At the outset of the Thatcher/Reagan era, the employment and labor law systems across six Anglo-American countries could be divided into three pairings: the Wagner Act model of the United States and Canada; the Voluntarist system of collective bargaining and strong unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland; and the highly centralized, legalistic Award systems of Australia and New Zealand. The authors argue that there has been growing convergence in two major areas: First, of labor law toward a private ordering of employment relations in which terms and conditions of work and employment are primarily determined at the level of the enterprise; and second, of individual employment rights, toward a basket of minimum standards that can then be improved upon by the parties. The greatest similarity is found in Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. Ireland retains a greater degree of public ordering, while the United States diverges in favoring the interests of employers over those of employees and organized labor. The authors explore reasons for the convergence.


Various studies have shown contradicting results in p27 and cyclin D1 protein expression and the association with brain tumors. This study was thus performed to address new information of both markers' expression in gliomas and meningiomas cases, among Malaysian brain tumors patients. For these purposes, 24 meningiomas and 23 gliomas were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and immunogold electron microscopy analyses to determine both protein expression and localization, respectively. From the results, we observed high expression level of p27 in all types of tumors including low and high grades of gliomas, and meningiomas. Our findings revealed that p27 was overexpressed in all cases including meningiomas (82.6%), low grades gliomas (80%) and high grades gliomas (84.6%). We subsequently found high level of cyclin D1 expression in meningiomas (70.8%), equal expression of cyclin D1 in low grades of gliomas, and the expression showed to decrease in higher malignancy of the cancer (76.9% as low expressors). Immunogold staining showed that p27 and cyclin D1 confined in nuclear and cytoplasm in both cancer types independently of survival of the patients (p27 miclocalization in meningiomas, p=0.6299; gliomas, p=0.2233 and cyclin D1 miclocalization in meningiomas, p=0.5627; gliomas, p=0.8230). Our results showed that elevation of p27 level did not inhibit proliferation of cancer cells. Via immunogold staining using electron microscopy technique, we have detected mislocalization of the p27 protein in cytoplasm of both meningiomas and gliomas cases which might cause the inactivation of the p27 protein.


The present study summarizes the results of investigations of the trace element distribution in soils and their uptake by plants of natural habitats on the ultramafic and acidic rocks of the Polar Urals and Chukotka in the Arctic Russia. Concentrations of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, and Co were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry in 194 plant species of 30 families and 157 soil samples. Two leaches were used for the soil – 1 M ammonium acetate (exchangeable) and 1 M HNO3 (acid soluble); a mixture of 1.5 M HNO3 and 3.7 M HCl was used for the plants. The levels of Fe, Cr and especially Ni in the soils on the ultramafic rocks exceeded those of soils on the acidic rocks. The mineral composition of plant species varies depending on the differences in chemical and mineralogical composition of the two soil-forming rock types. Taxon-specific features in the accumulation of potentially toxic elements in plants of these regions have been revealed for the first time. The data on the metal accumulation ability of plant species show that the species Thlaspi cochleariforme DC. and Alyssum obovatum (C.A. Mey) Turcz. (Brassicaceae) could be considered as Ni hyperaccumulators. These species could therefore have potential for Ni phytoextraction from contaminated soils.


We use the experimental method to study the costs and benefits of allowing joint bidding in simultaneous multi-unit first price sealed bid auctions for bundled goods. The research has immediate applications to the sale of public forest stands that arbor a mixture of species. Joint bidding and communication raise the prospect of higher allocative efficiency, but also of collusive bidding through a reduction in the number of bidders and a greater scope for the formation of bidding rings. However, we find that allowing joint bidding has a significant positive impact on efficiency and reduces collusion significantly. We also explore the robustness of the results to characteristics of the auction environment that are relevant to timber auctions.


