This presentation reported the application of critical ethnography as a means to capture children's voices in two ways. Firstly, as researchers and secondly as a an authoritative space in which the children's voices could speak and be heard. The Young Children As Researchers (YCAR) study aimed to conceptualise ways in which young children aged 4-8 years are researchers, could develop as researchers and may be considered to be researchers. The presentation reports on an empirical study exploring research behaviours presenting naturalistically in young children aged 4-8 years. A 'jigsaw methodology' was developed, comprising critical ethnography, constructivist grounded theory, case study and the 'Mosaic Approach' (Clark and Moss, 2011). Ethnography is commonly indicated in early childhood research because of its capacity to reveal multiple facets of young children's lived experiences, including features of their everyday contexts that affect and effect those lived experiences. The particular rationale for the present study's use of critical ethnography was its potential invocation for social justice in respect of a guiding assumption that young children and their voices are excluded from adult worlds, including the 'academy'. Since the study was an attempt towards democratisation of research, it was guided by three approaches that were adopted to promote recognition of children's empowerment as researchers: emancipation, participation and induction. Through interview conversations, focus group and a nominal grouping exercise, perspectives of established academy members (n=47) regarding research were gathered, resulting in the identification of four research behaviours academy members identified as 'most important': exploration, finding solutions, conceptualisation and the basing of decisions on evidence. Furthermore, the academy members indicated theoretical sampling and consequently, 138 children aged 4-8 years in three early childhood settings and five homes in one English Midlands town participated, together with their parents and practitioners. Children's everyday naturalistic behaviours were co-constructed through gathering, analysis and meta-analysis of data; in this process, features of critical ethnography integrated coherently with the other instruments forming the jigsaw methodology. Many examples of the four most important key research behaviours presented in children's naturalistic activities; factors affecting or effecting these behaviours included children's applications of prior experiences, their innovations, their autonomy, their dispositions and their interactions with material contexts as well as social and cognitive domains. In this study conducted according to the academy's own protocols, young children's engagements in research behaviours the academy regards as 'most important' were established in ways that suggest the children's forms of knowledge construction are valid and their voices authoritative. In the research process, the utility of critical ethnography was manifest in form and function: it integrated effectively with other methodologies to create a 'jigsaw methodology' that facilitated participatory, emancipatory and inductive approaches. Critical ethnography was also valuable as a vehicle for reifying social justice: the study outcomes reveal a rationale for challenging young children's exclusion from the academy.


Evidence of chemical isolation in the Asian monsoon anticyclone is presented using chemical constituents obtained from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer instrument during summer (June?August) of 2004?2006. Carbon monoxide (CO) shows a broad maximum over the monsoon anticyclone region in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS); these enhanced CO values are associated with air pollution transported upward by convection, and confined by the strong anticyclonic circulation. Profiles inside the anticyclone show enhancement of tropospheric tracers CO, HCN, C2H6, and C2H2 between ~12 to 20 km, with maxima near 13?15 km. Strong correlations are observed among constituents, consistent with sources from near-surface pollution and biomass burning. Stratospheric tracers (O3, HNO3 and HCl) exhibit decreased values inside the anticyclone between ~12?20 km. These observations are further evidence of transport of lower tropospheric air into the UTLS region, and isolation of air within the anticyclone. The relative enhancements of tropospheric species inside the anticyclone are closely related to the photochemical lifetime of the species, with strongest enhancement for shorter lived species. Vertical profiles of the ratio of C2H2/CO (used to measure the relative age of air) suggest relatively rapid transport of fresh emissions up to tropopause level inside the anticyclone.


Author(s): Piette, Mary A; Schetrit, Oren; Kiliccote, Sila; Cheung, Iris; Li, Becky Z | Abstract: During the past decade, the technology to automate demand response (DR) in buildings and industrial facilities has advanced significantly. Automation allows rapid, repeatable, reliable operation. This study focuses on costs for DR automation in commercial buildings with some discussion on residential buildings and industrial facilities. DR automation technology relies on numerous components, including communication systems, hardware and software gateways, standards-based messaging protocols, controls and integration platforms, and measurement and telemetry systems. This report compares cost data from several DR automation programs and pilot projects, evaluates trends in the cost per unit of DR and kilowatts (kW) available from automated systems, and applies a standard naming convention and classification or taxonomy for system elements. Median costs for the 56 installed automated DR systems studied here are about $200/kW. The deviation around this median is large with costs in some cases being an order of magnitude great or less than the median. This wide range is a result of variations in system age, size of load reduction, sophistication, and type of equipment included in cost analysis. The costs to automate fast DR systems for ancillary services are not fully analyzed in this report because additional research is needed to determine the total cost to install, operate, and maintain these systems. However, recent research suggests that they could be developed at costs similar to those of existing hot-summer DR automation systems. This report considers installation and configuration costs and does include the costs of owning and operating DR automation systems. Future analysis of the latter costs should include the costs to the building or facility manager costs as well as utility or third party program manager cost.


We report a series of crystal structures of arylsulfonamide-armed anthraquinones (AQs) (1–4). The arylsulfonamide-armed AQs formed orthogonal aromatic arrangements between the AQ unit and terminal aryl units due to well-defined intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the carbonyl units of AQs and the amino groups of sulfonamide units. Three disubstituted AQs 1–3 formed fundamental dimer structures, which were stabilized by intermolecular π–π interaction between AQs. Subtle differences in the dimer structures led to different packing structures. Among them, the 1,8-bis(arylsulfonamide) derivative (1) formed solvated crystals of 1·(MeCN), which exhibited reversible and selective MeCN and/or EtCN adsorption–desorption behavior. Tetra(arylsulfonamide) AQ (4) with four bulky substituents on its periphery formed various host–guest molecular crystals of 4·X2 (X = toluene, xylene, trimethylbenzenes, 1,2,3,5-tetramethylbenzene, anisole, and benzonitrile) with a rectangular zero-dimensional cage surrounded by the π-planes of 4.


Purpose. To evaluate the relationship between accommodation, visual acuity, and emmetropization in human infancy. Methods. Defocus at distance and near (57 cm) was assessed using Mohindra and dynamic retinoscopy, respectively, in 262 normal birthweight infants at 3, 9, and 18 months of age. Preferential looking provided acuity data at the same ages. The spherical equivalent refractive error was measured by cycloplegic retinoscopy (cyclopentolate 1%). Results. Univariate linear regression analyses showed no associations between the change in refractive error and defocus at distance or near. Change in refractive error was linearly related to the accommodative response at distance (R2 = 0.17, p < 0.0001) and near (R2 = 0.13, p < 0.0001). The ten subjects with the poorest emmetropization relative to the change predicted by the linear effects of their refractive error had higher average levels of hyperopic defocus at distance and near (p < 0.043). Logistic regression showed a decrease in the odds of reaching +2.00 diopter or less hyperopia by 18 months with increasing levels of hyperopia at 3 months, or if Mohindra retinoscopy was myopic combined with acuity better than the median level of 1.25 logMAR [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.78 (95% CI = 0.68 to 0.88)]. Conclusions. The level of cycloplegic refractive error was the best single factor for predicting emmetropization by 18 months of age, with smaller contributions from visual acuity and Mohindra retinoscopy. The lack of correlation between defocus and change in refractive error does not support a simple model of emmetropization in response to the level of hyperopic defocus. Infants were capable of maintaining accurate average levels of accommodation across a range of moderate hyperopic refractive errors at 3 months of age. The association between the change in refractive error and accommodative response suggests that accommodation is a plausible visual signal for emmetropization.


We investigated the vertical distribution, storage, landscape partitioning, and spatial variability of soil amorphous silica (ASi) at four different sites underlain by continuous permafrost and representative of mountainous and lowland tundra, in the circum‐Arctic region. Based on a larger set of data, we present the first estimate of the ASi soil reservoir (0–1 m depth) in circum‐Arctic tundra terrain. At all sites, the vertical distribution of ASi concentrations followed the pattern of either (1) declining concentrations with depth (most common) or (2) increasing/maximum concentrations with depth. Our results suggest that a set of processes, including biological control, solifluction and other slope processes, cryoturbation, and formation of inorganic precipitates influence vertical distributions of ASi in permafrost terrain, with the capacity to retain stored ASi on millennial timescales. At the four study sites, areal ASi storage (0–1 m) is generally higher in graminoid tundra compared to wetlands. Our circum‐Arctic upscaling estimates, based on both vegetation and soil classification separately, suggest a storage amounting to 219 ± 28 and 274 ± 33 Tmol Si, respectively, of which at least 30% is stored in permafrost. This estimate would account for about 3% of the global soil ASi storage while occupying an equal portion of the global land area. This result does not support the hypothesis that the circum‐Arctic tundra soil ASi reservoir contains relatively higher amounts of ASi than other biomes globally as demonstrated for carbon. Nevertheless, climate warming has the potential to significantly alter ASi storage and terrestrial Si cycling in the Arctic.


The ever-wary James Madison viewed his fellow citizens as anything but angelic. In this radically new interpretation, Richard Matthews portrays a much less optimistic (and yet more liberal) Madison than we've seen before. Neither civic humanist nor democrat, this Madison is a distrusting, calculating, and pragmatic Machiavellian Prince. Unlike previous authors, Matthews goes well beyond Madison's work on the Constitution to reconstruct the complete range of Madison's political thought and intellectual development over the course of his extensive life. In the process, he provides a powerful critique of Madisonian politics. It is possible, he shows, to applaud the energy, design, and intellect that went into Madison's thought and simultaneously challenge the assumptions and values upon which that thought rests.


