, fragment, cut off, dice, dishonor, or throw away, powerfully evoking both the lawless and the sublime."


This work proposes an assessment procedure for the determination of the remaining strength in pressure vessels with pitting type metal loss, trough the developed of integrity diagrams according to the pitting density, pitting depths and the internal pressure of the component using Finite Element Analysis simulations.
 The simulations results indicate that the pitting density and depths according to the Gumbel Max Distribution, are the main factors that determine the mechanical integrity of the component; where 45% damaged area by pitting generates a stress concentration that multiplies at least ten times the stress compared with components without defects, since these variables present a synergistic behavior in the stress state.
 The proposed assessment procedure facilitates the evaluation of the components that present pitting corrosion damage, due to the geometric and population effect of the pitting is considered in the finite element simulation.


Purpose - The equator principles constitute an international voluntary code developed by banks to encourage consideration of environmental and social issues in project financing. Such codes can flexibly bridge the gap between individual companies' sustainability initiatives and mandatory, legal regulation. However, concerns continue to be expressed that the equator principles reporting of banks is not fully satisfactory, so the aim of this paper is to investigate both the nature of the success and the shortcomings of equator principles reporting. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on academic literature on motivations for corporate social responsibility and various publications by non-government organisations and professional accounting and legal organisations, together with analysis of the disclosures made by Barclays and HSBC. In addition, access was gained for semi-structured interviews with some senior executives/consultants. Findings - While the voluntary equator principles initiative has been remarkably successful in matching banks' strategic motivation, the environmental benefit may primarily be a by-product of the risk management processes of banks, consistent with enlightened shareholder theory. This does not mean the environmental benefits may not be real but, without more detailed project-level disclosure and a standardised performance evaluation system, it is difficult to measure the extent to which the equator principles have had a positive effect on the environment. Research limitations/implications - Further research is needed to gauge how the equator principles impact front-line decision making. There could usefully be further standardisation of equator principles reporting formats, with more detail about project-level implementation. With respect to reports of external assurers, it remains an open question as to whether these should be made compulsory, subject to further specification of the independence and competence standards. Originality/value - The study helps to illuminate the effectiveness of a voluntary code such as the equator principles in the social construction of how enlightened shareholder theory is to be interpreted and implemented. It makes an initial response to recent calls by Bebbington


Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) pose a significant source of mortality for the elderly, especially if they go on undetected and ultimately rupture. Therefore, elective repair of these lesions is recommended in order to avoid risk of rupture which is associ - ated with high mortality. Currently, the risk of rupture and thus the indication to inter vene is evaluated based on the size of the AAA as determined by its maximum diameter. Since AAAs actually present original geometric configurations and unique hemody namic and biomechanic conditions, it is expected that other variables may affect rup - ture risk as well. This is the reason why the maximum diameter criterion has often been proven inaccurate. The biomechanical approach considers rupture as a material failure where the stresses exerted on the wall outweigh its strength. Therefore, rupture depends on the pointwise comparison of the stress and strength for every point of the aneurysmal surface. Moreover, AAAs hemodynamics play an essential role in AAAs natural history, progression and rupture. This chapter summarizes advances in AAAs rupture risk esti - mation beyond the "one size fits all" maximum diameter criterion.


Ensemble:

A) Dress of blues and black metallic knit, and ivory open-woven wool/ cashmere knit with long sleeves with deep armhole; scoop neckline; lined in off-white, fine wool jersey; knee-length.

No label in dress.

B,C) Sandals of royal blue satin accented with striped bands of black satin; open-toe; 4 ½" spike heel and ankle straps with blue ribbon bow at back; size 38.