Malaysia's production of canned pineapples has been decreasing since 1992. Two important
factors that have been a hindrance to the progress of this industry are competition from other
producers and the increasing demand for fresh pineapples. Current varieties need to undergo
qualitative improvements. Genetic modification, breeding and selection are some crop
improvement techniques that are not successful at the moment in developing varieties that
can replace current world varieties. Somaclonal variation is another technique for obtaining
desirable variants, which have been achieved in crops such as sugarcane, wheat and sorghum.
Highly stable variants that can be transmitted to progenies, and a more controlled change of
their characteristics than those of induced mutations were achieved. However, this technique
requires a plant regeneration system from callus cells. These cells have a tendency to mutate,
and more cells are mutated under prolonged culture and rapid proliferation, and so generate
more variants for selection. Therefore, the objectives of this project are to induce calli,
proliferate old calli and regenerate shoot from calli.
For calli induction, meristemic globular bodies (MGB) of Moris and Josapine, were cultured
in various levels of auxin naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic (2,4-
D). The highest percentage of MGB forming calli was observed in treatment NAA 14 and 10
mg/L for Moris and Josapine respectively, at the end of 16 weeks.
For calli proliferation, 18 month-old calli were cultured in various levels of NAA, 2,4-D, bnaphtoxyacetic
acid (BNOA) and p-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (4-CPA) auxins for 12 weeks,
and then in various levels of casein hydrolysate (CH) and coconut water (CW) in the
presence of NAA 6 mg/L for 12 weeks. Among the various levels of the four auxins, NAA 6
mg/L proliferated healthy and high mean calli fresh weight. However, NAA 6mg/l
supplemented with CW and CH also gave healthy and generally higher mean calli fresh
weight than NAA 6mg/L alone. NAA 6 mg/L alone was considered the most economical
treatment for calli proliferation, while NAA 6mg/L supplemented with 15%v/v CW and
300mg/L CH gave significantly highest mean calli fresh weight and was considered the best
treatment for rapid calli proliferation.
For shoot regeneration, 18 month-old calli were cultured in various levels of NAA, 2,4-D,
BNOA and 4-CPA auxins for 12 weeks, and then in combinations of various levels of auxins
(BNOA and 2,4-D) and cytokinins (Benzylaminopurine [BAP], Kinetin and Adenine) for 12
weeks. Among the various levels of the four auxins, 2,4-D at 1mg/L regenerated high number
of shoots, and was considered the best treatment for high shoot regeneration from calli that
were considered as high competency calli. However, regeneration response from these calli
were gradually decreasing, such that treatment BNOA 6mg/L combined with BAP 1mg/L
(with subculture) (that statistically gave highest number of regenerated shoots) and an
extended culture period of 12 weeks (without subculture), generated mean number of shoots
was considered as not satisfactory. Subsequently, the 18 month old-calli (now 27 months)
were cultured in various combination levels of CH and CW for 12 weeks, but these failed to
show any regenerated shoots from calli that were now considered low competency calli.
However, calli obtained from treatment NAA 6 mg/L + 300mg/l CH + 15%v/v CW (rapid
calli proliferation treatment, and now 27 months old), preserved calli competency and
regenerated highest mean number of shoots in treatment 10%v/v CW and 200mg/l CH, and
was considered the best treatment for regeneration of shoots from low competency calli.


The study was conducted to investigate the profile of hepatitis in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to determine which age group hepatitis viruses most commonly infect. The epidemiology of viral hepatitis in Saudi Arabia has undergone major changes, concurrent with major socioeconomic developments over the last two to three decades. This disease represents a major public health problem in Saudi Arabia resulting in the need for considerable healthcare resources. A retrospective cross sectional analysis of the reported cases of viral hepatitis was conducted based on the reports of The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia about Hepatitis A, B and C infections in all regions from the period of January 2006 to December 2010. The study demonstrated that incidence of viral Hepatitis is decreasing, except for Hepatitis B that showed minimal increase. Of hepatitis A, B, and C, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was the most predominant type, accounting for (53%) of the cases, followed by Hepatitis C virus (HCV) (30%) and HAV (17%). HAV infection predominates in children (5–14 years) with 60% of viral hepatitis cases, HBV in young adults (15–44 years) with 69% of viral hepatitis cases, and HCV in older adults (>45 years) with 59% of viral hepatitis cases. Despite significant changes in the prevalence of viral hepatitis A, B and C, it remains a major public health problem in Saudi Arabia; however, it showed a significant decline in the last two decades that could be attributed to the vaccination programs and the improved health facilities. Further researches are needed to identify the risk factors making a specific age group or a specific region in Saudi Arabia targeted for a specific type of hepatitis viruses. Keywords—Epidemiology, Hepatitis, Saudi Arabia.


