The chemically assisted ion beam etching (CAIBE) of GaAs as well as the sputtering and the pure chemical etching (CE) at different surface temperatures and chlorine fluxes have been studied. At elevated surface temperature a noticeable increase of the etch rate compared to room temperature etching for CE and CAIBE was achieved whereas sputtering is not depending on the temperature. An etch rate of higher than 1 µm/min at an ion beam energy of 400 eV, a chlorine flux of 10 sccm Cl2, and a temperature of 420 K could be obtained. An electronic beam chopper has been utilised in order to obtain a better insight into the kinetics of the formation and the etching process of the reaction products. A lower pulse length modulation reduces the total ion beam exposure time at the same etch depth. Hence, a lower surface damaging could be the consequence.


Depressive disorders are a major public health concern. Despite currently available treatment options, their prevalence steadily increases, and a high rate of therapeutic failure is often reported, together with important antidepressant-related side effects. This highlights the need to improve existing therapeutic strategies, including by using nutritional interventions. In that context, saffron recently received particular attention for its beneficial effects on mood, although the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. This study investigated in mice the impact of a saffron extract (Safr'Inside™; 6.25 mg/kg, per os) on acute restraint stress (ARS)-induced depressive-like behavior and related neurobiological alterations, by focusing on hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, inflammation-related metabolic pathways, and monoaminergic systems, all known to be altered by stress and involved in depressive disorder pathophysiology. When given before stress onset, Safr'Inside administration attenuated ARS-induced depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test. Importantly, it concomitantly reversed several stress-induced monoamine dysregulations and modulated the expression of key enzymes of the kynurenine pathway, likely reducing kynurenine-related neurotoxicity. These results show that saffron pretreatment prevents the development of stress-induced depressive symptoms and improves our understanding about the underlying mechanisms, which is a central issue to validate the therapeutic relevance of nutritional interventions with saffron in depressed patients.


The author examines an exogenous difference in the timing of academic specialization within the British system of higher education to test whether education yields information about one's match quality in different fields of study. In distinguishing between systems requiring early and late specialization, he predicts the likelihood of an individual switching to an occupation unrelated to one's field of study. If higher education serves mainly to provide specific skills, the model predicts more switching in a system requiring late specialization since the cost of switching is lower in terms of foregone skills. Using the Universities Statistical Record from 1972 to 1993 and the 1980 National Survey of Graduates and Diplomates, he finds that individuals who specialize early, as in the case of England, are more likely to switch to an unrelated occupation, implying that the benefits to increased match quality are sufficiently large to outweigh the greater loss in skills from specializing early.


This study was undertaken to find out he perceived efficiency and effectiveness, if such all exist, of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual (MTBMLE) Policy under the K-12 Curriculum as seen by the stakeholders who are directly affected by this policy. The subjects of the study were teachers from the Department of Education (DepEd) in Laguna (San Pablo City) and Ilocos Sur (Vigan City). Moreover, the parents of the two cities who are also direct stakeholders of this policy. Findings show on the comparative analysis of the two groups of teachers' perceptions on the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction, is that, there appears significant difference at all. Vigan group of teachers recognized mother tongue as an efficient and effective medium of instruction. On the other hand, both groups of parents are fully aware of the MTBMLE policy, no significant difference was found.


The Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) of the European Commission identifies Knowledge Graphs (KGs) as one of the most important technologies for building an interoperability framework and enabling data exchange among users across countries, sectors, and disciplines [1]. KG is a graph-structured knowledge base containing a terminology (vocabulary or ontology) and data entities interrelated via the terminology [2]. KGs are based on semantic web technologies (RDF, SPARQL, etc.) and often used for agile data integration. KGs also play an essential role within Germany as a vehicle to connect research data and research-related entities and make those accessible – examples include the GESIS Knowledge Graph Infrastructure, TIB Open Research Knowledge Graph, and GND.network. Furthermore, the Wikidata knowledge graph, maintained by Wikimedia Germany, contains a large number of research-related entities and is widely used in scientific knowledge management in addition to being an important advocacy tool for open data [3]. Extending domain-specific ontology-supported KGs with the multidisciplinary, crowdsourced knowledge in Wikidata KG would enable significant applications. The linking between expert knowledge systems and world knowledge empowers lay persons to benefit from high-quality research data and ultimately contributes to increasing confidence in scientific research in society.


Fast anomaly detection and localization is critical to ensure effective functioning of wireless sensor networks. The low bandwidth and power constraints in wireless sensor networks are the main challenges for achieving this task, especially for large scale networks. In this paper, we propose a trust-assisted framework for detecting and localizing network anomalies in a hierarchical sensor network. The proposed method makes inference based on end-to-end measurements collected by a set of measurement nodes. Network heterogeneity is exploited for better bandwidth and energy efficiency. The trustworthiness of network links is utilized to design an efficient two-phase probing strategy that can achieve a flexible tradeoff between inference accuracy and probing overhead. We performed experiments with different network settings and demonstrated the effectiveness of our proposed algorithms.


The considerations that have lead to the construction of a dedicated rig for fatigue tests on small wire ropes and the results of the tests to ascertain the influence of the diameter of the test rollers (pulleys) on the fatigue life of the tested wire rope are reported. The tested wire rope was the same as already used in previous work [3] and [4], a spiral construction [1 (0.22) + 6(0.20) + 12(0.20)], very high grade brass coated steel (- 2700 MPa ultimate strength). The results of the tests to evaluate the dynamic loads induced by the test rig are also reported with some proposals about the formula to be used to present the results.


Abstract This paper explores the production strategy of a group of full-time mobile pastoralists from the perspective of their cattle-breeding system. The system is geared towards high reliability of good performance rather than towards maximizing peak productivity. At the core of the system is the organization of the cattle population along matriarchal lineages, for structuring animal diversity and ensuring the transmission of economically crucial functionality. The paper argues for a more sophisticated notion of pastoral mobility, capable of reflecting the herders' understanding of mobility and its role in enhancing the standard productivity of the bush, transforming unpredictable variability into a key resource. Keywords: non-equilibrium, pastoralism, Bororo, livestock diversity, selective feeding Introduction In a Sahelian ecosystem, with temperatures up and above 50 [degrees]C at the peak of a nine-month-long dry season, where it is difficult to feed even sheep and goats, the WoDaaBe herders produce the largest cattle breed in West Africa. The rare colonial veterinarians who looked closely at these animals did not conceal their astonishment at such an achievement, recording that the WoDaaBe '[thanks to their mobility] win every year, despite the unforgiving nature, this challenge of breeding animals whose feeding requirements (given their size) are out of proportion with the capacity of the pastures' (Mornet and Kone 1941: 179). Today, despite the major droughts of the 1970s and 1980s, and decades of unfavourable rural development policies, the WoDaaBe are still very much in business. Their Bororo zebu (2) has not only a significant presence on the internal beef market in Niger, but remains the most appreciated cattle on the export market (Djariri, Saley and Dahiru 2003). The well of Idinghiri is almost exactly 100 kilometres north of Tchin Tabaraden, Niger. Jiima's camp is another five kilometres away. In mid-June 2008, at ten o'clock, the sky is bright, with a temperature of 47[degrees]C. The family herd, mainly of Bororo zebus, is 'out' for the morning graze, a few hundred metres in the opposite direction to the well. Jiima's elder son, Medji, is with them. He walks slowly, the herding stick across his shoulders, now and again saying smooth 'cattle-words' in a low voice. The mahogany cattle, with long, lyre-shaped horns, are scattered in groups of two or three. A few seem to forage more on their own. There are six young calves, mostly keeping close to their mothers, as yet unweaned but sometimes trying a bit of straw. The last rainy season, nine months ago, was a good one. Jiima's camp has been here for a bit more than a week, but the bush around, and as far as one can see, is covered with straw 20-30 centimetres tall. Most of it is geenal dimal (Schonefeldia gracilis) and saaBeewal (Echinochloa colona). The cattle also feed on tree leaves and bushes. The young leaves and branches of the Bamammbi (Calotropis procera) are very popular, particularly during the break at the well, after watering. Some cattle are well rehearsed in bending the long vertical branches of this shrub with their head in order to reach its most tender part. They bite off half a metre of woody plant and chew it skilfully, without letting it drop, like a stick of liquorice. Despite being the end of the dry season, pasture is excellent and the animals are in relatively good shape. With a herd about thirty head strong (Jiima sold six in the last ten months), the family has milk twice a day and in the evening we struggle to finish it. In Idinghiri, Jiima is way out of his habitual dry-season territory. He is from the WoDaaBe Gojanko'en but Idinghiri is mainly used by WoDaaBe Bii Korony'en. After the death of his father, when Jiima was a young child, his mother married within the Bii Korony'en group. Jiima's wife is from the same Bii Korony'en family on her mother's side. In 1996, Jiima gave her maternal uncle a heifer under habbana. …


Marine protected areas (MPAs) are essential to human well-being and usually part of spatial planning processes for managing coastal and marine areas. In Brazil, national-level spatial planning processes are still incipient. This article offers a systematic review through a comparative meta-analysis of the literature on MPAs and spatial planning based on the following questions: (I) What topics are investigated in spatial planning in MPAs worldwide? and (II) What are the advances and trends of these topics in Brazilian MPAs? Specific goals of this study are (I) to identify studies on Brazil; and (II) to compare and contrast these with studies performed elsewhere. The PRISMA report was used to select literature, with a focus on three spatial contexts (I) outside Brazil, analyzing studies from other countries; (II) in Brazil; and (III) a case study in Brazil that focuses on a sustainable-use area in northeastern Pará. Studies outside Brazil showed three major groups of themes: (I) planning and tools; (II) stakeholders; and (III) the ecology of non-human species. For the Brazilian context, studies were grouped into five major themes: (I) small-scale fishing practices and conflicts; (II) participation in protected areas; (III) technical aspects of the planning process, (IV) zoning; and (V) mapping. The local case study investigates socio-cultural sustainability and tourism. All identified studies relate to use, but have a greater focus on conservation and, especially abroad, on species and ecosystems. There are few reviews or comparative studies that could help to draw parallels between the different spatial planning settings. We conclude that synthesis work on spatial management strategies worldwide is needed, including the elaboration of frameworks to develop measures to address the widespread lack of data and spatial planning expertise. Collaborative networks of researchers and practitioners are needed for this. The novelty in our study is that it examines MPAs and spatial planning research at three spatial contexts with innovative methodologies to represent the current state of the spatial planning discourse in coastal and marine conservation.