Designer's label: "Nina Ricci / Made in Italy"


Joint allocation of resources, namely subcarrier assignment and power profiles at the source and relay nodes, is considered for both relaying schemes amplify and forward (AF) and decode and forward (DF) with multiple users using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA). The objective is to allocate the resources to maximize the weighted sum rate subject to individual power constraint on each node. We formulate such a problem as subcarrier based resource allocation that seeks joint optimization of subcarrier assignment and power profiles at the source and relay nodes. Using high signal to noise ratio (SNR) approximation, two algorithms are proposed based on channel gains' ordering. In the first algorithm, the ordered subcarriers are split into two partitions; the first partition of the ordered subcarriers are assigned to one of the users, whereas, the second partition is assigned to the remaining users. The algorithm is applied repeatedly in a nested fashion by splitting each second partition into two partitions until the last partition is split between the last two users. The partitions that maximize the weighted sum rate are then sought. The proposed algorithm is of a reduced computational complexity compared to the exhaustive search and the dual approaches. A heuristic algorithm is also proposed to reduce the computational complexity further; it is a two-stage algorithm; a basic stage, and a transfer stage. In the basic stage, each user is assigned a subset of the subcarriers based on an ordering function. In the transfer stage, subcarriers can be transferred between the users to maximize the weighted sum rate. The merits of the proposed algorithms are demonstrated by numerical simulations.


Understanding the intentions of others by viewing their actions in a complex visual scene is a challenging task. Does experience change looking behavior in that gaze to specific action cues creates a fixation "signature" unique to experienced observers? To address this question we analyzed eye movements between experienced surveillance (CCTV) operators and novices when observing social interactions from CCTV footage. 11 experienced operators and 10 novices observed 36 unique CCTV clips, while obtaining point-of-gaze coordinates from an eye tracker. Each clip was 16 seconds in duration, and classified based on one of four contexts. 'Fight' and 'Confront' clips displayed aggressive behavior, except that fighting actually occurred for 'Fight' clips after the end of the clip (not seen by the participants). 'Play' clips showed playful interactions between people with no aggression, while 'Nothing' clips showed typical everyday behavior with no aggression. We used a sequence matching algorithm to compare eye-movements (scan paths) between individuals examining the same video. We split sequences into segments (first, middle, and last) to analyze how viewing behavior changes with the accumulation of visual input over time. We found that on average, experienced operators yielded higher fixation similarity scores suggesting in-group consistency among experienced observers, with the consistency varying by context and time segment. For both the 'Confront' and 'Fight' contexts, differences in gaze patterns between experienced observers and novices were largest for the middle segment, whereas for the 'Play' context, the largest difference was at the end. The 'Nothing' context yielded higher scores for experts but no time differences. These results suggest that expert CCTV operators predict actions similarly by attending to the relevant events within a scene, and for critical events such as aggressive behaviors, important cues (markers that result in signature looking patterns) are attended well before the onset of the disruptive action.


Introduction Ancient Greek and Roman literature contains rich troves of folklore and popular beliefs, many of which have counterparts in modern contemporary legends. For a number of reasons, today's folklorists are generally unaware that valuable primary source material from antiquity exists in English translation (for a wide selection of Greek and Latin literature in translation, see the Loeb Classical Library volumes in any good library). Classical scholars have published numerous studies of legends, myths and folklore from antiquity, yet their work remains generally unknown to folklore scholars. And for their part, most classicists have no idea that analogues of what they consider to be tales confined to the ancient Greco-Roman world still circulate today. Both disciplines would reap benefits if they renewed their acquaintance. (The estrangement between classics and folklore since the 1920s is discussed in William Hansen's insightful essay of 1997, "Mythology and Folktale Typology: Chronicle of a Failed Scholarly Revolution," in Journal of Folklore Research 34; see also the interview in Folklore Forum 29 [1998]:91-108, esp. 101-3). The lack of communication between classicists and folklorists is manifested in the dearth of classical examples in folklore motif indexes and reflected in the lack of classical scholarship in the most up-to-date folklore bibliographies. In Contemporary Legend: A Folklore Bibliography (New York: Garland, 1993), for example, Gillian Bennett and Paul Smith annotated 1,116 publications from ten countries and in eight languages, drawing together international legends from a "very wide range of material ... in many different sorts of communication-modes and over a surprisingly long time-span." The compilers expressed surprise that analogues of :modern contemporary legends existed "as long ago" as the sixteenth century (p. xvii). As a classical folklorist, I was dismayed to find only three entries representing legends from antiquity in the Contemporary Legend Bibliography. Those three--Raymond Himelick's 1946 note on the "Poisoned Dress" in ancient Greek legend, Bill Ellis's 1983 article on the ancient Roman roots of the "Blood Libel" legend, and my 1991 note on classical Greek parallels of a Gulf War legend--were published in folklore journals, which accounts for their inclusion. When I contacted Bennett and Smith about classical folklore's regrettably low profile, they, encouraged me to gather this list of classical legend publications of interest to the folklore/contemporary legend community. This bibliography of classical folklore scholarship is not intended to be exhaustive, of course, but it does demonstrate the wide variety of sources and commentaries available on ancient myth and popular lore. I hope that this list will encourage a new and creative dialogue between those who study legends and beliefs that were current in the ancient world and those who investigate recurrent legends of the present day. Traditionally, most ancient folk material has appeared in publications directed toward antiquarians. In 1994, however, John Miles Foley noted a "burgeoning of scholarly activity in ancient Greek studies" with "direct relevance for folklorists" in his review essay of six exemplary classical books for the Journal of American Folklore. A small group of scholars who define themselves as classical folklorists are making an effort to communicate with colleagues in folklore by publishing their findings in folklore-oriented journals as well as classical venues. Classical folklore goes by many aliases: popular literature, oral tales, folk tale, myth, novel, paradoxography, and recurrent, international, or migratory legends. The problem of clear terminology--whether "contemporary" can refer to tales that circulated in past societies--is unresolved. The difficulty of identifying a recognised field of classical legend studies is compounded by the negative perceptions of "popular folklore" among traditional classicists and ancient historians, many of whom would be surprised to find themselves cited here. …