A seasonal alteration in the sequence of events in the bleaching of frog visual purple was re-investigated by alteration of the length of the light period in the normal diurnal cycle to which the experimental animals were exposed. Frogs collected during winter and summer seasons were maintained on a light-dark sequence which corresponded both to the season of their collection and to the alternate season. The visual purple extracted from the retinas of the several experimental categories were exposed to light and the sequence of the bleaching reactions was followed. Comparisons were made upon the position of the isobestic point and the final products of bleaching.When the conditions of measurement, temperature, pH, and light exposure were constant seasonal differences did not appear, nor did the alteration of the light-dark cycle result in any modification of the bleaching pattern. Changes in pH and light exposure cause changes in the bleaching pattern which are identical regardless of season or alteration of the light-dark cycle.


OBJECTIVES
The study investigates theoretical debates on the contribution of spiritual, religious, and personal beliefs (SRPB) to quality of life (QoL) in health, by examining contrasting models.

DESIGN AND METHOD
The WHOQOL-SRPB assesses QoL relating to SRPB where 33 QoL facets are scored in 6 domains, of which SRPB is one. The measure was completed by a heterogeneous sample of 285 sick and well people representing a cross-section of religious, agnostic, and atheist beliefs in UK, and structured for gender (52% female) and age (mean 47 years).

RESULTS
No evidence was found to support the model of spiritual QoL as a concept that overarches every other QoL domain. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that SRPB is an integral concept to overall QoL, with a very good fit (comparative fit index=.99). Spiritual QoL made a significant, relatively independent contribution, similar to the other five domains (β=0.68). Spiritual QoL is most closely associated with the psychological domain, particularly hope and optimism and inner peace; two of the nine SRPB facets. Spiritual QoL, but not most other aspects of QoL, is higher for religious people.

CONCLUSION
The results explain theoretical confusion arising from previous research. Spiritual QoL makes a significant and distinctive contribution to QoL assessment in health and should be assessed routinely in health care populations.


Olive Pink's notebook 1966, including tree planting plan for the Arid Regions Native Flora Reserve in Alice Springs.
Olive Pink wrote 'Trees in honour of people who have helped the Australian Arid Regions Native Flora Reserve. "(Mulga Belt)" limited to 10 to 12 inch (normal)rainfall areas of Central Australia - (Tennant Creek is Northern Boundary)- Sturt Bean Trees (Erythrina vespertilio)'
Planted in honour of: Mr Hugh Barclay, Director of Lands, Mr Paul Hasluck, Minister for Territories, Mr Reginald Marsh, Assistant Administrator, et al.
Photographs taken by Gillian Ward, March 18th 2007. Item from the Olive Pink Collection at the Olive Pink Botanic Garden, Alice Springs.


Groundwater is the most appropriate and widely used source of drinking water for many rural communities in South Africa. Pilot studies and surveys conducted by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) indicated that there are a number of boreholes across the country that contain apart from fluoride, levels of nitrate, some heavy metals, total dissolved solids, sulphates and faecal coliforms (in some regions) that could pose a health risk if the water is used for drinking purposes. Very few boreholes have been tested for heavy metals or toxic organic substances. However, considering the levels of fluoride, in general, groundwater is of acceptable quality except for some areas in which elevated levels of natural groundwater fluoride occur. The study on which this paper is based was conducted to identify areas of high groundwater fluoride concentration in South Africa and to relate this to the occurrence of dental fluorosis in most communities using the groundwater for domestic use. Two sets of data were used. The fluoride data were obtained by extracting fluoride groundwater quality data from DWAF's Water Management Systems (WMS) database. STATISTICA and ARCVIEW were used to process the data. The dental fluorosis data were obtained from a field study conducted by the Department of Health. The degree of dental fluorosis was determined using Dean's classification criteria for dental fluorosis. The occurrence of dental fluorosis was observed in those areas in which fluoride levels were higher than the recommended guidelines for drinking water. The degree and severity of mottling in the subjects studied by the DOH team, corresponded with the level of fluoride in drinking water and the percentage morbidity of dental fluorosis varied from province to province, district to district and village to village.