Many sermons of Peter Chrysologus have been preserved for us. Five of these sermons deal with the parable of the Lost Son. In this article these five sermons are studied from an economical perspective. These sermons will be discussed with reference to aspects such as wealth, poverty, acquisitiveness, squandering, prodigality, etc. This article will therefore shed light on the prevailing view of economic issues in Chrysoslogus' world, though this was not the primary and intentional focus of these sermons.


This literature review will serve as the foundation for a book proposal detailing my own life story. Every life is a beautiful tapestry woven together of colorful threads, each representing a unique component of an individual's experience. Trauma and adversity of some sort are undoubtedly part of every tapestry, and mine is no different. Using my personal experience with breast cancer, I examine the concept of post-traumatic growth, recognizing that stress and growth often co-exist and do not negate each other. Cancer is widely recognized as a trauma and is unique because of the threat of recurrence, meaning that the trauma never fully resolves. Post-traumatic stress disorder is associated with cancer, with many survivors experiencing anxiety and depression. The possibility for growth through the experience also exists, with one outcome being an enhanced appreciation for life. I suggest that although adversity cannot be prevented or controlled, we can choose our response. I present a specific type of gratitude, serene gratitude, which can foster growth and appreciation for life following trauma. It is my hope that by sharing my story others might begin to examine the possibility for growth after trauma in their own lives.


Over the last two decades the language we use to describe the news media landscape has become increasingly inadequate to the purpose. As the news environment expands and fragments, the meanings of terms like 'newspaper' and 'television channel' become harder and harder to pin down, and more and more organisations exist for which we have no simple words. In this paper we propose a new mechanism of examining and defining the media landscape for those working within it, consuming it, and researching it. This is not intended as a finite set of definitions, but a framework for analysing and structuring these entities (news media organisations and individuals) around sourcing and output that is flexible and dynamic enough to explain both the contemporary environment, and to cope with the changes we know will come, in the various forms they will take. This model is intended not as a definitive mapping of this continually fluctuating and evolving landscape, but as an attempt to delineate those factors which we believe will be determinate in this new landscape: the nature and number of relationships a journalist has with the community and news environments, and the means in and purpose to which a journalist applies his content and skill.


Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae is an opportunistic human pathogen causing otitis media in children and chronic bronchitis and pneumonia in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The outer membrane of nontypeable H. influenzae is dominated by lipooligosaccharides (LOS), many of which incorporate sialic acid as a terminal nonreducing sugar. Sialic acid has been demonstrated to be an important factor in the survival of the bacteria within the host environment. H. influenzae is incapable of synthesizing sialic acid and is dependent on scavenging free sialic acid from the host environment. To achieve this, H. influenzae utilizes a tripartite ATP-independent periplasmic transporter. In this study, we characterize the binding site of the extracytoplasmic solute receptor (SiaP) from nontypeable H. influenzae strain 2019. A crystal structure of N-acetyl-5-neuraminic acid (Neu5Ac)-bound SiaP was determined to 1.4Å resolution. Thermodynamic characterization of Neu5Ac binding shows this interaction is enthalpically driven with a substantial unfavorable contribution from entropy. This is expected because the binding of SiaP to Neu5Ac is mediated by numerous hydrogen bonds and has several buried water molecules. Point mutations targeting specific amino acids were introduced in the putative binding site. Complementation with the mutated siaP constructs resulted either in full, partial, or no complementation, depending on the role of specific residues. Mass spectrometry analysis of the O-deacylated LOS of the R127K point mutation confirmed the observation of reduced incorporation of Neu5Ac into the LOS. The decreased ability of H. influenzae to import sialic acid had negative effects on resistance to complement-mediated killing and viability of biofilms in vitro, confirming the importance of sialic acid transport to the bacterium.


Accumulations are recursive functions widely used in the context of functional programming. They maintain intermediate results in additional parameters, called accumulators, that may be used in later stages of computing. In a former work [Par02] a generic recursion operator named afold was presented. Afold makes it possible to write accumulations defined by structural recursion for a wide spectrum of datatypes (lists, trees, etc.). Also, a number of algebraic laws were provided that served as a formal tool for reasoning about programs with accumulations. In this work, we present an extension to afold that allows a greater flexibility in the kind of accumulations that may be represented. This extension, in essence, provides the expressive power to allow accumulations to have more than one recursive call in each subterm, with different accumulator values —something that was not previously possible. The extension is conservative, in the sense that we obtain similar algebraic laws for the extended operator. We also present a case study that illustrates the use of the algebraic laws in a calculational setting and a technique for the improvement of fused programs that do not eliminate all intermediate structures.


This study analyses the effects of arrangements that provide temporal and locational flexibility of work (TLF), namely flexi-time, telehomework, and part-time work, on employees' satisfaction with the fit between working time and private life and their overall job satisfaction. TLF arrangements provide employees with more control over their working life and therefore are likely to improve on the match between paid work and private life. Based on Dutch household panel data, the results show that TLF arrangements, flexi-time in particular, are generally associated with sizeable increases in satisfaction with working-time fit and overall job satisfaction. Somewhat surprisingly, the effects hardly differ between male and female employees and between employees with and without children. Temporal and locational flexibility apparently appeals not only to employees with family responsibilities but more general to all employees.


BACKGROUND
The risks of multiple pregnancy and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) are increased in women with clomiphene resistance WHO group 2 dysfunction undergoing ovulation induction as well as the risk of spontaneous abortion if conception takes place. Semi-purified preparations of FSH have been developed in an effort to reduce the impact of exogenous LH, relatively high levels of which are present in human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG). Ovulation induction in women with clomiphene resistant WHO group 2 dysfunction who often have clinical features of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), is a major challenge. The risks of multiple pregnancy and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) are increased in this population. There also appears to be an increased risk of spontaneous abortion in those who conceive, perhaps associated with elevated LH levels. Semi-purified preparations of FSH have been developed in an effort to reduce the impact of exogenous LH, relatively high levels of which are present in human menopausal gonadotrophins.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the effectiveness of daily FSH versus daily hMG in women with clomiphene-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), in terms of rates of pregnancy and moderate to severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).

SEARCH STRATEGY
The Cochrane Subfertility Review Group specialised register of controlled trials was searched.

SELECTION CRITERIA
All RCTs relevant to the clinical question were selected.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
A diverse search strategy was employed, including hand-search of 43 core journals from 1966 to the present, bibliographies of relevant trials, MEDLINE database, abstracts from North American and European meetings and contact with authors of relevant papers. Relevant data were extracted independently by two reviewers using the standardized data extraction sheet. Validity was assessed in terms of method of randomisation, completeness of follow-up, presence or absence of crossover and co-intervention.

DATA SYNTHESIS
2x2 tables were generated for all relevant outcomes. Odds ratios were generated using the Peto modified Mantel-Haenszel technique. Statistical heterogeneity was assessed using x2.

MAIN RESULTS
No significant benefit was demonstrated from semi-purified FSH versus hMG in terms of pregnancy rate: common odds ratio per patient 0.66 (95% CI 0.35-1.24) and per cycle 0.89 (95% CI 0.51-1.53). FSH appeared to be associated with a reduction in moderate to severe OHSS: common odds ratios 0.2 (95% CI 0.09-0.46).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
In women with PCOS, no significant difference could be demonstrated between FSH and hMG, in terms of pregnancy rate. However, given similar cost, potential advantages in terms of purity and a possible reduction in OHSS risk, highly purified or recombinant FSH are likely to be widely adopted in the future. Further research should consider live birth as a primary clinical outcome, given concerns over the association between high androgen and LH levels with spontaneous abortion risk.


Economic Reform in Asia compares and analyzes the reform and development patterns of China, India, and Japan from both historical and developmental perspectives. Sara Hsu specifically focuses on China's reform and opening-up in 1979, India's accelerated liberalization in 1991, and the outset of the Meiji Restoration in Japan in 1878. This detailed overview of growth patterns in Asia's largest economies is invaluable, especially in its determination to understand which development policies work, what role institutions play in development, and what issues may arise during said development.


A high energy all-solid-state blue laser with wavelength of 455 nm is proposed, which can be used in laser communication underwater or in the differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system. Ti:sapphire crystal is suitable material and is pumped by the second harmonic generation (SHG) of Nd:YAG laser. The pumped laser of 1000 mJ, 10 Hz is used, and the output wavelength of Ti:sapphire resonator cavity is controlled by external injection seeding. Parameters of the resonator cavity of Ti:sapphire crystal is carefully calculated and optimized. Pulsed 455-nm blue laser exceeding 100 mJ is obtained through frequency-doubled Ti:sapphire laser.