Judicial review matters. Although a number of scholars have endeavored over the years to demonstrate that the courts offer only a "hollow" hope to advocates of significant social change, courts remain the last hope of legal redress for victims of unconstitutional government conduct. To amend Justice Robert Jackson's oft-cited opening statement at the Nuremberg trials, judicial review can serve as a means of ensuring that power offers a tribute to reason — that particular exercises of government power are consistent with the rational principles set forth in our Constitution. When judges fail to give effect to constitutional limits on government power, people may be deprived of their liberty, their property, and even their lives arbitrarily — for no better reason than that the holders of political power will it to be so. Given the gravity of the stakes, it is of the utmost importance that judicial review be performed properly. And it is unsurprising that no end of accounts of how judicial review should be performed have been put forward. Professor Tara Smith's new book, Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System, stands out in a crowded field because of the boldness of its central claims and the elegance and persuasiveness of the arguments she advances in support of them. Smith contends that objectivity in the performance of judicial review is both possible and necessary — that judges can and must arrive at accurate knowledge of what our Constitution means and hold government officials to its terms. Absent objectivity, Smith argues, the rule of law established by the Constitution gives way to the rule of men: Government power is put in the service of will rather than reason, and might trumps individual rights. Drawing upon the twin disciplines of epistemology and political philosophy, Smith synthesizes an approach to judicial review that is tailored to ensure that we live under "a government of laws, and not of men." In this essay, I will begin by summarizing the principal features of Smith's account of judicial review; proceed to consider several potential objections to her proposed approach; and conclude by applying Smith's approach to three areas of constitutional law that are in desperate need of a dose of objectivity.


The University of Queensland, Australia, commenced an innovative Master of Dietetics Studies Program in 2009, using adult learning principles to foster critical thinking. Medical Nutrition Therapy courses consist of 3-hour case study workshops and assigned readings. Two educational interventions, online quizzes and a discussion board, were trialed to enhance supervisor and peer communication and feedback. Student survey, case study assignment, and the examination results were used to compare deep student learning in the same cohort of dietetic students pre- and postintervention and with previous dietetic student cohorts. Data revealed that the online quizzes encouraged completion of assigned readings that helped students work through the case studies, facilitating deep learning. Students wished to continue the online assessment (mean = 4.7 of 5). The discussion board was not well used because students felt that weekly communication with staff and other students was sufficient. Refinements will expand the online question pool and investigate the use of a less-structured communication forum.


The ability to move is essential for animals to find mates, escape predation, and meet energy and water demands. This is especially important across grazing systems where vegetation productivity can vary drastically between seasons or years. With grasslands undergoing significant changes due to climate change and anthropogenic development, there is an urgent need to determine the relative impacts of these pressures on the movement capacity of native herbivores. To measure these impacts, we fitted 36 white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) with GPS collars across three study areas in southern Kenya (Amboseli Basin, Athi-Kaputiei Plains, and Mara) to test the relationship between movement (e.g., directional persistence, speed, home range crossing time) and gradients of vegetation productivity (i.e., NDVI) and anthropogenic disturbance. As expected, wildebeest moved the most (21.0 km day–1; CI: 18.7–23.3) across areas where movement was facilitated by low human footprint and necessitated by low vegetation productivity (Amboseli Basin). However, in areas with moderate vegetation productivity (Athi-Kaputiei Plains), wildebeest moved the least (13.3 km day–1; CI: 11.0–15.5). This deviation from expectations was largely explained by impediments to movement associated with a large human footprint. Notably, the movements of wildebeest in this area were also less directed than the other study populations, suggesting that anthropogenic disturbance (i.e., roads, fences, and the expansion of settlements) impacts the ability of wildebeest to move and access available resources. In areas with high vegetation productivity and moderate human footprint (Mara), we observed intermediate levels of daily movement (14.2 km day–1; CI: 12.3–16.1). Wildebeest across each of the study systems used grassland habitats outside of protected areas extensively, highlighting the importance of unprotected landscapes for conserving mobile species. These results provide unique insights into the interactive effects of climate and anthropogenic development on the movements of a dominant herbivore in East Africa and present a cautionary tale for the development of grazing ecosystems elsewhere.


The contemporary debate on religious pluralism must motivate Christian to maintain an essential unity in their attitude towards others (ad extra), and to hold on to their two guiding principles in this matter: Proclamation and Dialogue. Thus too, the experience of this debate stimulates also theological discourse (ad intra) to take up again the fundamental issue of Revelation, to apprehend more fully its connotation, and to highlight its essential and unrenounceable dimensions. In effect, an adequate understanding of Christian Revelation will become, not an impediment to, or an impoverishment of, the proper approach to the religions of humankind, but to the contrary, an apt hermeneutical key to understanding their own meaning and value.


From neat fields and hedgerows to windswept moors and mountains, the present
landscape of the crowded islands of Britain has been shaped by people. Although 18th-century landscape architects unashamedly created scenery to please the eye, our domination of plant and animal life, and of nutrient, water and energy flows, has generally been a product of economic necessity. Even features once considered natural,
such as the Norfolk Broads, can have artificial origins.
As urbanisation, agriculture and forestry intensified during the 20th century there was little room left for the diversity of species and ecosystems characteristic of earlier times. Growing concern for our diminishing wildlife led to the development of the nature conservation movement, with the aim of safeguarding our flora and fauna (Sheail 1998).
This in turn engendered the practice of targeted conservation management, combining low-intensity and traditional techniques with the growing science of ecology. This mainstream approach has often been accompanied by a counter-current, recently voiced in British Wildlife, that 'Nature is becoming subservient to Nature Conservation'
(Oates 2006), that something intangible or spiritual is lost through too much management. Alternatives where intervention is reduced, or even withdrawn, have periodically entered conservation literature and discourse. Sixteen years ago, the 'Edwards Report' suggested that a 'number of experimental schemes on a limited scale should be set up in the [upland] National Parks, where farming is withdrawn entirely and the natural succession
of vegetation is allowed to take its course'. Today, this would be called 'Re-wilding'.
Re-wilding has received increasing support in the UK and interest extends beyond advocacy groups, as evidenced by a consortium of 38 ecologists and policy-makers who recently placed re-wilding and its consequences in the top 100 ecological questions of high policy relevance for the UK (Sutherland et al. 2006). It has even been advocated as the 'optimal conservation strategy for the maintenance and restoration of biodiversity in Europe'. Specifically, this includes the restoration of grazing and browsing by wild large herbivores i.e. 'naturalistic grazing' (Vera 2000). It was in this climate that English Nature commissioned us to investigate the ecological, cultural and welfare implications of naturalistic grazing and re-wilding in modern English landscapes.


The management and control of the local aero-thermal environment is critical for success of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST). In addition to minimizing disturbances to local seeing, the facility thermal systems must meet stringent energy efficiency requirements to minimize impact on the surrounding environment and meet federal requirements along with operational budgetary constraints. This paper describes the major facility thermal equipment and systems to be implemented along with associated energy management features. The systems presented include the central plant, the climate control systems for the computer room and coudé laboratory, the carousel cooling system which actively controls the surface temperature of the rotating telescope enclosure, and the systems used for active and passive ventilation of the telescope chamber.


The relationship between subsidence rates and axial depths for zero-age crust has been documented along the mid-ocean ridge systems of three separate oceans. A systematic, linear relationship exists between these two parameters. Shallow zero-age depths are associated with high subsidence rates, and deep zero-age depths are associated with low subsidence rates. The linear subsidence rate versus zero-age depth trends have similar slopes for all three oceans, but their zero-age depth intercepts are offset by a few hundred meters. The scatter of individual subsidence rate and zero-age depth values about each linear trend varies from ocean to ocean and is related to the presence and extent of long-lived, large-scale segmentation of each mid-ocean ridge system. One-dimensional thermal conduction models typically used to quantify subsidence rates cannot account for the observed relationships. A qualitative model that was used previously to explain long-lived tectonic segmentation can also explain the subsidence rate versus zero-age depth relationships and associated variance by assuming the existence of average regional and local mande temperature variations of ∼20°C to ∼170°C, respectively.