This article is concerned with the question of whether and how a local church or congregation can, as indissoluble dimension of its vocation as a Christian faith agent, make a difference by influencing the dynamics of social and economic change that are transforming the face and structures of 'traditional' social and religious life in its community. Based upon the authors' own interest in the specific context of the Dutch Reformed congregation of Simondium in the Western Cape and the case study work that they have conducted in this context, an argument about the potential role of this congregation is developed through the conceptual lens of 'societal entrepreneurship'. After exploring some recent thoughts on this concept in the literature, the authors use the results of their recently conducted case study work to show how the dynamics of a new entrepreneurial drive amongst long-established residents and newcomers in the Simondium region shape the social reality of both the region and the congregation in a forceful way. This insight leads the authors to develop a sociologically and theologically motivated argument about the way in which this changing reality offers newfound opportunities to the Simondium congregation to fulfil its Christian calling. As such, the notion of becoming an 'entrepreneurial church' is introduced and a more detailed perspective is offered on those factors that a contextually orientated practical theological ecclesiology should take into account in building the entrepreneurial model in the congregation.


The bone marrow (BM) exists heterogeneously as hematopoietic/red or adipocytic/yellow marrow depending on skeletal location, age, and physiological condition. Mouse models and patients undergoing radio/chemotherapy or suffering acute BM failure endure rapid adipocytic conversion of the marrow microenvironment, the so-called "red-to-yellow" transition. Following hematopoietic recovery, such as upon BM transplantation, a "yellow-to-red" transition occurs and functional hematopoiesis is restored. Gold Standards to estimate BM cellular composition are pathologists' assessment of hematopoietic cellularity in hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained histological sections as well as volumetric measurements of marrow adiposity with contrast-enhanced micro-computerized tomography (CE-μCT) upon osmium-tetroxide lipid staining. Due to user-dependent variables, reproducibility in longitudinal studies is a challenge for both methods. Here we report the development of a semi-automated image analysis plug-in, MarrowQuant, which employs the open-source software QuPath, to systematically quantify multiple bone components in H&E sections in an unbiased manner. MarrowQuant discerns and quantifies the areas occupied by bone, adipocyte ghosts, hematopoietic cells, and the interstitial/microvascular compartment. A separate feature, AdipoQuant, fragments adipocyte ghosts in H&E-stained sections of extramedullary adipose tissue to render adipocyte area and size distribution. Quantification of BM hematopoietic cellularity with MarrowQuant lies within the range of scoring by four independent pathologists, while quantification of the total adipocyte area in whole bone sections compares with volumetric measurements. Employing our tool, we were able to develop a standardized map of BM hematopoietic cellularity and adiposity in mid-sections of murine C57BL/6 bones in homeostatic conditions, including quantification of the highly predictable red-to-yellow transitions in the proximal section of the caudal tail and in the proximal-to-distal tibia. Additionally, we present a comparative skeletal map induced by lethal irradiation, with longitudinal quantification of the "red-to-yellow-to-red" transition over 2 months in C57BL/6 femurs and tibiae. We find that, following BM transplantation, BM adiposity inversely correlates with kinetics of hematopoietic recovery and that a proximal to distal gradient is conserved. Analysis of in vivo recovery through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reveals comparable kinetics. On human trephine biopsies MarrowQuant successfully recognizes the BM compartments, opening avenues for its application in experimental, or clinical contexts that require standardized human BM evaluation.


The rotational structure of the violet CN (0, 0) band in cometary spectra is investigated from a new point of view. The usual assumption of a Boltzmann distribution of populations of the rotational levels in the ground state is abandoned. These populations are determined by solving the system of steady-state equations which describes the resonance-fluorescence of the CN band. As expected, it is possible in this way to reproduce the observed profile more satisfactorily than in the case when a Boltzmann distribution is used. Furthermore, it is shown that the Swings effect (presence of absorption lines in the solar exciting light) has to be taken into account from the beginning in the resolution of the system of the steady-state equations, to achieve complete agreement between observed and computed profiles.
The Greenstein effect (differences in relative intensities of rotational lines in different regions of the comet) has been studied in high-resolution spectrograms of Comet Seki-Lines (1962c). The observations can be interpreted partly by means of either of two simple models for the comet's head (uniform, isotropic expansion, or "fountain model"). In addition there are random motions of the order of a few km/sec.
A detailed analysis of spectra of Comet Humason (1961e) has furnished the following results:

a) The CO+ comet-tail bands are excited by the same resonance-fluorescence mechanism known to be responsible for the emissions of the neutral molecules observed in the head.