ABSTRACT Prdm1/Blimp-1 is a master regulator of gene expression in diverse tissues of the developing embryo and adult organism. Its C-terminal zinc finger domain mediates nuclear import, DNA binding, and recruitment of the corepressors G9a and HDAC1/2. Alternatively spliced transcripts lacking exon 7 sequences encode a structurally divergent isoform (Blimp-1Δexon7) predicted to have distinct functions. Here we demonstrate that the short Blimp-1Δexon7 isoform lacks DNA binding activity and fails to bind G9a or HDAC1/2 but retains the ability to interact with PRMT5. To investigate functional roles of alternative splicing in vivo, we engineered novel mouse strains via embryonic stem (ES) cell technology. Like null mutants, embryos carrying a targeted deletion of exon 7 and exclusively expressing Blimp-1Δexon7 die at around embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5) due to placental defects. In heterozygous Δexon7 mice, there is no evidence of dominant-negative effects. Mice carrying a knock-in allele with an exon 6-exon 7 fusion express full-length Blimp-1 only, develop normally, are healthy and fertile as adults, and efficiently generate mature plasma cells. These findings strongly suggest that the short Blimp-1Δexon7 isoform is dispensable. We propose that developmentally regulated alternative splicing is influenced by chromatin structure at the locus and fine-tunes Blimp-1's functional capabilities.


Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are increasingly a major healthcare problem but very few new classes of antibiotics have been discovered or launched in recent decades. Approaches to dealing with the problem include learning how bacteria evolve to resistance and improving dosing regimens with current antibiotics so as to reduce the selection of resistant bacteria. This thesis presents studies examining whether antibiotic dosing at high levels can prevent the selection of fluoroquinolone-resistant mutants in Escherichia coli. It also addresses the genetics of fluoroquinolone resistance in E. coli in relation to fitness costs for the resistant bacteria, and the evolution of E. coli to reduce the costs of resistance. The mutant prevention concentration (MPC) of ciprofloxacin was measured for a set of clinical urinary tract infection E. coli strains showing that MPC could not be predicted from the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Results from an in vitro kinetic model showed that an AUC/MPC >22 for ciprofloxacin was the single best pharmacodynamic index that predicted prevention of resistance emergence in the wild-type. Simulating currently approved dosing regimens for three different fluoroquinolones it was found that only a few were effective in preventing the selection of a small sub-population of pre-existing mutants. Step-wise selection of fluoroquinolone resistance showed that the accumulation of mutations usually reduced bacterial fitness in vitro and in vivo. Systematic construction of isogenic resistant strains confirmed this result and revealed that some combinations of resistance mutations mutually compensate and increase both resistance and fitness. It was discovered that mutations altering RNA polymerase could ameliorate the fitness costs of fluoroquinolone resistance. Thus, the major fitness cost of fluoroquinolone resistance is due to defective transcription. The finding that fluoroquinolone resistance mutations can increase resistance while mutually compensating their fitness costs, shows that resistance to fluoroquinolones can continue to evolve in the absence of antibiotic selection.


Any philosophy is closely tied to and truly inseparable from culture. This paper specifically examines the ontological status of any culture. In its full stretch, it focuses on whether or not there is any "philosophy" in a people's culture and if in the affirmative, what type of philosophy it is, and how it relates to scientific or strictly academic philosophy in vogue of nearly all the academic institutions of higher learning in Africa and in many other foreign nations as well. The method employed in this article is hermeneutics, a method used to mid-wife philosophy from culture since it frames the dialectics between philosophy and non philosophy. The writer concludes that culture is philosophy of some sort or philosophy of the first order activity; it provides the professional philosophers the data base on which to transcend into pure, critical philosophy. The thin line between the two senses of philosophy, namely, philosophy in the strict sense and in the loose sense is thereby clarified, linked and joined in a mutual relationship of bedrock provision.


Results of a statistical analysis of solar granulation are presented. A data set of 36 images of a quiet Sun area on the solar disk center was used. The data were obtained with the 1.6 m clear aperture New Solar Telescope (NST) at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) and with a broad-band filter centered at the TiO (705.7 nm) spectral line. The very high spatial resolution of the data (diffraction limit of 77 km and pixel scale of 0. ′′ 0375) augmented by the very high image contrast (15.5±0.6%) allowed us to detect for the first time a distinct subpopulation of mini-granular structures. These structures are dominant on spatial scales below 600 km. Their size is distributed as a power law with an index of -1.8 (which is close to the Kolmogorov's -5/3 law) and no predominant scale. The regular granules display a Gaussian (normal) size distribution with a mean diameter of 1050 km. Mini-granular structures contribute significantly to the total granular area. They are predominantly confined to the wide dark lanes between regular granules and often form chains and clusters, but different from magnetic bright points. A multi-fractality test reveals that the structures smaller than 600 km represent a multi-fractal, whereas on larger scales the granulation pattern shows no multi-fractality and can be considered as a Gaussian random field. The origin, properties and role of the newly discovered population of mini-granular structures in the solar magneto-convection are yet to be explored.


Repeated noncontingent cocaine injections, which lead to behavioral sensitization, increase AMPA receptor (AMPAR) transmission in the rodent nucleus accumbens (NAc) in a withdrawal-dependent manner. On withdrawal days (WD) 10–21, this is attributable to upregulation of GluA1A2-containing AMPARs. However, synaptic incorporation of GluA2-lacking/Ca2+-permeable AMPARs (CP-AMPARs) was observed after longer withdrawal (WD35) from repeated noncontingent cocaine injections in young mice (Mameli et al., 2009). CP-AMPARs had previously been observed in NAc synapses only after prolonged (WD30–WD47) withdrawal from extended-access cocaine self-administration. Our goal was to determine whether rats receiving repeated noncontingent cocaine injections during adulthood similarly exhibit CP-AMPARs in the NAc after prolonged withdrawal. For comparison, we began by evaluating CP-AMPARs on WD35–WD49 after extended-access cocaine self-administration. Confirming our previous results, whole-cell recordings revealed inwardly rectifying AMPAR EPSCs, a hallmark of CP-AMPARs. This was observed in both core and shell. Next, we conducted the same analysis in adult rats treated with eight daily noncontingent cocaine injections and recorded on WD35–WD49. AMPAR EPSCs in core and shell did not show inward rectification and were insensitive to 1-naphthylacetylspermine (a selective antagonist of CP-AMPARs). Locomotor sensitization could still be demonstrated after this long withdrawal period, although the upregulation of GluA1A2-containing AMPARs observed at earlier withdrawal times was no longer detected. In conclusion, in adult rats, accumulation of synaptic CP-AMPARs in the NAc occurs after prolonged withdrawal from extended-access cocaine self-administration but not after prolonged withdrawal from noncontingent cocaine injections.


Media narratives of political campaigns paint a complex picture of parties carefully selecting communication strategies in response to the current social and economic climate as well as the strategic choices made by rival parties. Current empirical efforts based on simple ordinary least squares, however, fail to honor those complexities. We argue that ignoring the spatial and temporal dynamics at play produces misleading inferences about parties' behavior. In an application of German parties' attention to economic issues in official communications, we demonstrate that once scholars test the theories with a method that honors the inherent complexity of the process, the inferences about parties' degree of responsiveness change. Indeed, proper specification of the model shows that scholars who ignore spatial dependence tend to overstate the degree to which parties are responsive to changing conditions (such as public opinion or economic indicators) and understate the role of other constraints. Most notably, we find that parties have varying levels of path dependence, parties emulate the strategies used by ideological neighbors, and coalition partners appear to coordinate their strategies. These findings have implications for understanding variation in parties' messaging strategies and how voters perceive parties' positions.


Objective To understand how prepared UK medical graduates are for practice and the effectiveness of workplace transition interventions. Design A rapid review of the literature (registration #CRD42013005305). Data sources Nine major databases (and key websites) were searched in two timeframes (July–September 2013; updated May–June 2014): CINAHL, Embase, Educational Resources Information Centre, Health Management Information Consortium, MEDLINE, MEDLINE in Process, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Knowledge. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Primary research or studies reporting UK medical graduates' preparedness between 2009 and 2014: manuscripts in English; all study types; participants who are final-year medical students, medical graduates, clinical educators, patients or NHS employers and all outcome measures. Data extraction At time 1, three researchers screened manuscripts (for duplicates, exclusion/inclusion criteria and quality). Remaining 81 manuscripts were coded. At time 2, one researcher repeated the process for 2013–2014 (adding six manuscripts). Data were analysed using a narrative synthesis and mapped against Tomorrow's Doctors (2009) graduate outcomes. Results Most studies comprised junior doctors' self-reports (65/87, 75%), few defined preparedness and a programmatic approach was lacking. Six themes were highlighted: individual skills/knowledge, interactional competence, systemic/technological competence, personal preparedness, demographic factors and transitional interventions. Graduates appear prepared for history taking, physical examinations and some clinical skills, but unprepared for other aspects, including prescribing, clinical reasoning/diagnoses, emergency management, multidisciplinary team-working, handover, error/safety incidents, understanding ethical/legal issues and ward environment familiarity. Shadowing and induction smooth transition into practice, but there is a paucity of evidence around assistantship efficacy. Conclusions Educational interventions are needed to address areas of unpreparedness (eg, multidisciplinary team-working, prescribing and clinical reasoning). Future research in areas we are unsure about should adopt a programmatic and rigorous approach, with clear definitions of preparedness, multiple stakeholder perspectives along with multisite and longitudinal research designs to achieve a joined-up, systematic, approach to understanding future educational requirements for junior doctors.