Background: The emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria with biofilm formation ability may be a major threat to public health and food safety and sanitation. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine antibiotic resistance patterns and biofilm production characteristics of Salmonella typhimurium isolated from different species of birds. Materials and Methods: The antibiotic resistance patterns of 38 pre-identified isolates were screened by standard Kirby-Bauer disc-diffusion method performed on Mueller–Hinton agar to a panel of 17 antibiotics. The extent of biofilm formation was measured by Microtiter plate (MTP)-based systems. Results: The highest antimicrobial resistance was detected against nalidixic acid (97%), followed by doxycycline (86%), colistin (84%), streptomycin (84%) and tetracycline (84%). All isolates were sensitive to amikacin (100%) and 97% and 95% of the isolates were sensitive to ceftazidime and ceftriaxone, respectively. Twenty one different antibiotic resistance patterns were observed among S. typhimurium isolates. According to the results of the microtitre plate biofilm assay, there was a wide variation in biofilm forming ability among S. typhimurium isolates. Most of the isolates (60.52%) were not capable of producing biofilm, while 26.31%, 7.89%, and 5.26% isolates were weak, strong and moderate biofilm producers, respectively. Conclusions: It was concluded that nearly all S. typhimurium isolates revealed a high multiple antibiotic resistant with low biofilm forming capabilities which proposed low association between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance of a major food important pathogen.


We perform a suite of high-resolution smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations to investigate the orbital decay and mass evolution of massive black hole (MBH) pairs down to scales of ∼30 pc during minor mergers of disk galaxies. Our simulation set includes star formation and accretion onto the MBHs, as well as feedback from both processes. We consider 1:10 merger events starting at z ∼ 3, with MBH masses in the sensitivity window of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, and we follow the coupling between the merger dynamics and the evolution of the MBH mass ratio until the satellite galaxy is tidally disrupted. While the more massive MBH accretes in most cases as if the galaxy were in isolation, the satellite MBH may undergo distinct episodes of enhanced accretion, owing to strong tidal torques acting on its host galaxy and to orbital circularization inside the disk of the primary galaxy. As a consequence, the initial 1:10 mass ratio of the MBHs changes by the time the satellite is disrupted. Depending on the initial fraction of cold gas in the galactic disks and the geometry of the encounter, the mass ratios of the MBH pairs at the time of satellite disruption can stay unchanged or become as large as 1:2. Remarkably, the efficiency of MBH orbital decay correlates with the final mass ratio of the pair itself: MBH pairs that significantly increase their mass ratio are also expected to inspiral more promptly down to nuclear-scale separations. These findings indicate that the mass ratios of MBH pairs in galactic nuclei do not necessarily trace the mass ratios of their merging host galaxies but are determined by the complex interplay between gas accretion and merger dynamics.


Midway through the most ambitious reform drive in United Nations history, it is high time to revisit and hopefully relearn some of the more painful lessons of past reform campaigns. None of this is rocket science--or string theory, to be more contemporary. The past six decades have seen dozens of reform efforts, most following recurring patterns and producing largely predictable results. As of midsummer 2005, things are not going well, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Two years ago, the effort started off on the wrong foot when Secretary-General Kofi Annan, with a puzzling disregard for the history and politics of the world organization, called for a "radical" overhauling of intergovernmental machinery, beginning with the Security Council. (1) Now, fortunately, member states have retaken the reins and, in their methodical, plodding, but purposeful fashion, are building a consensus on a few modest and sensible renovations. In the process, they have demonstrated both that it is their organization after all and that they are not so displeased with the current structure. The results will fall far short of the historic transformation proposed by the secretary-general. Compared to past efforts, however, the product should appear reasonably respectable. Typically, there are six steps to a cycle of UN reform. First, the secretary-general and a chorus of earnest national leaders bemoan the state of the organization, assert that profound changes in the global situation demand sweeping renovations, and call for fresh approaches and bold initiatives. As Annan warned the General Assembly, "Excellencies, we have come to a fork in the road. This may be a moment no less decisive than 1945 itself, when the United Nations was founded." (2) Presumably the gross overstatement was for dramatic effect. Second, some sort of blue-ribbon commission is assembled to add substantive depth to the instincts of the political leaders. In this case, the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change (HLP) acquitted itself better than most of its predecessors, though its draft of 101 recommendations proved to be a mixed lot in terms of practicality and desirability. (3) It fared far better than two such exercises encouraged by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who found their conclusions to be unpalatable. (4) Third, once the eminent ones have articulated their vision, the secretary-general translates their ideas into digestible policy steps for consideration by the membership. How far and on what issues the secretary-general can be an effective advocate is a political judgment. Generally his role fades over the course of a transition period from secretariat to state leadership. This year, given the secretary-general's personal and political liabilities, this shift has been remarkably quick and decisive. Once again, the secretary-general proposes and the General Assembly disposes. Fourth, the member states become fully engaged as decision points approach and the implications for their national interests become clear. For most, their conservative instincts and fear of change come to the surface. Big and small states alike begin to fret that their relative positions in the UN, built through years of practice and maneuver, could be affected by unpredictable renovations. As long as their corners of the body are well defended, they may continue to mouth rhetoric about sweeping change and historic opportunities, but the hunt for modest measures capable of attracting consensus begins in earnest. As of midsummer 2005, General Assembly President Jean Ping and his small army of facilitators are deeply engaged in this critical phase of the enterprise, though differences remain on the shape and status of the summit document. Fifth, some kind of culminating event is convened. Sometimes this will coincide with one of the UN's major anniversaries, though remarkably little reform has actually ever been accomplished during these commemorative years. …


Key texts in leadership research outline the attributes and practices of the effective leader, consistently emphasising relationship-building, trust, reciprocity, Emotional Intelligence and effectiveness of leadership styles. In rural community development research, there are descriptions of local leaders engendering and sustaining the confidence, resilience and capacity of 'their' communities. Such leaders are seen as "champions" working with a cohort of "usual suspects". These arrangements are particularly accentuated and fragile in remoter settlements. With limited exceptions, understanding tends to be largely case-study based. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to bring together for the first time the "macro" depictions and recommendations for sound leaders and leadership (from key texts) alongside the "micro"-level findings of rural community leadership literature, to review the extent to which the two sets of thinking and evidence resonate and reinforce one another. My analysis shows that: social embeddedness is consistently identified across both literatures, with extra-local links being a focus of the rural literature; Emotional Intelligence and leadership styles are investigated in the leadership literature, but only in one instance in the rural literature; and individual and collective agency and leadership are identified in both literatures. I conclude by identifying the implications of this critical analysis for leadership investment and training: tailored to complexity and embeddedness whilst also operationalising those transferable components of effective individual and group leadership observable in the literature. My findings contribute to understandings that move beyond the "mystique" of rural community leadership towards analyses that are: more systematic; based on an increasing evidence-base across domains; and likely to lead to more robust outcomes in and for remote and rural communities.


Road detection is always the key problem of researches on areas of unmanned ground vehicle and computer vision. A road detection method is proposed based on online learning and multi-sensor fusion. First of all, the Lidar point clouds are projected onto the images via the joint calibration of these two kinds of sensors. Then Simple Linear Iterative Clustering is used to segment images into many superpixles. Based on that, a multilayer online learning method is proposed, in which 2 Support Vector Machines are trained to detect the road. To be specific, the superpixel layer Support Vector Machine is used to detect road roughly, and the pixel layer Support Vector Machine is then trained to classify the edge pixels of the road areas, which is classified by the upper-layer Support Vector Machine. These 2 Support Vector Machines are updated online at each frame to be adapted to the changing environment. At last, some experiments are carried out on KITTI RAW dataset and an autonomous land vehicle, and the results show the effectiveness of proposed method. The main contributions of this work lie on as follows: 1) a multilayer learning model is proposed to detect road more robustly and accurately; 2) an online learning method is proposed which can be adapted to the changing environment. Keywords—Road detection; data fusion; unmanned ground vehicle; online learning; image segmentation


Denying Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits to teenage single mothers is justified by claims that out-of-wedlock teen childbearing leads to adult poverty and welfare dependency. Cross-sectional research shows that teen mothers are likely to be poor and on welfare as adults. We use sisters data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to investigate whether the association between teen out-of-wedlock birth and adult poverty and welfare use is causal or if it occurs because unmeasured background disadvantages cause both teen birth and subsequent adult poverty and welfare use. Results show that much, but not all, of the observed association is due to unmeasured family characteristics.


This paper describes a methodology used for designing louvered fins. Louvered fins are commonly used in many compact heat exchangers to increase the surface area and initiate new boundary layer growth. Detailed measurements can be accomplished with computational models of these louvered fins to gain a better understanding of the flow field and heat distribution. The particular louver geometry studies for this work have a louver angle of 23° and fin count of 17 fpi. The flow and heat transfer characteristics for three-dimensional mixed convection flows in a radiator flat tube with louvered fins are analyzed numerically. A three-dimensional model is developed to investigate flow and conjugate heat transfer in the copper-based car radiator. The model was produced with the commercial program FLUENT. The theoretical model has been developed and validated by comparing the predictions of the model with available experimental data. The thermal performance and temperature distribution for the louvered fins were analyzed and a procedure for optimizing the geometrical design parameter is presented. One fin specification among the various flat tube exchangers is recommended by first considering the heat transfer and pressure drop. The effects of variation of coolant flow conditions and external air conditions on the flow and the thermal characteristics for the selected radiator are investigated also. The results will be used as fundamental data for tube design by suggesting specifications for car radiator tubes.