b) The continuum is of the pure reflection type: there is no detectable selective scattering.

c) Molecular abundances are estimated (at 10[superscript 4] km from the nucleus)
 N(CO+)=10[superscript 13] cm[superscript -2]
 N(N2+)=10[superscript 11] cm[superscript -2]
 N(CN) = 5X10[superscript 10] cm[superscript -2]

The probable error on these estimates corresponds to a factor of 2 or 3.

d) The infra-red surface brightness produced by the CO+ ions in pure vibration transitions v" = 1 -> v" = 0([lambda] approx.= 4.6 [mu]) is found to be rather large: approx.= 0.001 erg cm[superscript -2] sec[superscript -1].

e) The radial distributions of the various molecules are discussed. While CN follows the usual l/[rho] law ([rho] being the projected distance from the nucleus), it is suggested that the remarkable flatness of the ion distributions might be explained in terms of a "magnetic model."

A critical discussion of some physical and chemical characteristics of comets is presented in the last chapter. In particular, the results of a number of abundance determinations are tabulated.

(Photographic material on page 46 will not reproduce clearly on Xerox copies).


Our main objective is to reduce power consumption by responding to the instantaneous bit rate demand by the user for 4th Generation (4G) and 5th Generation (5G) Massive MIMO network configurations. Moreover, we present and address the problem of designing green LTE networks with the Internet of Things (IoT) nodes. We consider the new NarrowBand-IoT (NB-IoT) wireless technology that will emerge in current and future access networks. In this context, we apply emerging evolutionary algorithms in the context of green network design. We investigate three different cases to show the performance of the new proposed algorithm, namely the 4G, 5G Massive MIMO, and the NB-IoT technologies. More specifically, we investigate the Teaching-Learning-Optimization (TLBO), the Jaya algorithm, the self-adaptive differential evolution jDE algorithm, and other hybrid algorithms. We introduce a new hybrid algorithm named Jaya-jDE that uses concepts from both Jaya and jDE algorithms in an effective way. The results show that 5G Massive MIMO networks require about 50% less power consumption than the 4G ones, and the NB-IoT in-band deployment requires about 10% less power than guard-band deployment. Moreover, Jaya-jDE emerges as the best algorithm based on the results.


Our study aims to investigate the effects of lower extremity mass and volume characteristics of elite athletes on the balance performances. The study has included 42 elite athletes totally with an average age of 23.45 ± 2.50 years, average height of 173.64 ± 6.96 cm, average weight of 79.55 ± 14.19 kg and average body mass index of 26.22 ± 3.06. The calf, femur, foot and leg volumes of the subjects included in the study have been determined by means of Frustum method however, calf, femur, foot and leg masses of the subjects have been determined by means of Hanavan method. The static and dynamic balance performance of athletes has been measured by Biodex Balance System. Dynamic balance performance has been detected in the levels of 2, 4 and 8. When dynamic balance performances have been evaluated, it has been found that there is a significant difference in low-level balance test (p>0.05), and a positive difference has been found between the masses and volumes of calf (r=0.437), femur (r=0.609), foot (r=0.344) and leg (r=0.607) in terms of good and moderate level of balance performances (p<0.05). According to the results obtained, the masses and volumes of calf, femur, foot and leg of the athletes have affected the balance performances and, as the difficulty level of the balance performance increases, the lower extremity mass and volumes affect the balance performance much more. In conclusion, it has been found that lower extremity masses and volumes affect the balance performance of the athletes positively, and lower extremity mass and volumes are required to be improved enough in the branches that put an emphasis on balance.