How can firms best engage customers to co-create value? A surge in academic and practical interest around this question of value co-creation (VCC) highlights the possibilities people see when Ford enables customers to design their own cars, Facebook enables customers to create content for other users, and Proctor and Gamble sources more than half its innovations from its own customers. At the same time, both academics and managers wrestle with exactly how to handle the enormous task of co-creation. Seeking insight, we searched the scholarly literature on VCC, and reviewing 149 unique papers, realized VCC is not one enormous task. Instead, it is composed of 6 different faces, 3 that describe the first VCC stage of co-production and 3 more that describe the second VCC stage of value-in-use. We understand why people have an incomplete understanding of VCC, as for example 79% of the studies in our data set considered only one stage or the other. In this paper, we describe each unique aspect of VCC so managers and researchers can see the whole, work with the parts, and generally better utilize the power that is derived when firms and customers collaborate.


Mechanisms of inflammatory and neuropathic pains have been elucidated and translated to patient care by the use of animal models of these pain states. Cancer pain has lagged behind since early animal models of cancer-induced bone pain were based on the systemic injection of carcinoma cells. This precluded systematic investigation of specific neuronal and pharmacological alterations that occur in cancer-induced bone pain. In 1999, Schwei et al. described a murine model of cancer-induced bone pain that paralleled the clinical condition in terms of pain development and bone destruction, confined to the mouse femur. This model prompted related approaches, and we can now state that cancer pain may include elements of inflammatory and neuropathic pains but also unique changes in sensory processing. Cancer-induced bone pain results in progressive bone destruction, elevated osteoclast activity and distinctive nocifensive behaviours (indicating the triad of ongoing, spontaneous and movement-induced hyperalgesia). In addition, cancer cells induce an inflammatory infiltrate and release growth factors, cytokines, interleukins, chemokines, prostanoids and endothelins, resulting in a reduction of pH to below 5 and direct deformation of primary afferents within bone. These peripheral changes, in turn, drive hypersensitivity of spinal cord sensory neurons, many of which project to the parts of the brain involved in the emotional response to pain. Within the spinal cord, a unique neuronal function reorganization within segments of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord receiving nociceptive input from the bone are discussed. Changes in certain neurotransmitters implicated in brain modulation of spinal function are also altered with implications for the affective components of cancer pain. Treatments are described in terms of mechanistic insights and in the case of opioids, which modulate pain transmission at spinal and supraspinal sites, their use can be compromised by opioid-induced hyperalgesia. We discuss evidence for how this comes about and how it may be treated.


Indirect Reciprocity (IR) is possibly the most elaborated and cognitively demanding mechanism of cooperation discovered so far. It involves status and reputations and has been heralded as providing the biological basis of our morality. Most theoretical models employed to date have studied how IR can lead to the emergence and sustainability of cooperation in infinite populations. However, it is known that cooperation, norms, reciprocity and the art of managing reputations, are features that date back to primitive, small-scale societies, when interactions mostly occurred within tribes. In small populations, stochastic finite size effects are not only important, but may even render infinite populations analyses misleading. Thus, it remains an open question which norms prevail in small-scale societies and their influence in the evolutionary dynamics of IR. With the current extended abstract, we would like to offer a new analysis of this problem. In Santos et al. (2016) we show that population size strongly influences the merits of each social norm, while proposing a new formal tool to assess the evolutionary dynamics of reputation-based systems in finite populations. We show that a single social norm (Stern-Judging) emerges as the leading norm in small-scale societies. That simple norm dictates that only whoever cooperates with good individuals, and defects against bad ones, deserves a good reputation.


Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." Then sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. (Gen. 32:24–31, NRSV)


RJ 2.2.5 is an immunoselected mutant of the Burkitt lymphoma line Raji. It fails to display MHC class II antigens at the cell surface due to a transcriptional defect. We have identified the function of a regulatory factor that is defective in RJ 2.2.5 cells; this factor is absolutely required for the activity of an MHC class II gene enhancer.


Several studies in macrophage cell lines, rodent macrophages, and animal models of atherosclerosis suggest that vitamin E may prevent the formation of foam cells. We tested this hypothesis in a recently developed, fully autologous in vitro model of human foam cell formation. During maturation, macrophages continuously increased their a-tocopherol/total cholesterol ratio, demonstrating that these cells accumulate a-tocopherol at an even higher rate than cholesterol. In the presence of unsupplemented serum, we observed no correlation between serum vitamin E levels and the increase in the cellular a-tocopherol/total cholesterol ratio. In contrast, under supplemented conditions, a 3.1-fold increase in the mean serum a-tocopherol/total cholesterol ratio resulted in a corresponding mean 3.5-fold increase in the cellular a-tocopherol/total cholesterol ratio. Vitamin E loading had no effect on the lipid composition of macrophages and did not affect their growth. Foam cell formation was stimulated in mature unsupplemented and vitamin E–loaded macrophages for 1 week with 50 mg autologous aggregated low density lipoprotein (LDL) in the presence of unsupplemented and vitamin E–loaded serum, respectively. We observed no effect of vitamin E supplementation on the formation of foam cells. However, foam cell formation resulted in a 36% and 44% reduction in the cellular a-tocopherol/total cholesterol ratio in unsupplemented and vitamin E–supplemented foam cells, respectively. The loss of vitamin E was accelerated with increasing concentrations of aggregated LDL and was accompanied by an increase in the susceptibility of these foam cells to succumb to the cell lytic effects of oxidized LDL (OxLDL). However, vitamin E supplementation did not protect macrophages or foam cells from OxLDL-mediated cell lysis, suggesting that vitamin E loss in foam cells is not the cause of their increased susceptibility to cell lysis. Our results suggest that the beneficial effects of vitamin E on cardiovascular disease observed in humans are due neither to a reduction in the propensity of macrophages to form foam cells nor to an increased resistance of these cells to cytolytic OxLDL. (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2000;20:2078-2086.)


161 Background: Veliparib is a potent inhibitor of the protein Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Although effective, in the first clinical trials some TNBC patients fail to respond. We hypothesize that heterogeneous or insufficient drug concentrations in the solid tumor lead to inadequate response to PARPi in some TNBC patients. First we performed a mouse xenograft study to determine the penetration and distribution of veliparib in TNBC tumors in mice.

METHODS
MDA.MB.231 cells were injected bilaterally into mamamary fat pad of 10 Beige SCID mice. Veliparib (20mg/kg or 60mg/kg) or placebo was orally administered 3 times daily for 3 days. These doses and dosing schedules were estimated to result in equivalent plasma and tumor concentrations in mice compared to the doses currently used in clinical trials. Mice were euthanized 3 hours after the last dose of veliparib and tumors, liver and muscle tissues were obtained. In addition, control tissues were spiked with a broad range of concentrations of veliparib. The spatial distribution of the drugs in the tumor tissue was measured using Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric imaging (MALDI). The protonated molecular ion at m/z245.1 was used to construct 2D ion maps of the tissue showing relative quantitation of drug levels. HE staining was performed to characterize the tumors.

RESULTS
Veliparib in control tissues was detected at very low concentrations with a range of detection between 100 fmol-1nmol. After dosing, veliparib penetrates into the tumors and was detectable at both dose levels. However, drug distribution within the tumors was observed to be inhomogeneous. In spots where the drug accumulated, necrosis was observed.

CONCLUSIONS
Veliparib can be measured using MALDI with good specificity and sensitivity and using concentrations equivalent to patients. TNBC tumors show largely heterogeneous distribution of PARPi. Future analyses will determine whether this heterogeneity in drug distribution explains variability in response to PARPi therapies.


The Blissell Library condemns racism in all forms and encourages the use of the following resources for education and discussion.


Of the many physiological processes that abscisic acid affects in plants, movement of guard cells is a particularly important one. By opening and closing stomata, the guard cells regulate water loss or retention through transpiration. Li et al. have now identified a component of the abscisic acid signaling cascade that is specific to guard cell action. The protein AAPK (abscisic acid-activated serine-threonine protein kinase), the gene for which has now been cloned from Vicia faba, responds through auto- and transphosphorylation to abscisic acid and is required for guard cell response to abscisic acid signals. Li, J., Wang, X.Q., Watson, M.B., and Assmann, S.M. (2000) Regulation of abscisic acid-induced stomatal closure and anion channels by guard cell AAPK kinase. Science 287: 300-303. [Abstract] [Full Text]


Knowledge of thyroid hormone and iodide metabolism is derived from a combination of in vivo and in vitro studies in a variety of mammalian species including cats, dogs, and humans. Each species provides a unique opportunity to investigate various aspects of normal or altered thyroid hormone physiology. Availability of sensitive and specific human TSH assays has allowed detailed studies of the human hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis which have not been possible in cats and dogs to date. Similarities and differences of thyroid hormone metabolism in dogs, cats, and humans provide the basis for a better understanding of normal physiology as well as shedding light on the significance of changes induced by spontaneous or induced thyroidal and nonthyroidal disorders.


Voltage dips/sags are one of the major concerns for electricity consumers as well as utility service providers. Therefore, the characterisation of voltage dips/sags is required. This study presents a set of mathematical expressions for characterising different types of voltage dips/sags and their associated phase-angle jumps, which are typically found due to faults and/or disturbances in electricity networks. The expressions are derived analytically from the model of the power network containing generators, transmission and/or distribution lines, transformers etc. Four types of voltage dips, namely, A, B, E, and G, which are associated with four major types of faults including balanced three-phase faults, single line-to-ground, double line-to-ground, and line-to-line faults, are considered to derive the analytical expressions. Dynamic simulation results, using a test distribution system, approve the validity as well as the accuracy of the developed expressions. The influence of fault-types and fault-locations is investigated from the mathematical expressions; further, validation is conducted through a simulation study. The analytical expressions, presented in this study, are a valuable tool in the planning stage since the expressions can be employed to characterise during-fault voltage dips at different buses in electricity network without conducting a large number of repeated dynamic simulations.