Molecular irreversibleness with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection might have a role in gastric tumorigenesis after H. pylori eradication. We performed comprehensive DNA methylation profiling of gastric mucosa after H. pylori eradication with or without gastric cancer. Using four different groups of biopsies obtained from gastric body without history of H. pylori infection (Hp‐), gastric body without cancer after H. pylori eradication (cancer‐free body), gastric body with early gastric cancer diagnosed after H. pylori eradication (EGC body) and their paired samples from adjacent mucosa of cancer (EGC ADJ), methylation status of five candidate genes (MYOD1, SLC16A12, IGF2, RORA and PRDM5) was examined by the bisulfite pyrosequencing. An Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChip array was also used to characterize the methylation status of greater than 850,000 CpG sites. The EGC ADJ group showed highest methylation levels of five candidate genes among the four groups of biopsies. In the gastric body (cancer‐free body + EGC body), methylation levels were significantly decreased in patients with longer period after eradication, while such association was not observed in EGC ADJ group. Hyper methylated samples were associated with shorter telomere, an indicator for rapid cell turnover, and higher DNMT1 protein expression, an enzyme related to methyl transfer reaction. The genome‐wide methylation analysis demonstrated strikingly higher methylation levels especially at CpG islands in the EGC ADJ group. Exclusively hypermethylated promoter CpG islands in the same group frequently coded zinc finger proteins. Our data show that DNA methylation accumulation is associated with molecular irreversibleness and gastric carcinogenesis after H. pylori eradication.


Abstract Oblique and normal fault systems exposed in the Büyük Menderes Graben (BMG) region record two successive and independent complex tectonic events. The first group tectonic event is defined by an E–W extension related to N–S contraction and transpression. This group is responsible for the development of NW- and NE-trending conjugate pairs of oblique faults which controlled Early–Middle Miocene basin formation. Between the Early–Middle Miocene and Plio-Quaternary strata exists an unconformity, indicating a period of folding, uplift and severe erosion associated with N–S shortening. The second group of events was the change in tectonic regime from E–W extension to N–S extension which controlled the formation of the Büyük Menderes Graben by three progressive pulses of deformation. The first pulse of extensional deformation was initially recorded in the region by the exhumation of the deep part of the Menderes Massif (MM) with the development of the E-trending Büyük Menderes Detachment Fault (BMDF). The minimum age of this pulse is constrained by the older Plio-Quaternary fluviatile deposits of the Büyük Menderes Graben that range in age from the Plio-Pleistocene boundary interval to Late Pleistocene. The second pulse, which is marked by the rapid deposition of alluvial deposits, initiated the formation of approximately E–W-trending high-angle normal faults synthetic and antithetic to the Büyük Menderes Detachment Fault, on the northern margin during Holocene times. These faults are interpreted as secondary steeper listric faults that merge with the main Büyük Menderes Detachment Fault at depth. The third pulse was the migration of the Büyük Menderes Graben depocentre to the present day position by diachronous activity of secondary steeper listric faults. These steeper faults are the most seismically active tectonic elements in western Turkey. According to the stratigraphic and structural data, the N–S extension in the Büyük Menderes Graben region produced a progressive deformation phase with different pulses during its Plio-Quaternary evolution, with migration of deformation from the master fault to the hangingwall. The formation of diachronous secondary synthetic and antithetic steeper faults on the upper plate of the Büyük Menderes Detachment Fault, hence the southward migration of the deformation and of the Büyük Menderes Graben depocentre, should be related to the evolution of detachment in the region. The presence of the seismically active splays of secondary faults implies an active detachment system in the region. This young Plio-Quaternary N–S extension in the Büyük Menderes Graben may be attributed to the combined effects of the two continuing processes in Aegean region. The first process is back-arc spreading or probably the roll-back of African slab below the south Aegean Arc, which seems to be responsible for the change in the stress tensor from E–W extension to N–S extension. The second and later event is the southwestward escape of the Anatolian block along its boundary fault, that is, the North Anatolian fault (NAF).


Indonesia Has Abundance Of Natural Resources Such As Oil, Gas And Minerals. Bangka Belitung Province Has Tin Mineral Abundant And Had Been Mining Since 1668. Beside, Tin Mining Industry Has Some Problem Continues In Bangka Belitung Province. Some Of Tin Mining Industry Issues Are Struggling Of People Interest To Utilize The Mineral Area And Degradation From Mining Activities (Casper 2007), Illegal Tin Mining (Elfida 2007; Inonu 2010), Lack Of Coordination Between The Local Government And Central Government In Regulation And Licensing For Mines (Purba 2007; Hayati 2011), Socio-Economic Conflicts (Aziz, Salim 2005; Resosudarmo, Subiman 2010; Erman 2013), Poverty Issue (Eir 2003; Jatam 2005), Political Power And Structures Issue (Erman 2007; Resourdarmo Et Al 2009; Hendra 2012). The Aim Of Our Study Was To Make Strategic Model Of Tin Mining Industry (Case Study Bangka Belitung Province). Strategic Model Of Tin Mining Industry Can Be Used As A Solution To; Avoid Conflicts Between Stakeholders, Economic Improvement, Increasing Regional Revenue And Competitiveness Of Tin Industries. Our Methodologies Conducted By Structured-In Depth Interviews And Questioner. Expert Respondents Were Selected By Purposive Sampling. Respondents Were Selected By Non-Probability Sampling Technique. Furthermore, The Study Employed Analysis Tool Of Analytical Network Process (Anp) To Make Strategic Model For Tin Mining Industry. Framework Model Has Been Confirmed By Expert In Tin Mining Industry. Anp Framework Consists Of 6 Cluster Include; Strategic Model, MacroEnvironment Strategic, Key Stakeholder, Activities, Industry Issue And Strategic. Macro-Environment Strategic Priority Should Be Concerned Are; Politic And Law (28.91%), Economic And Business (28.9%). Key Stakeholder Priorities Are; Local Government (26.65%), Then Central Government As Second Priority (24.36%). Key Activity Priorities Are; Regulation And License (38.71%), Audited And Supervision (35.73%). Industry Issues Are; Finishing Of Monitoring And Enforcement (21.49%), Coordination & Policy (20.97%). Strategic Which Should Be Implemented Are Audit And Supervision (31.05%), And Then Standardization (22.19%). The Research Showed The Need Of Improvement For Government, Law Enforcement And Regulatory.


This study focuses on the wear of piston rings in a hydraulic radial piston motor. The piston ring has to satisfy increasing demands for reliability and longer service life. It has two contacting surfaces, the face and the flank, and operates under a boundary lubrication state. This first part of the project aimed to detect and characterise piston ring wear. Measurement by weighing gives an overall value for wear defined as loss of mass. Two-dimensional form and surface roughness measurements show the distribution of wear on the piston ring face in contact with the cylinder bore and the piston ring flank in contact with the piston groove. Three-dimensional analyses, both quantitative and qualitative, allow the wear mechanisms to be identified. The wear of piston rings from an actual hydraulic motor was characterised. As well, rig testing was performed in two different test rig set-ups, one simulating the sliding movement of the piston ring and the other the tilting movement at the end of the strokes. Wear during the running-in period was investigated, and the findings indicate that the period when this takes place is of short duration. In the long term, mild wear makes the surfaces smoother than they were when new, resulting in a very low wear coefficient. Significant levels of wear were measured on both contacting surfaces of the piston ring. In cases in which the flank exhibits more wear than the face, the wear on the flank can be reduced by proper design of the piston groove. The second part of the project aimed to evaluate use of a textured surface for the cylinder bore counter surface and a coated surface for the piston ring. Three modelling experiments were performed to characterise the friction and wear properties under lean boundary lubrication conditions. Under such conditions, textured surfaces have the advantage of retaining more lubricant and supplying it over a longer time. Stable friction was also a distinctive feature of the textured surface. Use of a coating could also possibly reduce the amount of wear. Though a smooth surface, like a polished one, is hard to beat for a working texture, a coated surface is far ahead of a smooth uncoated one. Different manufactured and commonly used cylinder bore surfaces, including textured ones, were evaluated in the sliding movement test rig. That allowed favourable wear properties, such as lowest wear coefficient, to be determined with the use of a roller burnished surface. A final part of the research involved simulating wear on the piston ring face throughout the entire service life of a hydraulic motor. This allowed us to determine the roles of surface roughness and coating in prolonging service life and achieving acceptable and secure piston ring operation. The model is simple and realistic, but still needs to be refined so as to correspond even better to reality.


Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence significantly affects the local stability of the DNA double helix. Two types of stability of the DNA duplex must be distinguished: thermodynamic stability and kinetic stability. Although stability of the DNA region depends mostly on its G•C content, it is stacking interaction between adjacent base pairs which have dominating contribution into the overall region stability. Sequence effects play especially important role in the stability of DNA helices different from B- and A-forms such as Z-DNA, parallel duplex, triplexes and quadruplexes. Depending on their particular sequence, different DNA sites are capable of adopting various unusual structures, among them: the cruciform, the triplex H form, the Z form and quadruplexes. These sequence-dependent structures are stabilized by DNA negative supercoiling. They attract more and more attention in recent years because of their potential as targets for anticancer drugs and as tools in bio- and nanotechnology.

Key Concepts:

DNA thermodynamic stability determines equilibrium properties of the double helix but equilibrium is not always achievable.

DNA kinetic stability governs DNA behaviour at the characteristic time of experiment.

Stacking interactions, rather than base pairing, play the decisive role in determining the stability of the DNA double helix.