Sparsity in Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) is studied extensively with the focus of maximizing prediction accuracy given an overall parameter budget. Existing methods rely on uniform or heuristic non-uniform sparsity budgets which have sub-optimal layer-wise parameter allocation resulting in a) lower prediction accuracy or b) higher inference cost (FLOPs). This work proposes Soft Threshold Reparameterization (STR), a novel use of the soft-threshold operator on DNN weights. STR smoothly induces sparsity while learning pruning thresholds thereby obtaining a non-uniform sparsity budget. Our method achieves state-of-the-art accuracy for unstructured sparsity in CNNs (ResNet50 and MobileNetV1 on ImageNet-1K), and, additionally, learns non-uniform budgets that empirically reduce the FLOPs by up to 50%. Notably, STR boosts the accuracy over existing results by up to 10% in the ultra sparse (99%) regime and can also be used to induce low-rank (structured sparsity) in RNNs. In short, STR is a simple mechanism which learns effective sparsity budgets that contrast with popular heuristics. Code, pretrained models and sparsity budgets are at this https URL.


Congratulations to the Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics (JRM) on its 30th anniversary. I would like to thank all authors and readers who have contributed to the JRM through 30 years.
 The JRM started as an English-language journal published to provide articles on robot technologies to the world from Japan. It has been jointly edited by the Robotics and Mechatronics Division (RMD) of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) and Fuji Technology Press Ltd. Five years ago, when the English-language journal of the JSME was reorganized, the JRM also underwent some changes, and it has since been issued under the editorial direction of Fuji Technology Press Ltd. Immediately after the reorganization, beginning with Vol.26, I was appointed Editor-in-Chief. Now, as five years have passed, the next Editor-in-Chief will take over from Vol.31. Over these five years, the number of submissions and their quality have been our major concern, as we have been seeking to register the JRM with the Science Citation Index (SCI). To achieve this goal, we have published special issues on the robot technologies required as the field has progressed as well as on the mechatronics technologies that underlie them.
 The JRM plans to continue providing the world with information on robot technologies, so please keep reading it and submitting your articles to it on a regular basis.
 Yoshihiro Takita


ABSTRACT It is widely believed that national urban policies in Africa are rare. This is a concern bearing in mind the formidable challenges posed by urbanisation in the context of low incomes and weak institutions. The paper unpacks the concept of urban policy and what it means for the way in which cities grow. It considers the situation in five countries with different approaches. The evidence indicates increasing interest in steering urban growth through coordinated actions on land, housing and infrastructure. The positive developmental arguments seem to carry more weight than the threats of disaster if squalor and social unrest are not addressed. Yet the appropriate policy responses are not clear-cut and there are many dilemmas faced. Capacitating city governments to plan and invest in networked infrastructure appears to be one of the priorities.