INTRODUCTION The very small genus Stemonyphantes up to our present knowledge is restricted to the temperate regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It was created by Menge (1866) for the European species Aranea trilineata Linnaeus, 1767, which, among others, appeared to be a junior synonym of Aranea lineata Linnaeus, 1758. The species was recorded also from North America (Emerton, 1876, 1882; Keyserling, 1886; and others). For nearly seventy years the nearctic population was thought to be conspecific with the palaearctic population. Keyserling (1886) even supposed the species to have been imported by ship from Europe and to have spread from there. A detailed description of S. lineatus, furnished with excellent figures of the genitalia of the species, was given by Blauvelt (1936) still without any indication of differences between European and North American specimens, although she states to have seen them from both regions. Gertsch (1951) was first in drawing attention to differences between the two populations; he created the new name Stemonyphantes blauveltae for the nearctic population. In Europe a new variety S. bucculentus [ = lineatus] pictus was described by Schenkel (1930) from the Riesengebirge on the Polish-Czechoslovakian frontier. Schenkel only possessed a female specimen, which differed from the nominate form mainly in the colour of the cephalothorax and abdomen. More specimens, including a male, were recorded by Buchar (1967) from the Bohmerwald in Czechoslovakia near the German frontier. Buchar examined the genitalia of these specimens and decided to raise Schenkel's variety to specific rank. He redescribed the species and listed the main differences with S. lineatus.


Caching, symmetries, and search with decomposition are powerful techniques for pruning the search space of constraint problems. In this paper we present an innovative way of efficiently combining these techniques with branch and bound for solving certain types of constraint optimization problems (COPs). Our new method significantly reduces the overhead of performing decomposition during search when dynamic variable orderings are employed. In addition, it supports the exploitation of dynamic symmetries that appear only during search. Symmetries have not previously been combined with decomposition. Finally, we achieve a superior integration of decomposition and caching with branch and bound than previous approaches. We test our methods on the Maximum Density Still Life problem and show that each of our ideas yields a significant gain in search performance.


This thesis proceeds via a critique of the labour process debate and its central conception of "control" to the attempt to develop an alternative theory of the labour process based on an analysis of exploitation. This involves the use of a classical Marxist model of capitalist economics in which the primary objective of valorisation is emphasised as structuring the organisation of the contemporary labour process. Two aspects of this objective are invoked; that relating to the extraction of surplus value, in which both the intensification and abstraction of labour are noted as continuing tendencies in the development of the labour process, and that relating to the relationship between paid and unpaid labour time, in which the commodity status of labour is seen as central in integrating the issue of subsistence into the heart of the labour process itself.

In locating these interlinked strands in the structuring of the labour process the thesis takes on two further tasks: firstly to demonstrate the centrality of contradictions within the capitalist labour process; and secondly to unite objective and subjective in the consideration of that labour process. This latter task shapes the third theme within the thesis , the analysis of worker response or "class consciousness".

Our argument in this respect has focussed on the need to recognise worker response and resistance as centrally "economistic", but at the same time has indicated the political implications of such response. Empirical material from the two case studies undertaken within the thesis is presented in order to sustain this argument, along with a briefer survey of some published studies. Overall, the analysis holds that while worker response must be recognised as economistic rather than "control"-oriented, such response is rooted in the contradictions of the capitalist labour process,and can thus be understood as endemically undermining its structures


Aims. The Rosetta-OSIRIS images acquired at small phase angles in three wavelengths during the fly-by of the spacecraft on 9–10 April 2016 provided a unique opportunity to study the opposition effect on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P). Our goal is to study phase curves of the nucleus at small phase angles for a variety of surface structures to show the differences in their opposition effect and to determine which surface properties cause the differences.
Methods. We used OSIRIS NAC images that cover the Ash-Khepry-Imhotep region to extract the phase curve, that is, the reflectance of the surface as a function of phase angle. We selected six regions of interest (ROIs) and derived the phase curves for each ROI. We fit a linear-exponential function to the phase curves. The resulting model parameters were then interpreted by spectrophotometric, geomorphological, and phase-ratio analyses, and by investigating the influence of structural and textural properties of the surface.
Results. We find evidence for the opposition effect (deviation of the phase curve from linear behavior) in phase curves for all areas. We found an anticorrelation between the phase ratio and reflectance in a small phase angle range. This provides evidence for the shadow-hiding effect. We conclude that the decrease in the slope of the phase ratio versus reflectance indicates a decrease in the proportion of shadowed regions and reduces the contribution of the shadow-hiding effect. Large uncertainties in the determination of the opposition effect parameters with respect to wavelength do not allow us to conclusively claim coherent backscattering in the opposition effect phenomenon. Based on the two analyses, we conclude that the opposition effect of comet 67P in the Ash-Khepry-Imhotep region is mainly affected by shadow-hiding.


Cellular impedance sensors have attracted great attention as a powerful characterization tool for real-time, label-free detection of cytotoxic agents. However, impedance measurements with conventional cell-based sensors that host multiple cells on a single electrode neither provide optimal cell signal sensitivity nor are capable of recording individual cell responses. Here we use a single-cell based platform to monitor cellular impedance on planar microelectrodes to characterize cellular death. In this study, individual cells were selectively patterned on microelectrodes with each hosting one live cell through ligand-mediated natural cell adhesion. Changes in cellular morphology and cell-electrode adherence were monitored after the patterned cells were treated with varying concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, sodium arsenite, and disodium hydrogen arsenate, three potent toxicants related to neurotoxicity and oxidative stress. At low toxicant concentrations, impedance waveforms acquired from individual cells showed variable responses. A time- and concentration-dependent response was seen in the averaged single-cell impedance waveform for all three toxicants. The apoptosis and necrosis characterizations were performed to validate cell impedance results. Furthermore, time constants of apoptosis and necrosis in response to toxicant exposure were analytically established using an equivalent circuit model that characterized the mechanisms of cell death.


This paper reviews Shaw's book, INTERMETROPOLITAN MIGRATION IN CANADA, which provides new evidence concerning the link between fiscal structure and internal migration. Shaw bases his work on a valuable new migration series he has put together from census data: intermetropolitan flows from 1956-1981. The existence of censua data at 5-year intervals permits Shaw enough data to estimate migration equations separately for the periods before and after 1971. A comparison of the role of fiscal variables before and after 1971 is interesting because unemployment insurance, equalization payments, and provincial natural resource revenues probably became more important in determining regional differences in incomes after 1971 than in the 20 years prior to that. Shaw suspects that migration behavior has become less sensitive to traditional market variables such as wage differentials and more sensitive to other factors, including quality of life indicators since 1950. The author thinks that Shaw's conclusion cannot rest comfortably on estimating equations that omit fiscal variables. The overall role of wage differentials in determining observed migration patterns is the product of the coefficient on wage variables and the actual evolution of wages over the estimation period. Another problem with the methodology used to contrast pre- and post-1971 migration equations is the apparent neglect of statistical testing for shifts in coefficients on the traditional economic variables and for shifts in the coefficients on the fiscal variables. The strongest of the useful results from the study concern the role of unemployment insurance. The evidence that these have an influence on internal migration is now compelling. Shaw's book adds substantial weight to the view that variation in fiscal structure plays a significant role in determining internal migration patterns.


OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN
The prevalence of low back pain was assessed in relation to physical activity, for both work and leisure activities, in a randomly selected population in the northern part of Sweden. Additionally, the associations between age, sex, level of education, lifestyle factors, demographic characteristics, and low back pain were evaluated.

SUBJECTS
A total of 5798 subjects aged 25-79 years were selected randomly from a geographically well-defined area in northern Sweden.

METHODS
Additional questions concerning people's experience of low back pain were added to the questionnaire of the World Health Organization MONICA (MONItoring of trends and determinants in CArdiovascular disease) health survey with the aim of investigating prevalence rates and factors associated with low back pain.

RESULTS
Forty-one percent of the participants reported having low back pain (of these 55% were women and 45% men). The prevalence rate was highest in the age group 55-64 years. Chronic low back pain was the most frequent occurring problem. Of those with low back pain, 43% of the women and 37% of the men reported having continuous low back pain for more than 6 months. Individuals with low back pain often experienced a more physically heavy workload at work and lower physical activity during leisure time, and they were also more likely to have been smokers, have had higher body mass index, lived in smaller communities, and were less educated than people without low back pain.

CONCLUSION
Low back pain seems to be associated with physical activity at work and in leisure time, certain lifestyle factors and demographic characteristics.


Peripheral populations are often of increased conservation value; however, knowledge of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of a peripheral location is poor. Spatial dynamics are often interpreted as strategies to maximize access to fitness-limiting resources. Red squirrels Tamias- ciurus hudsonicus are territorial in western portions of their range and exhibit overlapping home ranges in eastern forests. Endangered Mt. Graham red squirrels T. hudsonicus grahamensis repre- sent the southernmost extension of the species. We used radiotelemetry to assess space use and interindividual overlap of endangered Mt. Graham red squirrels. Squirrels maintained nearly exclu- sive 50% core areas; however, 95% ranges overlapped considerably, especially between males and females. Home ranges increased in summer for both males and females and may be related to sex- specific reproductive strategies. Ranges of Mt. Graham red squirrels in this peripheral population were nearly 10 times the size of red squirrels from other locations. The space use of this limital pop- ulation suggests that resource availability may be substantially different than in other portions of the range.


The Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 21 May 1997 (UN 1997a). It was drafted to articulate and codify the prevailing state practice and opinio juris – an action taken out of a sense of legal rather than moral obligation – in the area of international water law. It was designed to serve as a framework for more specific bilateral and regional agreements relating to the use, management and preservation of transboundary water resources. It was also designed to help prevent and resolve conflicts over international water resources, and to promote sustainable development and the protection of global water supplies. The Convention was adopted by a vote of 103 for and three against, with 27 abstentions and 33 members absent (UN 1997b; see figure 1 for a more complete breakdown of the vote). Although the actual number of votes against the Convention was small, the numbers belie a voting pattern that manifests the complexity of the subject matter, as well as the fragility of the coalition favouring the Convention. Many upper riparian states, for example, voted against passage of the Convention or abstained from the vote, while lower riparian states typically supported its adoption. Many states that abstained or voted against the text contended that the document was not ready for a vote, and noted the lack of consensus on several key provisions, including those governing dispute settlement. Others, both upper and lower riparian states, argued that there was a lack of balance in the Convention's provisions between the rights and obligations of upstream and downstream riparian states (UN 1997b). By 20 May 2000, the end of the signature period, only eight countries had ratified and another ten had signed the document1 (see figure 2). Clearly, the debate surrounding the UN Convention is a function of the competing interests of states and is political in nature. Especially telling is the fact that it took more than 25 years of continuous work, 13 reports and five special rapporteurs to finalise the text. This chapter examines the evolution of the UN Convention and analyses the vote on the text of the document in the UN General A s s e m b l y. It begins with a brief review of the development of international water law leading up to the creation of the Convention, and follows with an analysis of the diverging interests that, nevertheless, resulted in the adoption of the Convention. Finally, an assessment is presented of the voting and ratification patterns of the Convention, as well as a review of the document's present status.


Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lipid that is formed by the phosphorylation of sphingosine and catalysed by sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1) or sphingosine kinase 2 (SK2). Sphingosine kinases play a fundamental role in many signaling pathways associated with cancer, suggesting that proteins belonging to this signaling network represent potential therapeutic targets. Over the last years, many improvements have been made in the treatment of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL); however, novel and less toxic therapies are still needed, especially for relapsing and chemo-resistant patients. Here, we analyzed the therapeutic potential of SKi and ROMe, a sphingosine kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor and SK2-selective inhibitor, respectively. While SKi induced apoptosis, ROMe initiated an autophagic cell death in our in vitro cell models. SKi treatment induced an increase in SK1 protein levels in Molt-4 cells, whereas it activated the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway in Jurkat and CEM-R cells as protective mechanisms in a sub-population of T-ALL cells. Interestingly, we observed a synergistic effect of SKi with the classical chemotherapeutic drug vincristine. In addition, we reported that SKi affected signaling cascades implicated in survival, proliferation and stress response of cells. These findings indicate that SK1 or SK2 represent potential targets for treating T-ALL.


Elderly LTCF residents pose a challenging problem in terms of nutrition assessment at all three levels: intake, macronutrient, and micronutrient. In terms of macronutrient status, the focus of this work, newer techniques such as BIA and indirect calorimetry offer the promise of more accurate and widespread assessment in LTCFs. Future work will need to focus on the cost-effectiveness of this approach and on demonstrating that improved nutrition assessment can lead to better nutrition therapy and improved outcome.


Abstract There has been much discussion about what, if any, legal and moral duties professionals have to disclose relevant genetic information to the family members of someone with an identified disease predisposing mutation. Here, we present a case report where dissemination of such a genetic test result did not take place within a family. In contrast to previous literature, there appeared to be no deliberate withholding of information, instead distant relatives were unable to communicate relevant information appropriately. When communication was facilitated through the follow-up of a chance remark, the patient was able to avoid planned major surgery, with its attendant morbidity, and her high anxiety levels were much reduced. We believe this case highlights the need for an ongoing debate on how genetic services can best support patients and their families with disclosing relevant genetic information to other family members.


Great progress has been made over the last years on the synthesis of biodegradable and biocompatible polymers. Specifically synthetic polypeptides posses these characteristics and have been highlighted as potential candidates for a variety of applications such as drug and gene delivery or tissue engineering. Inspired by this, the aim of this PhD project was to synthesize a library of various polypeptides of linear and star-shaped architecture with combined selective binding and stimuli responsive properties. The synthesis of the polypeptides was achieved by N-carboxyanhydride ring opening polymerization (NCA-ROP) of the corresponding amino-acids.
Selective binding properties were introduced to the polypeptides by conjugation with sugar molecules, i.e. galactose. Copper catalyzed [3+2] Huisgen cycloaddition reaction was the technique applied in order to obtain glycosylated polypeptides. Their binding to biological
model systems was investigated and confirmed by highly specific lectin-binding experiments. This synthetic strategy was applied to all the synthesized polypeptides that are described in chapters 2 to 5.
More specifically, in chapter 2 and 3 the synthesis of homo and block star glycopolypeptides was attempted. In chapter 2, -propargyl L-glutamate NCA was polymerized using a second generation poly(propyleneimine) (PPI) dendrimer as initiator and conjugated with azidogalactose through Cu catalyzed ''click'' chemistry. To increase the functionality of the system a second block was added to the polymeric chain. Moreover, a simple loading experiment was conducted to study the ability of the star-glycopeptides to host guest molecules. Solubility problems and the inability to selectively deprotect each polypeptide block separately led to the synthesis of a different type of star glycopolypeptides, which is
described in chapter 3. In this case, DL-propargylglycine NCA and e-carbobenzyloxy-Llysine NCA were polymerized using PPI dendrimer as initiator to obtain random and block star copolymers. After conjugation with galactose, enzyme linked lectin assays (ELLA) were performed to prove their bio-recognition. Moreover, the successful complexation with plasmid DNA was demonstrated for one of the glycopolypeptides due to the interaction of ngatively charged DNA molecule and the positively charged poly(lysine) on the polypeptide chain.
In chapters 4 and 5 the addition of temperature as a stimulus was attempted and its effect on the lectin binding was investigated. For that purpose, in Chapter 4, linear polypeptides were synthesized by the polymerization of -propargyl L-glutamate NCA, followed by the xi subsequent co-click of 1-azido-2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethane (mEO2) and azido-galactose.
Varying the ratios of the two units on the polymer backbone, the hydrophilicity as well as the Cloud Point temperature (Tcp) could be modified. Moreover, it was demonstrated that lectin binding can be thermally controlled. In chapter 5, a similar study was performed for star polypeptides using again -propargyl L-glutamate NCA, which was polymerized by PPI dendritic initiator. After the co-click of (mEO2) and azido-galactose the same effect of temperature on the lectin-binding was observed. Moreover, a comparison between linear and star glycopolypeptides revealed the effect of the structure and molecular weight on cloud point and helicity.


Parallel Alternating Criteria Search (PACS) relies on the combination of computer parallelism and Large Neighborhood Searches to attempt to deliver high quality solutions to any generic MixedInteger Program (MIP) quickly. While general-purpose primal heuristics are widely used due to their universal application, they are usually outperformed by domain-specific heuristics when optimizing a particular problem class. In this paper, we focus on the fast development of domain-specific parallel primal heuristics. Our approach entails specializing PACS to better adapt to the target problem structure. We showcase its application to two classes of the Maritime Inventory Routing Problem, an important application of MIPs to real world problems. We computationally compare the proposed modified framework with state-of-the art specialized algorithms and MIP solvers. Results show the effectiveness of our approach, and how the modular nature of PACS can provide an excellent platform for the rapid prototyping of parallel domain-specific heuristics.


According to many accounts, a key paradigm for understanding art in Post WWII Britain is one of Englishness versus internationalism or abstraction versus realism . These terms have a rich inflection of meanings that have been subject to interrogation over the last few decades. Anwar Shemza came to Britain and practiced his art at a time when these competing claims were at their height. In a postcolonial reading entitled "Black Diaspora Artists in Britain: Three 'Moments' in Post-War Britain" Stuart Hall recently used David Scott's framework of a 'problem space', that is discursively defined through questions, tensions and conjunctures, that couched the entry of what he describes as first waive British commonwealth artists into critical visibility in Britain. This can be characterized in part by the reviews of WG Archer and GM Butcher, both supporters of Shemza and prominent critics of the period. Hall includes Shemza in this framework that defines the work and his aspirations as constituted through the tensions of what was perceived to be anti-colonialist aims of modernism through universalism and the 'nativist' current in anti-colonial nationalism .
This text will focus particularly on the problematic of Landscape as a 'problem space' of vernacular and modernism, over here and over there. The aim is not to define Shemza within the tradition of English landscape nor to exclude him but to position him within a discursive field of landscape and modernism in mid twentieth Century art.