Highly sequence-dependent DNA unusual structures dramatically affect DNA structural variability.

Unusual structures are thermodynamically unfavourable in linear DNA but their formation becomes possible in negatively supercoiled DNA.

Keywords:

DNA melting;
DNA unusual structures;
Gibbs free energy;
kinetic stability;
supercoiling;
thermodynamic stability


Although MySQL's source code is open in the sense of being publicly available, it's essentially closed to you if you don't understand it. In this book, Sasha Pachev -- a former member of the MySQL Development Team -- provides a comprehensive tour of MySQL 5 that shows you how to figure out the inner workings of this powerful database. You'll go right to heart of the database to learn how data structures and convenience functions operate, how to add new storage engines and configuration options, and much more.The core of Understanding MySQL Internals begins with an Architecture Overview that provides a brief introduction of how the different components of MySQL work together. You then learn the steps for setting up a working compilable copy of the code that you can change and test at your pleasure. Other sections of the book cover: Core server classes, structures, and APIThe communication protocol between the client and the serverConfiguration variables, the controls of the server; includes a tutorial on how to add your ownThread-based request handling -- understanding threads and how they are used in MySQLAn overview of MySQL storage enginesThe storage engine interface for integrating third-party storage enginesThe table lock managerThe parser and optimizer for improving MySQL's performanceIntegrating a transactional storage engine into MySQLThe internals of replication Understanding MySQL Internals provides unprecedented opportunities for developers, DBAs, database application programmers, IT departments, software vendors, and computer science students to learn about the inner workings of this enterprise-proven database. With this book, you will soon reach a new level of comprehension regarding database development that will enable you to accomplish your goals. It's your guide to discovering and improving a great database.


On Monday, September 26, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management announced that Medical Properties Trust Inc. (MPT) would buy all of Steward Health Care's hospital properties. The real estate investment firm agreed to pay $1.2 billion for the properties and a further $50 million for a 5 percent equity stake in the health care system. Still struggling financially after six years of private equity ownership, Steward will lease back the properties for its hospitals and other facilities, paying rent to MPT. The deal will pay back Cerberus' initial investment in Steward and more, although the total amount the PE firm and its investors will receive has not been revealed. The deal will also pay down all of the company's more than $400 million debt and provide a payoff for top executives. Steward will receive an undisclosed amount to try once again to revive its failed strategy to acquire additional hospitals outside of Massachusetts and grow into a national powerhouse.


Objective: A review is made to determine whether the use of the endoscope in endodontic surgery offers advantages in clinical practice, and whether it improves the clinical and radiographic outcomes of the procedure. Material and methods: The main search terms used were: endodontic surgery, apicoectomy, apical surgery, endoscope, and magnification devices . The authors searched the Medline database for articles published up to 1 September 2010. The review included experimental studies comparing endoscopic microstructural findings with the findings of the naked eye or other magnification devices, as well as prospective clinical trials comparing endodontic surgery with or without the use of an endoscope, or comparing the endoscope with some other magnification device. Results: Two experimental studies on the capability of the endoscope to identify microstructures and three prospective clinical trials were included in the review. The experimental studies showed the endoscope to be highly precise in application to intraoperative diagnoses in periapical surgery. There were no significant differences in the prognosis of periapical surgery when performed with or without endoscopy. Likewise, there were no significant differences among the use of endoscopy, magnifying lenses or the microscope. Conclusion: Experimental studies have demonstrated the usefulness of the endoscope in identifying microstructures during periapical surgery. However, further randomized and controlled clinical trials are needed to determine whether these advantages in clinical practice imply improved outcomes for periapical surgery.


Abstract The distribution and origin of clay minerals in Carboniferous sandstone reservoir rocks, onshore and offshore UK, is reviewed using both published and unpublished sources. The clay mineralogy for many of the Carboniferous reservoir sands tends to be similar, with the detrital clays predominantly illitic whereas the diagenetic clay assemblages are dominated by kaolin with usually lesser amounts of illite. The main exception to this pattern is found in the Dinantian sandstones of the Clair Basin where significant amounts of smectite are present. Three stages of diagenetic kaolin formation are widely recognized. Firstly eogenetic and/or telogenetic kaolinite; secondly mesogenetic kaolin; and thirdly the partial or complete transformation of kaolinite to dickite during deep burial. In addition to the formation of diagenetic clay phases, the sandstone reservoirs also display a complex diagenetic history involving cementation and dissolution processes. These have affected the reservoir properties of the sandstones but the depositional facies architecture still exerts a major recognizable influence on reservoir porosity-permeability characteristics. The abundance of kaolin cements shows no clear correlation with variations in porosity and permeability for Carboniferous reservoirs. Pore- filling smectite affects reservoir porosity and permeability in the Dinantian of the Clair Field, and could be a potential source of serious reservoir damage arising from swelling.


Discusses results of the Jena Study on Social Change and Human Development on methods used by individuals to adjust to stress caused by social change. A list of everyday manifestations of social challenges related to work, life course planning, and family was derived. These impact of those challenges was assessed using a measure of cumulated demand load in a sample of 2,154 German adolescents and adults aged between 16 and 42 years. Hypotheses assumed that demand load is affected by political regions, status in work or family domains, and individual biographies. All data at the individual level were self-reported. Four modes of adaptive reactions targeting either the external world (primary control) or the inner self (secondary control) were compared. The relationships between demands and civic engagement, well-being, and the moderating effect of context were also examined. Results showed higher demand loads in East Germany than in West Germany, and the negative relationship between d


Abstract This paper gathers together deliberations surrounding Steve Biko's I Write What I Like as it simultaneously registers the critical importance of the text as an incomplete history. Rather than presupposing the text as a form of biography or following a trend of translating Biko into a prophet of reconciliation, I argue that the text leads us towards the postcolonial problematic of self‐writing. That problematic, I argue, names the encounter between self‐writing and an apparatus of reading. The paper stages the encounter as a way to make explicit the text's postcolonial interests and to mark the onset of an incomplete history. This, I argue incidentally, is where the postcolonial critic may set to work to finish the critique of apartheid. Incomplete histories call attention to how that which is unintelligible in a text makes an authoritative reading difficult.


Speech emotion recognition (SER) is a key technology to enable more natural human-machine communication. However, SER has long suffered from a lack of public large-scale labeled datasets. To circumvent this problem, we investigate how unsupervised representation learning on unlabeled datasets can benefit SER. We show that the contrastive predictive coding (CPC) method can learn salient representations from unlabeled datasets, which improves emotion recognition performance. In our experiments, this method achieved state-of-the-art concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) performance for all emotion primitives (activation, valence, and dominance) on IEMOCAP. Additionally, on the MSP-Podcast dataset, our method obtained considerable performance improvements compared to baselines.


The purpose of this paper is to explore the applicability and utility of supply chain (SC) segmentation through demand profiling to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of infrastructure projects by identifying different types of project demand profiles.,A three-stage abductive research design was adopted. Stage 1 explored the applicability of SC segmentation, through demand profiling, to the portfolio of infrastructure projects in a utility company. Stage 2 was an iterative process of "theory matching", to the portfolio, programme and project management literature. In stage 3, theoretical saturation was reached and "theory suggestions" were made through four propositions.,Four propositions outline how SC segmentation through project demand profiling could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of infrastructure projects. P1: the ability to recognise the different demand profiles of individual projects, and groups thereof, is a portfolio management necessity. P2: projects that contribute to the strategic upgrade of a capital asset should be considered a potential programme of inter-related repeatable projects whose delivery would benefit from economies of repetition. P3: the greater the ability to identify different demand profiles of individual/groups of projects, the greater the delivery efficiency. P4: economies of repetition developed through efficient delivery of programmes of repeatable projects can foster greater efficiency in the delivery of innovative projects through economies of recombination.,This work fills a gap in the portfolio management literature, suggesting that the initial screening, selection and prioritisation of project proposals should be expanded to recognise not only the project type, but also each project's demand profile.


Electric power transmission systems are a key infrastructure and blackouts of these systems have major direct and indirect consequences on the economy and national security. Analysis of North American Electrical Reliability Council blackout data suggests the existence of blackout size distributions with power tails. This is an indication that blackout dynamics behave as a complex dynamical system. Here, we investigate how these complex system dynamics impact the assessment and mitigation of blackout risk. The mitigation of failures in complex systems needs to be approached with care. The mitigation efforts can move the system to a new dynamic equilibrium while remaining near criticality and preserving the power tails. Thus, while the absolute frequency of disruptions of all sizes may be reduced, the underlying forces can still cause the relative frequency of large disruptions to small disruptions to remain the same. Moreover, in some cases, efforts to mitigate small disruptions can even increase the frequency of large disruptions. This occurs because the large and small disruptions are not independent but are strongly coupled by the dynamics.


The role of design as a means of differentiating products and services is increasing as it becomes difficult to sustain competitive advantage through technology alone. Yet until recently, there has been virtually no quantitative information available relating to the contribution of design to business performance, and there are only a few studies on performance measurement of design. This paper, which is based on a review of the relevant literature, two case studies and extensive discussions with design managers and consultants, highlights the need for a clear understanding of the pervasiveness of the design activity that is being evaluated and an appreciation of the many disparate roles that it plays from the idea generation stage through to development, packaging, market positioning and promotion. The span of design over a product's life cycle, encompassing form (appearance), function (performance) and fit (ergonomics), is just one reason why the design function may be located in RD this diffusion of the design activity increases the difficulty of evaluation. The research identified several factors that influence the balance between quantitative and qualitative measures of design performance. The two projects examined in this study revealed a strong top management preference for ex-ante evaluation, and an ex-post emphasis on metrics for the performance of the project and the cross-functional team responsible, rather than on single disciplines within the team. The study also suggests that the complexity and dynamics of the competitive environment in many industries requires new conceptual models and a new, less linear, way of thinking about performance measurement, in particular.