Executive summary One of the most important lessons learned during the 2008-09 financial crisis was that the informational toolbox on which policymakers base their decisions about competitiveness became outdated in terms of both data sources and data analysis. The toolbox is particularly outdated when it comes to tapping the potential of micro data for the analysis of competitiveness – a serious problem given that it is firms, rather than countries that compete on global markets. This Blueprint provides some concrete examples from recent advances in the analysis of competitiveness. The book is organised around European Central Bank Governor Mario Draghi's definition of a competitive economy as one in which "institutional and macroeconomic conditions allow productive firms to thrive and in turn, the development of these firms supports the expansion of employment, investment and trade". This point of view led us to highlight throughout the book the role of a small number of highly-productive firms as drivers of competitiveness at the country and industry level and, associated with that, the relevance for economic growth of the extent to which an economy is able to reallocate labour and capital towards those more-productive firms. Equally important is the context in which these productive firms operate, and thus the significance of developments in international trade and international fragmentation of production through the changing patterns of global value chains. There are four main implications for policy from the work outlined in the chapters of this Blueprint - (1) A few large, very productive and internationally active firms have a great influence on the performance and growth potential of countries, regions and sectors. As a result, average measurements, which are the parameters on which most policies are generally based, do a poor job of grasping the actual level of competitiveness within countries (regions) and between them. Hence, similar sets of policy dictated ex-ante by similar average competitiveness measures at the country level (eg unit labour costs) might end up producing very different outcomes ex-post, because of the underlying 1 heterogeneity of firm performance in the different countries. (2) Rigidities in the labour market affect different firms in different ways and generate a misallocation of resources that has a significant effect on competitiveness and employment. In particular, centralised wage-bargaining institutions seem to be associated with a greater share of companies reducing the number of employees during economic downturns. Labour market reforms that allow wages to be aligned to heterogeneous levels of firm productivity are thus key to fostering a proper allocation of economic resources and, through this channel, a significant improvement in competitiveness and growth. (3) Exporting, and more broadly international activities, is another key feature of competitiveness. Being active on global markets is closely associated with innovation and growth. An important element for national competitiveness is the extent to which institutional conditions allow firms that are currently not exporting to grow to levels of productivity that enable them to tap into international markets. In addition to exporting to unrelated parties, the emergence of global value chains suggests that selling to multinationals at home or the ability to build up a chain of suppliers are equally important and policy-relevant channels. In turn, as the changing pattern of global value chains is a significant driver of export growth, it is important to work at both the multilateral and bilateral level (eg the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP) to foster trade facilitation and the reduction of non-tariff barriers. (4) The chapters of this book relied on either novel datasets, or novel analytical methodologies, or both, and contributed to the development of measures on which future analyses might be based. Developing datasets using firm-level data, matching company information with trade data, deriving evidence about global value chains or elaborating the quality of products will all help better identify competitiveness. Harmonisation of national efforts, and creation of EU-wide datasets are crucial in order to develop and test new measures that policymakers can use in the future.


Mahabharata was known and enjoyed by Javanese for centuries. It is an epic that was considered to have a big bond and has been affecting human life, the culture, mindset, and even various forms of value, including the value of the marriage system of Javanese. The marriage system from Javanese perspective placed woman as garwa (sigaraning nyawa/ soul mate) which should fulfil three criteria. The first characteristic of Javanese woman is faithful and able to dedicate themselves to serve their husbands. It is termed as "swarga nunut neraka katut". The second criterion of an ideal woman as the garwa is having an accepting/ worship attitude (narima). The ideal Javanese woman hs to be able to accompany her husband in all conditions, always grateful, sincered and satisfied even though life that is lived is not easy at all. The third is devoted. The devotion to the husband can be shown through attitude, speech and sincerity in serving the husband. In addition, an ideal woman must be able to maintain the honor of herself and her husband, keep herself away from all forms of infidelity or things that may bring disgrace to the family. These criteria also be found in Mahabharata.


The article examines the emergence of waste as an industrial category in the context of contemporary indigenous Sami reindeer pastoralism and slaughter in northern Norway. In recent decades, commercially available substitutes and the industrial reorganization of slaughter have displaced traditional methods of extraction and utilization. As a result, the slaughtered reindeer body has been reorganized within new regimes of waste and waste management. Focusing on the relationship between disposal and harm, the first half of the article explores some of the reorientations involved in this transition. The second half links the emergence of industrial waste, as the worthless surplus of an anonymous carcass, to the formation of a disposable surplus at the populational level. Is there a link between the anonymous disposability of reindeer parts, constituted as the worthless waste of industrial modernity, and the anonymous disposability of living reindeer constituted within state biopolitics? In English, extended summary in Russian.