Recent studies suggest that the gene encoding aldose reductase (ALR2), the enzyme that converts glucose to sorbitol, may confer susceptibility to microvascular disease. DNA from 275 British Caucasian patients with type I diabetes and 102 normal healthy control patients were typed for a (CA)n dinucleotide repeat polymorphic marker in the 5′-region of the ALR2 gene using polymorase chain reaction (PGR). A highly significant decrease in the frequency of the Z+2 allele was found in patients with nephropathy (nephropathy group) compared with those with no complications after a 20-year duration of diabetes (uncomplicated group) (12.7 vs. 38.2%, respectively, Χ2 = 18.6, P < 0.00001); this was accompanied by an increase in the Z–2 allele in the nephropathy group (32.0 vs. 12.7% in the uncomplicated group). The nephropathy group also had a significant decrease in the Z/Z+2 genotype compared with the uncomplicated patients (10.7 vs. 44.7%, Χ2 = 16.0, P < 0.0001) and an increased frequency of the Z/Z-2 genotype. There was no significant association with diabetic retinopathy. These results demonstrate that the ALR2 gene may play a role in susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy; individuals with the Z+2 allele are more than seven times less likely to develop diabetic renal disease than those without this marker. This marker may prove valuable in screening for patients with diabetic nephropathy at diagnosis of diabetes.


For the organic farmers there is important question which varieties of wheat are right for organic farming in Less Favoured Areas. Modern varieties of wheat are bred in the conditions of conventional (high imput) farming. That is why the organic farmers asked about the suitability of land
races of soft wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) or different species like emmer wheat grown in the past (Triticum dicoccum SCHUEBL). The paper results from the study of fourty land races, two intermediate and ten modern varieties of soft wheat in comparison to ten land races of emmer wheat at two locations in the Czech Republic. We evaluated tuft shape, length of plant, length and width of flag leaf, length and density of spike and awnedness. The
modern varieties of soft wheat are characterised by a high level of uniformity. Their tuft shape is erect or semi-erect and length of plant is 60-70 cm, it does not rise the weed competitiveness. On the other hand, they have a medium or long flag leaf whose width is narrow or medium. Length of spike is medium or long. On the other hand, emmer wheat land races have the same tuft shape as forgoing modern varieties. Length of plant (89-119 cm) is the positive aspect of the weed competitiveness. Their flag leaf is narrow, but it is compesated by its length. The spike is shorter than the spike of modern varieties of soft wheat, but it is effectivelly compensated by an increased
density. Intermediate wheat land races are characterised by looselly spreading tuft shape which puts the weeds down, but on the other hand, it favours the mildew because of the microclimate of soil. Its flag leaf is very short and narrow. Length of spike is medium and it is lax dense. The group of land races of soft wheat is characterised by a high diversity. The tuft shape is most frequently semi-erect. The length of plant varies from 60 to 120 cm, it
usually ranges from 90 to 110 cm. Flag leaf is usually long or very long, but its width is very narrow or narrow. The spike is often long, but lax dense. Some of the evaluated varieties of landraces are proved to be suitable for organic farming from the point of view of the morphological characteristics.


Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor characterized with poor prognosis and short survival. In addition to the standard treatment protocols, targeted molecular treatment options are under trial. In the recent trials, erythropoietin and erythropoietin receptor were found to be linked with the progression of GBM cells. Aim: In this study, we compared the expression of EPOR with survival in GBM patients with mortality. Materials and Methods: Twenty-six patients operated for GBM in 2012–2014 were enrolled in this study. Tumor tissues were stained with EPOR, epidermal growth factor receptor, vascular endothelial growth factor, and assigned as (1+), (2+), and (3+) according to their immunohistochemical staining levels. The average postoperative follow-up time was 9.3 months. Kaplan–Meier's survival test and Spearman's correlation test were used in statistical analysis. Results: EPOR 1(+) stained group showed a median survival of 8 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.954–15.046). EPOR 2(+) stained group showed a median survival of 6 months (95% CI: 2.901–9.090) EPOR 3(+) stained group showed a median survival of 2 months (95% CI: 0.400–3.600). (Kaplan–Meier P = 0.002). Conclusion: These results portrayed that EPOR staining levels were inversely proportional with average survival time. In the future, specific inhibitors of this molecule could be used to form a novel treatment option for GBM.


Abstract More than 50% of proven hydrocarbon reserves are in naturally fractured reservoirs (NFR) and fractures are present in most carbonate reservoirs. The heterogeneity of NFR material properties; permeability and porosity, is of large scale thus presenting a challenge in modeling fluid flow and recovery mechanisms numerically. For a large class of fractured reservoirs, especially for multiphase production mechanisms, the dual-medium approach, using a transfer function (TF) to represent the exchange term between fracture (flowing domain) and matrix (stagnant domain) is a good tool. However, the complexity of modeling the geometry of natural fractures and the advances in finite element method and computing power are calling for newer developments and tools to better model and simulate the unique two-timescale flow-system of these reservoirs. The evaluation of various numerical methods in modeling fluid flow in highly heterogeneous NFR, such as finite element, finite volume, and finite difference, is the main goal of this research. This will be done through writing and benchmarking a simulator for each method and testing its capabilities in capturing the correct recovery mechanisms of NFR while maintaining accuracy in the numerical calculations. In this poster, we first present a literature review followed by an overview of the main equations used in fluid flow in reservoir engineering and their derivation and algebraic approximations in finite difference and finite element methods. After that, we present the results of the first 2D simulator written, using finite element finite volume (FEFV) and our preliminarily results in one and two phase (water-oil incompressible fluid) simple and heterogeneous models. Finally, a future plan of this research is discussed.


The participation of children, young people and their families is an important component of the child health research process. Children and young people's right to participate in and benefit from research is laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).1 Researchers and healthcare professionals have a duty to respect, protect and help fulfil those rights. The Ethical Research Involving Children Partnership2 built on the work of the UNCRC and produced the International Charter for Ethical Research Involving Children. It called on researchers to be open, reflective and collaborative in their ethical decision making. In recent years, there has been considerable activity in the UK advancing this agenda. INVOLVE3 was established in 1996 to support active public involvement in the National Health Service, public health and social care research. This is now funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), as is the Generation R network, a national young people's advisory group with local groups across the UK to support the design and delivery of paediatric research. Organisations, such as the Nuffield Council,4 have determined how healthcare professionals can ethically involve children and young people in research to ensure that healthcare services are safe and effective. This has begun a cultural shift in perceptions about involving children and young people in research design and delivery. It, however, continues to be important that all the perceived barriers to involvement of infants, children and young people in research are removed.2–5

In 2012, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child health (RCPCH) 'Turning the Tide' report5 highlighted the importance of child health research. It emphasised the need for …


The Spanish-American War deeply divided the American people. Although its resounding success from a military standpoint and the astonishingly high ratio of heroes produced to casualties suffered led John Hay to deem it "a splendid little war," many Americans at the time and in the years since considered it an unnecessary, unwanted, and unwarranted conflict. In combination with the messy entanglements in the Philippines that directly followed, the Spanish-American War called cherished American ideals into question, spawned leagues of anti-imperialists, and fostered resilient strains of pacifism that would endure in American cultural and political life at least until World War II. Even though the heated contests surrounding the Spanish and Philippine conflicts gradually ebbed out of American politics as most Americans came to accept them as part of the past, these debates have remained alive to historians, who, after all, are in the business of keeping the past in mind. In what was a short and otherwise well- documented conflict, no aspect of the Spanish-American War has produced more debate among historians than the question of why it started in the first place. At the center of these debates stands President William McKinley. That a president who, in his own words and by all accounts, was profoundly in favor of a peaceful resolution to the Cuban crisis took the final steps that made war unavoidable presents a basic problem of interpretation to any historian writing on the war or the origins of American imperialism. The historical interpretations of McKinley's decision to make war on Spain in the spring of 1898 are exceedingly numerous. While the vast array of accounts vary greatly in nuance and subtle assessment of precise causes, certain trends and continuities can be observed. Early accounts of the war's origins reflected the ebullient mood of the nation in the wake of America's triumphant victory by praising McKinley as a strong figure who, in a wise and measured course, exhausted every avenue to peace before deciding decisively in favor of war. This glowing appraisal was taken to even further extremes in the hagiographical "Memorial Lives" of "our third martyred president" that appeared following McKinley's assassination in the fall of 1901. This interpretation of McKinley's decision making as virtually beyond reproach culminated in Charles S. Olcott's two-volume 1916 account, The Life of William McKinley (which remains to this day the fullest biography of the twenty-fifth president). Olcott writes that, despite the threats to his political career and the temptations of wartime popularity, McKinley was ... heedless of personal considerations .... No thought of self ever marred his devotion to duty. While congressmen stormed and threatened without knowing the real progress of affairs, McKinley quietly but aggressively pushed his preparations for war and at the same time held back the ever-increasing pressure while he exhausted the last chance to obtain a peaceful solution. (1916, 2:27) Among McKinley's political enemies, meanwhile, the prowar Democrats harshly criticized McKinley for unnecessarily delaying an unavoidable conflict while the anti-imperialists argued that McKinley did not wait long enough, excoriating him as a devious expansionist who deliberately and willfully precipitated an unnecessary war following only cursory and halfhearted attempts at peace. In the final analyses, none of these early interpretations proves particularly reliable, as the authors were writing so soon after the events, and in the highly politically charged atmosphere of McKinley's recent assassination and the ongoing acrimony over the Philippines. Even Olcott, who had some perspective after the passage of 15 years and whose work was the most scholarly in composition, was impaired in his objectivity because of his status as the virtual official biographer who had the approval of McKinley's personal secretary and close friend George B. …


Ultra-high salt concentration has recently been reported to extend the kinetic stability of aqueous electrolytes up to 3 V. However, the low ionic conductivity of these systems makes them unsuitable for high power devices such as supercapacitors. In this study, an 8 mol kg−1 NaTFSI aqueous electrolyte is reported that displays a high stability of 1.8 V on activated carbon during a stringent stability test and a conductivity of 48 mS cm−1 at 20 °C, the latter being comparable to the one of state-of-the-art acetonitrile-based non-aqueous electrolytes. A 1.8 V carbon/carbon supercapacitor employing 8 mol kg−1 NaTFSI displays a high maximum energy density of 14.4 W h kg−1 on the activated carbon mass level and stable cycling for 100 000 cycles. By addition of the redox additive potassium iodide to the electrolyte, the maximum specific energy could be increased to an extremely high value of 37.8 W h kg−1, comparable to the performance of the current generation of commercial non-aqueous supercapacitors.