Exposing the health benefits from walnut consumption comes from an appreciation of the walnut as a plant food, with a nutrient content reflecting its own biology. Walnuts have a unique and intriguing nutritional composition. Like all nuts, a large proportion of the walnut is fat, (69%) but 49% is polyunsaturated and 6% is omega 3 in the form of α linolenic acid. The benefits of reducing dietary saturated fat in favour of unsaturated fats have been known for some time and are linked to reductions in risk factors of coronary heart disease, and possibly also type 2 diabetes, by influencing insulin action. Our research has shown that including 30 g/day walnuts in a low fat diet (30% energy from fat) produced favourable shifts in cholesterol levels in people with type 2 diabetes. In a 12-month trial we have also shown a place for walnuts in weight management, with outcomes pending publication. Weight loss and cholesterol change are 'whole of diet' effects, but walnuts were shown to substantially influence the dietary fat profile which in turn affects outcomes. Walnuts contain other nutritional attributes in the form of vitamins (walnuts have exceptionally high levels of y tocopherol, a form of Vitamin E) and compounds with potent anti-oxidant activity, such as melatonin. The consumption of walnuts has been shown to increase the anti-oxidant capacity of blood which may afford a further protection against disease elements. Describing the benefits of walnut consumption means focusing on the whole food, with all its synergistic attributes, and distilling the effects in the context of a whole diet. From a range of research perspectives, walnuts have proven to be a nutritionally valuable food.


Introduction: Lixisenatide is a once-daily short-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It is used in combination with oral antidiabetics and/or basal insulin in patients inadequately controlled on these medications and who are undergoing diet and lifestyle modification. GLP-1RAs glucose-dependently increase insulin secretion, decrease glucagon secretion, and slow gastric emptying, thereby improving glycemic control. GLP-1RAs are associated with body weight benefits and low rates of hypoglycemia which are welcome in patients with T2DM. Areas covered: The authors describe the identification of GLP-1RAs as suitable targets for modification with structure-inducing probe technology to improve stability and resistance to proteolytic degradation. Clinical studies have assessed lixisenatide across > 5000 patients as a monotherapy or add-on to a variety of commonly used antidiabetic medications. These studies highlighted the effects of lixisenatide on gastric emptying, explaining its particular improvements in postprandial plasma glucose (PPG) excursions and underscoring its efficacy in combination with insulin glargine. Lixisenatide was well tolerated, with nausea and vomiting being the most frequently reported adverse events. Expert opinion: The once-daily administration of lixisenatide as well as its substantial sustained effect on gastric emptying and, hence, PPG excursions are all important features compared with the other GLP-1RAs. The combination of two injectables, such as basal insulin to lower fasting plasma glucose and a GLP-1RA that curtails PPG excursions, is clinically valuable and could differentiate lixisenatide from other GLP-1RAs, especially from those continuously acting GLP-1RAs with little effect on gastric emptying and PPG excursions.


Singularities and uncertainties in arm configurations are the main problems in kinematics of serial robots. The complexity in the solution arises from robots geometry and non-linear equations (trigonometric equations) occur when transforming between Cartesian and joint spaces where multiple solutions and singularities exist. Mathematical solutions for the problem may not always correspond to the physical solution and methods of solution depend on the robot configuration.
In this research, a trajectory tracking approach is proposed for a 6 Degrees Of Freedom (DOF) serial robot manipulator. The proposed solution is carried out through two stages. First the kinematics model of the Fanuc robot was solved using the D-H method to show the exact location of singular configurations of the robot, and then Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are trained to overcome these arising problems. Solving the Inverse Kinematics (IK) of serial manipulators by using ANNs has two problems, one of these is the selection of the appropriate configuration of the network and the other is the generating of suitable training data sets.
In this research, although this is very difficult in practice, training data were recorded experimentally from sensors fixed on each joint to overcome the effect of kinematics uncertainties presence in the real world such as ill-defined linkage parameters, links flexibility and backlashes in gear train. Off-line training was implemented for the experimentally obtained training data.
Two networks configurations from the literature were tested and developed following the recommendations of the original authors, then compared to find the best configuration to be used. First the effect of orientation of the tool was examined (as one of the networks does not considered the effect of orientation while the other network does), and then the effect of the Jacobian matrix to the solution for the both configurations was examined.
Performance comparison shows that when the effect of the orientation of the tool was considered in the solution with the Jacobian matrix effect, better results in terms of precision and iteration during training the ANN were obtained. The effect of the network architecture was also examined in order to find the best network configuration to solve the problem. A network with all the parameters considered together in one network has been compared to six different networks, where the parameters of every joint were considered independently. Results obtained show that having one network considering all the problem's parameters together give a better response than using 6 different networks representing the parameters of each joint apart from other joints.
The resultant network with the best configuration was tested experimentally using new different set of data that has never been introduced to the network before, this data set was meant to pass through the singular configurations, in order to show the generality and efficiency of the proposed approach.
Experimental trajectory tracking has shown the ability of the proposed Artificial Neural Networks approach to overcome the disadvantages of using some schemes like the Fuzzy Learning Control for example that only remembers the most recent data sets introduced, as the literature has shown.


Author(s): Casaletto, Kaitlin Blackstone | Advisor(s): Heaton, Robert K; Moore, David J | Abstract: Rationale: The neurotoxic effects of comorbid HIV infection and substance use disorders (HIV/SUD) preferentially impact the fronto-striatal regions of the brain, leading to increased disruption of higher-order executive functions. Poor insight into such neurocognitive deficits (impaired metacognition) tracks with executive dysfunction and is associated with errors in everyday life. We evaluated the efficacy of a brief Metacognitive Training module for neurorehabilitation of HIV/SUD individuals.Design: A between-subjects, randomized design was used to examine the effectiveness of Metacognitive Training among HIV/SUD individuals with current executive dysfunction. To determine the efficacy of the Metacognitive Training compared to an executive strategy (Goal Management Training, GMT), 90 HIV/SUD participants were randomized to: 1) active control (n=30); 2) executive strategy only (i.e., GMT; n=30); or 3) Metacognitive Training plus executive strategy (Meta+GMT; n=30). Following the study condition, participants completed a complex instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) task (Everyday Multitasking Test, "Everyday MT"); additionally, in-vivo metacognitive abilities regarding IADL task performance were evaluated. Results: There was an increasing tendency for better Everyday MT performances across study conditions (Control≤GMT≤Meta+GMT) that approached significance (psl0.08). Pairwise differences indicated the GMT or Meta+GMT trainings demonstrated small (d=0.20-0.24) benefits in Everyday MT performance compared to the control condition (psl0.11). HIV/SUD individuals who completed the GMT (in addition to the Meta or not) had significant, medium-sized enhancements in Everyday MT performances compared the control condition (psl0.05; ds=0.38-0.41); the effect of these enhancements became even larger among those who had poorer dual-tasking capacities prior to training and completed the GMT (psl0.04; ds=0.83-1.04). Regarding metacognition, although there was no significant study group effect on Global Metacognition, Online Awareness (one of the two components of global abilities) showed a significant positive trend across training condition (Control≤GMT≤Meta+GMT; p=0.04). Among the skills comprising Online Awareness, a tendency toward more elaborate Task Appraisals was observed among HIV/SUD individuals who completed either the GMT or Meta+GMT (versus control; psl0.07, ds=0.21-0.27). Those who completed the GMT (in addition to the Meta or alone) demonstrated medium, significant benefits of GMT on Task Appraisals compared to the control condition (p=0.01; d=0.50).Conclusions: Our experimental design demonstrated meaningful benefits of a brief GMT executive strategy for everyday multitasking and metacognition among HIV/SUD individuals. Ours are among the first findings supporting a compensatory neurorehabilitation tool in HIV+ individuals and/or substance users.


After pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PEG-LD) (Doxil) was shown to be active in ovarian tumors, several trials were developed at the University of Southern California to determine its safety and efficacy in a variety of gynecologic and peritoneal malignancies. Completed phase I and phase II trials have found PEG-LD to be safe and effective in the treatment of platinum- and paclitaxel-refractory epithelial ovarian carcinoma. A new phase II trial is currently underway in similarly refractory patients with ovarian and other related cancers and various degrees of pretreatment. In addition, the efficacy of PEG-LD is being explored in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol), with cisplatin, and with hyperthermia. [ONCOLOGY 11(Suppl 11):38-44, 1997]


ABSTRACT Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) are diarrheagenic pathogens that colonize the intestinal tract through the formation of attaching and effacing lesions, induced by effectors translocated via a type III secretion system (T3SS) encoded on the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE). In EHEC O157, numerous virulence factors, including around 40 T3SS effectors, have been identified. Most of them are encoded on genomic islands (GEIs) such as prophages and integrative elements. For EPEC, however, no systematic search of GEIs and virulence-related genes carried therein has been done, and only a limited number of virulence factors have been identified so far. In this study, we performed a systemic and genome-wide survey of the GEIs in strain B171-8, one of the prototype strains of EPEC, by the combined use of whole-genome PCR scanning and fosmid mapping and identified 22 large GEIs, including nine lambda-like prophages, three P2-like prophages, the LEE, and three additional integrative elements. On these prophages and integrative elements, we found genes for a set of T3SS proteins, a total of 33 T3SS effectors or effector homologues, and 12 other virulence factors which include five nonfimbrial adhesins. Most of the T3SS effector families identified are also present in EHEC O157, but B171-8 possesses a significantly smaller number of effectors. Not only the presence or absence of Shiga toxin genes but also the difference in the T3SS effector repertoire should be considered in analyzing the pathogenicity of EPEC and EHEC strains.