Social capital is a term that encompasses social networks, emotional bonds and habits of reciprocity that promote trust and cooperation. Course designs in political science, economics and psychology that promoted social interaction were more effective in achieving their desired results than those that utilized traditional atomized classes in which students pursue parallel rather than interactive learning. Political caucus participation, learning intuitively about the money creation process and spontaneous psychological group leadership and participation were the outcomes sought and achieved. ********** Social capital consists of social networks, habits of cooperation and bonds of reciprocity that serve to generate benefits for members of a community. These exchanges have lower opportunity costs than comparable market-mediated services partly because they are voluntary (non-contractual) and are likely to involve more intrinsic satisfaction. They embody the emotional bonds of group support and trust (Fukiyama, 1995; Putnam, 2000). Social groups that encourage honest self-presentation, have few incentives for competition, and have a reason to exist, often result in the development of bonds of friendship and trust among its members. We believe it is because such bonds are intrinsically rewarding to members. Examples are small participative religious congregations, regular attendees of Narcotics Anonymous meetings, local participative political caucuses and psychotherapy groups. These groups tend to possess social capital. When strangers gather for purposes of convenience with little incentive to communicate, they are likely to engage in parallel rather than interactive behavior. Examples would be spectators at a sporting event, library patrons and members of a lecture-style college class. These collections of individuals can be described as atomized. They provide no gratuitous emotional support to each other although some may converse with strangers or acquaintances (perhaps partisans of the same team attending an athletic event). College Instruction and Social Capital All universities in Texas require six semester hours in American Government and Politics to qualify for a bachelor's degree. One three-hour course focuses on the American Constitution and national, state and local political processes. The other, on institutions of national, state and local government. This is imposed by state law and has been for decades. Clearly the Texas Legislature views the understanding of government as important. This can only be an attempt to promote intelligent citizen political participation. A standard "lecture-textbook-term paper" course, however, provides content that is detailed, dull, atheoretical, inherently trivial, and is instantly forgotten by students after exams. This is particularly true when objective tests are employed. We believe that a textbook course can't provide information relevant to participation in politics, will be viewed only as a source of college credit, and can't enhance the enjoyment of political involvement. An interactive, real world oriented course represents an alternative more likely to promote informed political participation if the instruction embodies rehearsals, feedback from social interaction, and information generated in the form of cognitions and emotions combined. The desired outcome, after all, is voluntary behavior. To this end, an experiment was performed in the spring of 1976 to determine whether an experimental course that incorporated the incidental development of social capital would produce higher political participation rates than a conventional course and higher rates than adult demographic groups known for traditionally high participation. The Experiment Hosen (1978) designed and taught three experimental sections of the course that covered the U.S. Constitution and American politics. …


DNA methylation, an epigenetic modification which can regulate gene transcription independently from alterations to the nucleotide sequence, can be manipulated by lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise, hypothetically reversing aberrant DNA methylation associated with disease pathogenesis. The underlying mechanisms by which these changes occur are currently poorly characterised, however, in vitro data suggest that inflammatory mediators are involved. Furthermore, regular exercise appears to reduce inactivity-associated systemic inflammation, possibly by alterations to the methylome, thereby suggesting a cyclic relationship between exercise, inflammation, and epigenetic modification.

The aims of this research programme, therefore, were to: characterise the acute changes that occur to the de novo DNA methyltransferases following exercise in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and the role of exercise-induced systemic inflammation in this process; investigate how these changes then translate into functional modifications to the methylome; and to determine whether a training programme utilising sedentary individuals manipulates DNA methylation of genes involved in chronic systemic inflammation associated with physical inactivity.

Pilot investigations corroborated previous in vitro data that recombinant IL-6 is able to regulate nuclear concentrations of DNMT3A and DNMT3B in PBMCs. In order to isolate the influence of circulating proteins independently from genetic polymorphisms that may influence susceptibility to epigenetic change, cells were stimulated with exercise-conditioned plasma following intense endurance exercise which elicited significant alterations in nuclear concentrations of DNMT3A and DNMT3B. Eccentric exercise, which is typically not associated with elevations in circulating cytokines, did not cause any significant changes in nuclear or cytoplasmic DNMT concentration, or global DNA methylation; this supports the hypothesis that transient systemic elevations in inflammatory cytokines are important regulators of epigenetic modifications associated with exercise. Lack of transcriptional changes in DNMT3A following both exercise training and an acute maximal bout suggests that, in line with in vitro data, that the observed elevations in nuclear DNMT concentration are largely due to cellular relocalisation and not gene expression of this enzyme. It remains to be elucidated whether the training regime, and the subsequent response to an acute maximal bout, is able to elicit differential methylation of IL6, NFκB2, and ASC, however, in vitro stimulation of PBMCs with the cytokines IL-6 and IL-1β did cause significant changes to IL6 promoter methylation, further supporting the role of these proteins in epigenetic regulation.