The unequal distribution of land in Malawi has been identified as one of the binding constraints on agricultural productivity and production. Most smallholder farmers hold land under customary tenure and own less than one hectare, many being unable to produce adequate food. In order to improve access to land, the Government started implementing a land reform programme in 2005 through a market-assisted, community-based approach to land acquisition. This study highlights the impact of the land reform programme on investments, food production and agricultural productivity. The study shows that smallholder farmers that participate in the community-based land development programme have increased access to land and financial resources, are more likely to invest in improved maize seeds, tend to be more productive, and have overall better welfare than non-participants. However, the econometric results show that these positive effects are driven more by access to the financial resources provided under the package of assistance in the first season, than change in land tenure per se. New beneficiaries with only one season of farming under the programme tend to invest more in hybrid maize and are more productive than those that have been under the programme for two seasons. The results underscore the importance of complementary investments and assistance in order for land reform programmes to have significant impact of poor smallholder farmers.


According to research examining self-regulated learning (SRL), we regard individual regulation as a specific sequence of regulatory activities. Ideally, students perform various learning activities, such as analyzing, monitoring, and evaluating cognitive and motivational aspects during learning. Metacognitive prompts can foster SRL by inducing regulatory activities, which, in turn, improve the learning outcome. However, the specific effects of metacognitive support on the dynamic characteristics of SRL are not understood. Therefore, the aim of our study was to analyze the effects of metacognitive prompts on learning processes and outcomes during a computer-based learning task. Participants of the experimental group (EG, n = 35) were supported by metacognitive prompts, whereas participants of the control group (CG, n = 35) received no support. Data regarding learning processes were obtained by concurrent think-aloud protocols. The EG exhibited significantly more metacognitive learning events than did the CG. Furthermore, these regulatory activities correspond positively with learning outcomes. Process mining techniques were used to analyze sequential patterns. Our findings indicate differences in the process models of the EG and CG and demonstrate the added value of taking the order of learning activities into account by discovering regulatory patterns.


It has been previously shown that there is a close relation between record calculus and program generation (e.g. Lisp-like quasiquotations): A translation has been defined to convert staged expressions to record calculus expressions, and it has been shown that the call-by-value semantics of the staged and the record calculi are equivalent modulo the translation and admin reductions. In this work, we investigate the relation further. The contributions are twofold: (1) We fine-tune the previously shown relation between the two operational semantics, and obtain more precise results. In particular, we show that only two kinds of admin reductions suffice, and these reductions can be applied exhaustively. (2) We define a reverse translation that converts record calculus expressions back to the staged calculus, allowing us to go back and forth between the two calculi. We believe that these results provide an important step towards reusing already-existing record calculus static analyses to reason about staged expressions.


Discovery plays a central role in our judicial system, and while discovery provides many benefits to the parties and to the courts, it also imposes burdens and costs. Discovery reduces informational asymmetries, clarifies claims and defenses for trial, and encourages settlement. But it costs money to take depositions of witnesses, produce documentary evidence, and pay for the time of experts and lawyers. When a motion to dismiss is filed, the possibility that discovery will not be necessary presents a risk of wasted resources if discovery is not stayed while the motion to dismiss is resolved. However if discovery is stayed and the motion to dismiss is ultimately denied, even in part, then the entire case was delayed unnecessarily. Delay also presents a risk of deterioration of evidence as documents are lost, memories fade, or witnesses become unavailable. These are the considerations that judges must weigh against one another when deciding a motion to stay discovery due to a pending motion to dismiss.Despite the importance of judicial decisions regarding discovery stays, this issue has received hardly any attention from legal scholars. This may be due to the relative scarcity of appellate decisions laying out standards for deciding motions to stay discovery, or it may be due to the difficulties in gathering reliable data on the discovery process. This Article fills this gap by examining what judges are doing currently on motions to stay discovery and recommending prescriptions for what judges should do in order to exercise their discretion and promote the goals of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Relying on extensive research into federal court cases discussing discovery stays, the Article identifies eight primary considerations that affect discovery stays and provides guidance to judges regarding the appropriate standard to apply based on the characteristics of individual cases, focusing on the benefits of efficiency and transparency.The Article proceeds in five parts. Part I lays out the issue of discovery stays when a motion to dismiss is pending. Part II provides background on the costs and burdens of discovery, the various interests at stake, and the judicial role overseeing discovery. Part III presents the current state of the law by looking at the various standards that courts have explicitly applied when deciding motions to stay discovery. Part IV develops a framework for understanding and reconciling existing precedent on discovery stays with reference to eight primary considerations. Part IV also lays out a prescription for judges to use in exercising their discretion in this context. Part V examines the broader issue of "discovery abuse" and specific cases where discovery is automatically stayed while also noting areas for further inquiry into this issue.