The goal of the study presented in this thesis is to evaluate the advantages and drawbacks of using powder technology in the design of the iron core of small claw-pole electric motors. The use of soft magnetic composites (SMC) and compaction technology allows the creation of complex 3D iron cores. The additional dimension opens for new solutions of the electromechanical energy conversion. A claw-pole motor among the transversal flux machines that has particularly high specific torque is in the focus of research interest. Generally, as the iron core can be more complicated, the winding is chosen to be simpler in the powder core motors. The thesis focuses on the machine design of a single-phase and a two-phase low-power claw-pole motor. The predicted results compare well with measurements of the prototype motors. The motor design process in this thesis uses a magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) model of the outer-rotor claw-pole motors that is accurate enough to describe the physics of the electromagnetic conversion. Additional equivalent circuits are made to evaluate the mechanic and thermal loading of the machines. The outcome of the equivalent circuit models is enough to estimate roughly the optimal size of the motor and the motor output according to the materials selected. After the rough design process, which is based on equivalent circuits, is finished, a series of FE magnetostatic analyses are made in order to evaluate the static characteristics of the motors, to specify the magnetization losses and to carry out a sensitivity study for the proposed size of the motors. Finally, the magnetic, mechanic and thermal design is analyzed dynamically and statically by the use of coupled multiphysics. The task of the coupled multiphysics is to find out the cooling capability and the thermal limit of the motor as well as the mechanic stress in the motor parts due to magneto-mechanic loading. It is discussed how the discrepancy between the calculated and measured cogging torque depends on the fineness of the 3D FE air gap mesh. Iron loss estimation based on the results of the FE-analysis is made taking the local rotation, and not only pulsation, of the magnetic flux into consideration. It is shown that the loss coefficients in the material model must be adapted to account for flux rotation. A part from the output of the machine as an electromechanical energy converter is their controllability in the electric drive system. Based on the static characteristics, which are calculated in the FE-analysis and verified in prototype measurements, a tailor made control method is developed for the machines designed. Results are presented of extensive simulations and experimental verifications of the proposed control strategy and power electronic circuitry. The high-speed four-pole single-phase motor shows satisfactory results. The other motor, which has 20 poles and two phases, has a main weakness in its complex assembling and a large cogging torque. (Less)


The demand for energy continued to outstrip supply and necessitated the development of biomass option. Residues were the most popular forms of renewable energy and currently biofuel production became much promising. Agricultural wastes contained high moisture content and could be decomposed easily by microbes. Agricultural wastes were abundantly available globally and could be converted to energy and useful chemicals by a number of microorganisms. Compost or bio-fertiliser could be produced with the inoculation of appropriated thermophilic microbes which increased the decomposition rate, shortened the maturity period and improved the compost (or bio-fertiliser) quality. The objective of the present research was to promote the biomass technology and involved adaptive research, demonstration and dissemination of results. With a view to fulfill the objective, a massive field survey was conducted to assess the availability of raw materials as well as the present situation of biomass technologies. In the present article, an attempt had also been made to present an overview of present and future use of biomass as an industrial feedstock for production of fuels, chemicals and other materials. We may conclude from the review paper that biomass technology must be encouraged, promoted, invested, implemented, and demonstrated, not only in urban areas but also in remote rural areas.


Triphalangeal thumb (TPT) is a relatively rare congenital anomaly of the hand with evidence for autosomal dominant transmission. Surgical treatment is not always required, but according to Wood's classification it is related to the shape of the extra phalange. In this article, we present a case of  a 32 year old woman with isolated bilateral TPT.


The Data Asset Framework methodology has evolved to provide a model for institutional surveys of researchers' data practices and attitudes. At least 13 such studies have been published in the UK and internationally. The aim of this paper is to analyse the results from the 2014 DAF survey at the University of Sheffield and to reflect on the comparability of this with previous published studies. Comparison of the Sheffield results with those of other institutions is difficult particularly because of the divergence of questions asked in the different studies. Nevertheless, in terms of data practices and identifying training priorities there are common patterns.


'Emerging Capital Markets and Globalization' analyzes where we stand and where we are heading on capital market development. First, it takes stock of the state and evolution of Latin American capital markets and related reforms over time and relative to other countries. Second, it analyzes the factors related to the development of capital markets, with particular interest on measuring the impact of reforms. And third, in light of this analysis, it discusses the prospects for capital market development in Latin America and emerging economies and the implications for the reform agenda. This publication belongs to the Latin American Development Forum Series (LADF), sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the World Bank.


Many social research projects, such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys, take local place as a given: they choose participants from a particular place, take this place as background for what the participants say, ask them about place-related issues, and correlate responses with different places. But people can identify places in different ways, in geographical or relational terms, and in different levels of scale. This study analyses passages in focus groups in which participants say where they are from, shows that participants generally take the question and answer as routine, and then shows the ways the interaction develops when this routineness is broken, amended, or called into question. When a participant revises their statement of where they are from, they adapt to what they see as the knowledge and stance of their interlocutor, they re-present themselves, and they create possibilities for further talk, defending, telling stories, or showing entitlement to an opinion. I argue that the ways people answer this question, interactively, can tell us about them, and us, as well as about their map of the world.


Private domestic wells are not subject to the testing requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and are susceptible to contamination by natural and anthropogenic contaminants. For public health and planning purposes, the locations of high density of private domestic well (PDW) use need to be determined. A key resource is the 1990 U.S. Census where the source of water was a survey question, which led to a nationwide estimate of PDW usage. In this paper, methods are developed to estimate the areal density of PDW use in later years using readily accessible data including the 1990 census results. Because of abundant data on PDW locations and public water supplies, Oklahoma was used for a pilot project. Well logs reported to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the addition of housing units provide the means to update the 1990 census estimates. Census results and housing unit data are available on the county, census tract, and census block group level. PWD density estimates were consistent among these scales, as were estimates based on wells added and net housing units. The completeness of reported well logs was tested by counts from neighborhoods with known reliance on PDWs. The results showed that a significant undercounting of logs exists, and the small scale of subdivisions relative to even census block groups causes the method estimates to be lower than subdivision PDW densities. The estimates, however, indicate locations where high densities of PDWs are expected.


This paper develops a conceptual framework that can explain why economic development goes along with increases in body weight and obesity rates. We first introduce the concept of novelty consumption, which refers to an increase in food availability due to trade or innovation. Then we study how novel food products alter the optimal consumption bundle and welfare, and possibly lead to changes in body weight. We test our model employing the German reunification as a fast motion natural experiment of economic development. Our data elicit detailed information on East Germans' food consumption, body mass, and diet-related health. After the fall of the Wall, East Germans permanently changed their diet by consuming novel western food products. A significant population share permanently gained weight. This is consistent with our theoretical framework where past affects current consumption, and where novel goods determine consumption changes over time with ambiguous effects on diet-related health.


In "Shopping for Pleasure," Erika Rappaport reconstructs London's Victorian and Edwardian West End as an entertainment and retail center. In this neighborhood of stately homes, royal palaces, and spacious parks and squares, a dramatic transformation unfolded that ultimately changed the meaning of femininity and the lives of women, shaping their experience of modernity. Rappaport illuminates the various forces of the period that encouraged and discouraged women's enjoyment of public life and particularly shows how shopping came to be seen as the quintessential leisure activity for middle- and upper-class women. Through extensive histories of department stores, women's magazines, clubs, teashops, restaurants, and the theater as interwoven sites of consumption, "Shopping for Pleasure" uncovers how a new female urban culture emerged before and after the turn of the twentieth century.Moving beyond the question of whether shopping promoted or limited women's freedom, the author draws on diverse sources to explore how business practices, legal decisions, and cultural changes affected women in the market. In particular, she focuses on how and why stores presented themselves as pleasurable, secure places for the urban woman, in some cases defining themselves as instrumental to civic improvement and women's emancipation. Rappaport also considers such influences as merchandizing strategies, credit policies, changes in public transportation, feminism, and the financial balance of power within the home. "Shopping for Pleasure" is thus both a social and cultural history of the West End, but on a broader scale it reveals the essential interplay between the rise of consumer society, the birth of modern femininity, and the making of contemporary London.