This document contains the decision of the Tracking Protection Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium, as issued in July, 2013 by the co-chairs, Peter Swire and Matthias Schunter, as well as a detailed Explanatory Memorandum for that decision. In response to 27 comments and a large previous public record, the decision addresses the question of what base text to use for the Do Not Track Compliance Specification, and concludes that the draft put before the group in June ("June Draft") will be the base text rather than the proposal submitted by the Digital Advertising Alliance and other group members ("DAA Proposal"). Part I of the Explanatory Memorandum provides history and background of the process to date, with emphasis on the issues that differ between the two texts. Part II is called "Do Not Target," and discussing the definition of "tracking," the means of user choice concerning targeted online advertising, and related topics. Part III is called "Do Not Collect," and addresses issues including minimization of data collection and the use of unique identifiers. Part IV is called "Data Hygiene." It examines a range of controls that a company may apply to de-identify data and reduce the risk that data is revealed without authorization. Parts II to IV include discussion of many of the comments submitted under the July 12, 2013 deadline concerning which base text to adopt. Part V addresses additional comments submitted, responding especially to comments that supported the DAA Proposal to become the base text.


This article investigates the long-term historical impact of missionary activity on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. On the one hand, missionaries were among the first to invest in modern medicine in a number of countries. On the other hand, Christianity influenced sexual beliefs and behaviors. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant and Catholic missions in the early 20th century, as well as their health investments. Using a number of different empirical strategies to address selection in missionary locations and into health investments, we show that missionary presence has conflicting effects on HIV today. Regions close to historical mission stations exhibit higher HIV prevalence. This negative impact is robust to multiple specifications accounting for urbanization, and we provide evidence that it is specific to STDs. Less knowledge about condom use is a likely channel. On the contrary, among regions historically close to missionary settlements, proximity to a mission with a health investment is associated with lower HIV prevalence nowadays. Safer sexual behaviors around these missions are a possible explanatory channel.


The modem era of groin hernia surgery began with Eduardo Bassini who in the late 19th century, developed the first modem anatomically based hernia repair. Surgical technique, anaesthesia, suture and biomaterials have been matters of discussion ever since.In recent decades new techniques using a mesh prosthesis as adjunct have, to a large extent, replaced sutured repairs in groin hernia surgery. The advantages and disadvantages of new methods and devices are not easy to establish. Excellent results from specialised hernia centres have frequently been presented in the form of retrospective series. However, hernia surgery is usually considered an area within general surgery and, therefore, often performed by non-specialised surgeons and trainees.The Swedish Hernia Register (SHR), initiated in 1992 has today become nationwide and covers some 90 % of all Swedish units where hernia surgery is performed. Register data may be used for local audit, follow-up studies, and as background for RCTs. Register data reflect the results obtained by general surgeons with varying background and experience of hernia surgery. The present thesis comprises flve studies (I-V), three RCTs and two analyses of SHR data.Paper I: The aim of this RCT trial was to compare the Shouldice procedure with the Lichtenstein repair with respect to recurrence rate, technical difficulty, convalescence and chronic pain. A further aim was to determine to what extent general surgeons in routine surgical practice are able to reproduce the excellent results reported from specialised hernia centres. The Lichtenstein repair resulted in fewer recurrences took less time to perform and was easier to learn. It seemed possible to achieve excellent results with this technique even in non-specialised general surgical units.Paper II: Although mesh techniques are used with increasing frequency sutured repairs will continue to have a place in groin hernia surgery. Between 1992 and 2000 detailed information on 18,057 repairs with open sutured non-mesh methods was recorded in the SHR. The purpose of this study was to analyse the relative risk for reoperation with early absorbable, late absorbable, and nonabsorbable sutures, and to compare the relative risk of reoperation using the Shouldice technique with that of other sutured repairs. The relative risk for reoperation with early absorbable sutures was significantly higher than with other sutures. Among sutured repairs the Shouldice technique carried a lower risk for reoperation than other sutured repairs.Paper III: Data from 59,823 hernia operations recorded in SHR from 1992 through 2001 were used to estimate the relative risk of reoperation for recurrence (or chronic pain) when using general anaesthesia (GA), regional anaesthesia (RA), and local anaesthesia (LA). Time trends for anaesthetic and operative methods and other variables affecting risk for reoperation were also analysed. LA was associated with an enhanced risk for reoperation in primary but not recurrent repair. The Lichtenstein technique carried a significantly lower risk of reoperation compared to other methods.Paper IV: Within a three-armed multicentre RCT (n=616), perform by ten units all aligned to the SHR, surgical outcomes using the three anaesthetic alternatives were compared. LA was found to have considerable advantages over RA and GA. General surgeons in routine surgical practice could to a great extent, reproduce the favourable results obtained using LA in specialised hernia centres.Paper V: As part of Study IV patient satisfaction and quality of life following hernia surgery under GA,RA, and LA was compared in an RCT (n= 138) using a specially designed questionnaire. With the exception of slight intraoperative pain, LA was found to be well tolerated and associated with significant advantages when compared with GA and RA.Quality assessment of hernia surgery is essential. RCTs enable us to compare new surgical and anaesthetic alternatives. Register studies reflecting outcome in routine clinical practice can give this assessment a new dimension.


This paper examines the implications of the new dynamics-as-usual IPCC B2 scenario for the viability of international gas transmission lines and the environment in Eurasia. In doing so, it analyses the effects of increasing the number of pipelines, reducing gas extraction costs and stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations. In the B2 scenario, interregional gas transport by pipeline would increase from 150 bcm (billion cubic metres) in 1998 to nearly 900 bcm in 2040 whereas the interregional liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade would decrease over the same period. In addition, connecting the natural gas supply areas in the Former Soviet Union and the Middle East with the demand centres in South and Central Asia would increase global piped gas exports to around 1780 bcm. Reducing extraction costs or stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations would not alter this picture drastically. Although less than under a coal based scenario, carbon emissions would still increase under the B2 scenario, especially when gas extraction costs decrease. Sulphur emissions in Asia would, however, be significantly lower than in a coal-based scenario.


PURPOSE
To explore the ways in which multiple myeloma affects an individual's life in the modern treatment era.

PARTICIPANTS & SETTING
15 individuals with multiple myeloma and 10 clinicians were recruited from two academic medical centers in the southeastern United States.

METHODOLOGIC APPROACH
Semistructured interviews were conducted with individuals with multiple myeloma and clinicians to explore the effect of a multiple myeloma diagnosis and treatment on individuals' lives. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using conventional content analysis.

FINDINGS
The following four themes emerged from the analysis.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
The treatment journey for those with multiple myeloma can be lifelong and may require frequent visits to an oncologist and, potentially, many successive lines of therapy. Life effects are far-reaching and long-term. Nurses should be aware of the interprofessional resources to help meet these individuals' needs. With thorough assessment, care planning, and education, nurses can play a key role in mitigating the negative effects of multiple myeloma and its treatment.


Very High Gravity fermentations are an increasingly attractive proposition within the brewing industry as a means of energy saving and optimising process efficiency. However, the use of very high gravity (>20°P) wort is associated with a range of biological stress factors. Ethanoic and osmotic stresses have been widely analysed along with oxidative stress in relation to propagation and early stage fermentation. The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of wort gravity on oxidative stress, and understand how this affects the plasma membrane at VHG. Finally the effect altered ergosterol content was analysed. The characteristics of Saccharomyces pastorianus strains were assessed for their ability to withstand the increased pressures of VHG (22°P) fermentations. VHG fermentations showed increase ethanol production at the expense of fermentation length, and increased ethanol production during VHG fermentations was offset by an increase in fermentation length. All fermentations were observed to accumulate ROS and increased antioxidant levels, with levels being furtherelevated in the VHG environment. Further analysis of S. pastorianus strains indicated that the levels of oxidative stress observed in fermentation had a negative effect on membrane fluidity and increased damage of the plasma membrane was observed. Analysis of ergosterol enriched yeast indicated that although fermentation rate was increased, a trade off with alcohol and biomass production was observed. Furthermore in response to oxidative stress, ergosterol enriched yeast showed reduced tolerance, decreased membrane fluidity and increased membrane damage. This work will give further insight into the response of lager yeast to oxidative stress present during VHG fermentations.