The synthetic nano iron oxide (SNIO) was synthesized by co-precipitation method and characterized by XRD, SEM, FT-IR and EDAX. Commercial activated carbon (CAC) was further activated by acid treatment in order to enhance the adsorption capacity. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to compare the adsorption efficiency of SNIO and CAC towards the removal of Co(II) ions as a function of initial concentration, dose rate, contact time, pH and stirring speed. The results show that SNIO have higher adsorption capacity of 99.2% towards Co(II) ion whereas CAC shows only 87.8%. The amount of Co(II) ion adsorbed per unit mass (qe) of SNIO was 19.31 mg g -1 . For CAC the amount of Co(II) ion adsorbed per unit mass (qe) is only 3.38 mg g -1 . The equilibrium adsorption isotherm data have been tested by applying both Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The separation factor R was found to be 0 to 1 for both the adsorbent; it clearly indicates feasibility of adsorption.


The statue of Darius I found at Susa provides a striking example for petrifying an identity construction that is transient in nature. Darius I is simultaneously Persian Great King and Egyptian pharaoh. Usually, either one or the other aspect is put to the fore in the preserved media of presentation. The statue in its current headless state combines these identities and presents a new image, which follows neither regional tradition, but is understandable in either of the two (and beyond). Long-term and cross-cultural readability is also explicitly ordered in the commission inscription on the statue, hence this can be equally assumed for the missing head. Based on this hypothesis, the paper at hand reconsiders the scope of potential reconstructions of the statue and, consequently, of the secondary context of erection at the gate building of the "palace of Darius" at Susa.


Arthritis of the first carpometacarpal joint is a widespread disease in Western countries. It affects predominantly women with marked impairment in daily life activities. Its aetiopathogenesis is well described, while its treatment still controversial. The authors report their experience with 400 consecutive patients with established clinical and radiological findings of carpometacarpal joint arthritis treated by suspension arthroplasty with Ceruso's modified Weilby's technique. At 12 months follow-up, we were able to assess 315 patients using MAYO's score pre- and post-operatively, obtaining 86 excellent results, 134 good, 62 fair and 33 poor. As for complications, there were seven infections, 32 persistent pain and 42 limited range of motion. According to our experience the treatment modality of suspension arthroplasty with Ceruso's modified Weilby's technique represents the procedure of choice in indicated cases of first carpometacarpal joint arthritis in advanced stages according to Eaton-Littler classification.


Tool-use extends our sense of self-identity, social identity, and our experiences of social relationships within particular places. Education professionals use specific kinds of technologies (analogue and digital) and are influenced by particular characteristics of the technologies they use (Watson, 2001). Our social and cultural understanding of tools and complex digital technologies affect our ability to use them for learning (Pierson, 2001). The context and conditions of these understandings affect how we know when, where, and why ICT belongs in our educational practices. A number of advantages of using blogs, wikis and podcasts have been identified which translates to the fact that technology has brought with it more convenience, independence to students learning and enable students to reveal their natural propensity to show their creativity. This paper reports on the eLearning institutional podcast project that was undertaken at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). This large scale podcast project targeted both lecturers and students and aimed to enable learners to create podcasts; edit the recording via open source software - Audacity; export the podcast as an MP3 file; and upload it into the online environment. These eTools skills training processes are directly linked to the students' fieldwork within their respective disciplines. The authors highlight the practical benefits of the project in various disciplines.