Over the past couple of decades, mathematical equations have been developed that successfully model natural phenomena that occur in various fields such as chemistry, biology, and fluid mechanics. These equations, however simple, produce complicated solutions with occasional unpredictable behavior. Analysis and research of these models and other models that exhibit such response has been deemed "chaos theory". One of the requirements for a system to be considered chaotic is that the system must be sensitive to initial conditions. The term "chaos theory" implies that an exact outcome is incomprehensible, leading to a common assumption that an analytic solution is unattainable for chaotic systems. This expectation has since been refuted as an exact solution has been derived for some chaotic systems. This unlocked the potential for a chaotic system to be implemented in practical applications. One such novel technique has arisen in the form of an electronic circuit. This circuit has been designed to oscillate in a chaotic manner and possess an exact solution that can be calculated. Due to sensitivity intrinsic to all chaotic systems, small perturbations can be used to control the chaotic oscillation. Because the chaotic oscillation can be controlled and its response determined, a circuit can be employed as a form of a modulator in encoding and encryption in communication systems. Common communication systems, subsystems and circuits are discussed along with analog modulation and demodulation techniques. A transmitting and receiving is circuit are detailed that successfully presents the transmission of a chaotic waveform in a wireless medium.


Community gardens are heterogeneous environments that integrate environmental restoration, community activism, social interactions, cultural expression, and food security. As such, they provide a context for learning that addresses multiple societal goals, including a populace that is scientifically literate, practices environmental stewardship, and participates in civic life. Several theories are useful in describing the learning that occurs in community gardens, including those focusing on learning as acquisition of content by individuals, learning as interaction with other individuals and the environment and as increasingly skilled levels of participation in a community of practice, and social learning among groups of stakeholders leading to concerted action to enhance natural resources. In this paper, we use preliminary evidence from the Garden Mosaics intergenerational education program to suggest the potential for community gardens to foster multiple types of learning.


Over the financial crisis, the ability of authorities to manage crises both domestically and in cross-border situations has been severely tested. The financial crisis exposed many problems within the global financial system and in the way it was regulated and governed. Financial market regulators did not accurately identified the risk of the banks taken in securitization procedures and did not estimated the losses that could appear in case of the systemic crisis. This led to chaotic bank crisis resolution and extraordinary financial cost suffered by Member States. Hence, the taxpayers were called upon billions of euro to recapitalize the banks in order to prevent the contagion risk. These failures of efficient prudential supervision and lack of regulation in banking restructuring and resolution has led to a need to create a banking union in the European Union which should assure the sufficient capital requirements of the banks and harmonized deposit guarantee scheme, also creation of the single supervisory mechanism and (single) banking recovery and resolution mechanism. Some of the legislative initiatives are agreed, others are under negotiation processes and an important single resolution mechanism proposal is still under in drafting process. As for public policy of the European Union the most important legislative procedures are single supervisory mechanism (SRM) and banking restructuring and resolution (RRD). The said proposals will centralize the prudential supervision in the hands of European central bank and provide harmonized approach on bank rcoery and resolution mechanisms. However, the centralization of the prudential supervision within euro-zone and non-euro zone member states that are willing to join the SSM will have a significant impact on the national public administration systems. Therefore, there is a need of scientific analysis of this phenomena. Hence, the article considers possible positive and negative the implications of the SSM and RRD on national public administration systems and stresses the main problematic issues (efficacy of centralized supervision, funding of the resolution, institutions that could be a resolution authority). The author stresses that in overall the RRD proposal will enforce the structured and also more efficient supervision and would definitely reduce the risk of spending taxpayers' money in banks' resolution. As regards to SSM, the author claims that the centralized model could be efficient only in cases where the domestic supervisory institution provides the sufficient know-how for the European central bank. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.12.3.5291


Results of a search for new phenomena in events with an energetic photon and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC are reported. Data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$. The observed data are well described by the expected Standard Model backgrounds. The expected (observed) upper limit on the fiducial cross section for the production of such events is 6.1 (5.3) fb at 95% confidence level. Exclusion limits are presented on models of new phenomena with large extra spatial dimensions, supersymmetric quarks, and direct pair production of dark-matter candidates.


CONTEXT
Over the past decade, a growing body of scientific evidence has suggested an exquisite association between oral infection and systemic diseases (e.g. atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, premature or low birth weight babies, pulmonary diseases, etc.) and also between systemic diseases (e.g. arthritis, diabetes, HIV infection and osteoporosis) and oral and craniofacial diseases and disorders. Leptin is a hormone secreted by the adipocytes in varying quantities and regulates the body weight. The present study was undertaken in the context of knowing the role of leptin in the inflammatory process occurring in the gingiva as the disease progressed from gingivitis to periodontitis.

AIMS
The present study was done to correlate the concentrations of leptin and interleukin (IL)-6 within the gingiva in healthy, gingivitis and periodontitis groups of patients and to correlate gingival leptin and IL-6 concentrations with plasma leptin and IL-6 concentrations in the healthy, gingivitis and periodontitis groups of patients.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN
This was a cross-sectional study and was carried out on the patients from the out-patient department of Periodontics in A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Seventy-five patients in the age group of 18-60 years were selected and grouped based on the gingival index (Loe and Sillness) and their clinical attachment levels into healthy, gingivitis and periodontitis groups. Leptin and IL-6 levels were estimated within gingiva and the plasma of each subject using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The results of this study were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. Mean and the standard deviation were calculated using analysis of variance Fisher's F-test and then the results were subjected to Tukey's Honest significance difference method for multiple comparison among the three groups. Correlation among the three groups was estimated using Pearson's correlation analysis.

RESULTS
Results showed a statistically significant decrease in the concentration of gingival leptin and a statistically significant increase in the concentration of plasma leptin as the gingival disease progressed.

CONCLUSION
It was concluded that as the gingival disease progressed, the gingival leptin concentration decreased, whereas the plasma leptin concentration increased, indicating a possible correlation between leptin concentration in the gingiva and the risk of developing systemic disease like the cardiovascular disease.


This thesis starts with a critique of existing sociological
and criminological studies. The major argument here is that,
although interactionist studies are an improvement upon their
positivist counterparts, they suffer from the inherent weaknesses
contained in their astructural bias. Thus, although
observational studies have been able to describe the effects
of the process of interaction within the courtroom, they have
been unable to explain why magistrates' justice is characterised
by a relative lack of due process. In the main body of
the thesis, we offer a structural analysis of the functions of
magistrates' courts through an examination of the historical
development of the magistracy culminating in its transformation
in the middle of the nineteenth century. We show that
the magistracy was created in its modern form as a lower court
of summary justice specifically to act as an efficient method
of punishing petty offenders with a conscious disregard for
rights of due process. This did not simply reflect the
interests of the industrial bourgeoisie but rather it was a
product of the class struggle resulting from the particular
formation of British capitalism, in which the gentry retained
a powerful position. The central argument is that the
particular form of justice that is administered in the lower
courts of England and Wales reflects the compromise that was
reached between these two sections of the ruling class in the
period in which the modern magistracy was forged.


The global financial crisis has brought to an end a rather unprecedented period of banks' international expansion. We analyze the effects of the crisis on international banking. Using a detailed dataset on the international assets of all German banks with foreign affiliates for the years 2002-2011, we study bank internationalization before and during the crisis. Our data allow analyzing not only the international assets of the banks' headquarters but also of their foreign affiliates. We show that banks have lowered their international assets, both along the extensive and the intensive margin. This withdrawal from foreign markets is the result of changing market conditions, of policy interventions, and of a weakly increasing sensitivity of banks to financial frictions.


This study examined high school and college students' skills to estimate area. During this study, students completed a ten-problem assessment which contained ten different geometric figures that were partially shaded in. Students were instructed to estimate what percentage of the area of the shape was shaded and to explain how they made their predictions for three problems. Each problem was scored on how far off their estimation was from the actual percentage. After completing the assessment, students were also asked to complete a five-question survey. The results of the study indicate that students are much more likely to overestimate than underestimate. Additional results revealed that problems that had a slanted shade line and problems with multiple pieces shaded were the most difficult for students. Other findings showed that there was no significant difference based on gender, but there was a significant difference based on what course students were enrolled in.


May Sarton has been writing and publishing poetry for over sixty years. A House of Gathering gives her poetry long-overdue critical attention and discusses Sarton's place among modern and contemporary world authors. As working poets, the contributors offer knowledgeable discussions of Sarton's craft. The essays cover a broad range of topics, from Pastan's memoirs of Sarton as her teacher at Radcliffe in the 1950s, to Charlotte Mandel's close scrutiny of Sarton's poetic forms in her earliest collections, to Bobby Caudle Rogers's consideration of the poetic sequence as a form in contemporary American poetry, to Keith Norris's reading of Sarton as a postmodernist. William Stafford's essay on Sarton's A Private Mythology offers eloquent testimony as to the poet's "breakthrough" in mid-career. In addition, A House of Gathering includes an original interview with May Sarton; a recent poem, "Friendship and Illness"; working drafts for "Old Lovers at the Ballet"; a letter from Sarton to H.D.; and several original photographs. These essays will appeal to readers interested in poetry and literature in general, in women's studies, and in May Sarton.


Adopting the metaphor of a story, the case study explores and offers insight into the creation and operationalization of an innovative business model by an entrepreneurial firm that challenged and disrupted the competitive dynamics of an established industry sector, namely building supplies. The case is focused on MKM Building Supplies Ltd and its co-founder's entrepreneurial approach to business model innovation in creating a sustainable start-up business model aimed at market disruption. The entrepreneurial business model is operationalized by a strategy of growing, primarily organically, a national network of branches together with the creation, delivery and realization of value in the form of superior service from their hand-picked local managers who are focused on customer relationships and local markets. The firm is both ethical, whereby humanitarian risks are minimized in their global supply chains, and philanthropic, whereby the branches are also committed to supporting their local communities. The case engages students to consider the impact of entrepreneurial business model thinking and innovation and also the local-national-international tensions in global value chains.