The data presented in this thesis support the postulation that exercise-induced changes to DNA methylation in PBMCs likely occur due to systemic elevations of inflammatory proteins, in particular IL-6, which causes manipulation of de novo DNMT nuclear concentrations due to cellular translocation of the enzymes themselves. While it was not possible to determine whether exercise directly modified gene-specific methylation, in vitro experiments suggest that inflammatory cytokines are able to regulate IL6 promoter methylation in human PBMCs.


The ability to manipulate matter to create non-conventional structures is one of the key issues of material science. The understanding of assembling mechanism at the nanoscale allows us to engineer new nanomaterials, with physical properties intimately depending on their structure. This paper describes new strategies to obtain and characterise metal nanostructures via the combination of a top-down method, such as electron beam lithography, and a bottom-up technique, such as the chemical electroless deposition. We realised silver nanoparticle aggregates within well-defined patterned holes created by electron beam lithography on silicon substrates. The quality characteristics of the nanoaggregates were verified by using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy imaging. Moreover, we compared the experimental findings to molecular dynamics simulations of nanoparticles growth. We observed a very high dependence of the structure characteristics on the pattern nanowell aspect ratio. We found that high-quality metal nanostructures may be obtained in patterns with well aspect ratio close to one, corresponding to a maximum diameter of 50 nm, a limit above which the fabricated structures become less regular and discontinuous. When regular shapes and sizes are necessary, as in nanophotonics, these results suggest the pattern characteristics to obtain isolated, uniform and reproducible metal nanospheres.


Ketamine exposure disturbed normal neurogenesis in the developing brain and resulted in subsequent neurocognitive deficits. 17β-estradiol provides robust neuroprotection in a variety of brain injury models in animals of both sexes and attenuates neurodegeneration induced by anesthesia agents. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether 17β-estradiol could attenuate neonatal ketamine exposure-disturbed neurogenesis and behavioral performance. We treated 7-day-old (Postnatal day 7, PND 7) Sprague-Dawley rats and neural stem cells (NSCs) with either normal saline, ketamine, or 17β-estradiol before/after ketamine exposure, respectively. At PND 14, the rats were decapitated to detect neurogenesis in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampus by immunofluorescence staining. The proliferation, neuronal differentiation, and apoptosis of NSCs were assessed by immunohistochemistry method and TUNEL assay, respectively. The protein levels of cleaved caspase-3 in vivo in addition to GSK-3β and p-GSK-3β in vitro were examined by western blotting. Spatial learning and memory abilities were assessed by Morris water maze (MWM) test at PND 42–47. Ketamine exposure decreased cell proliferation in the SVZ and SGZ, inhibited NSC proliferation and neuronal differentiation, promoted NSC apoptosis and led to adult cognitive deficits. Furthermore, ketamine increased cleaved caspase-3 in vivo and decreased the expression of p-GSK-3β in vitro. Treatment with 17β-estradiol could attenuate ketamine-induced changes both in vivo and in vitro. For the first time we showed that 17β-estradiol alleviated ketamine-induced neurogenesis inhibition and cognitive dysfunction in the developing rat brain. Moreover, the protection of 17β-estradiol was associated with GSK-3β.


This paper offers insights into 3,576 initial equity crowdfunding offerings in the UK and US markets from 2012 to 2019. We investigate the factors influencing three outcomes: the success of the offering, the fundraising target, and matching between entrepreneurial ventures and crowdfunding platforms. In all markets, higher equity retention by original entrepreneurs positively affects the chances of success of the offerings and amount of capital raised. However, there are differences across platforms. Patents do not have a significant impact in entrepreneur-led platforms, while they matter in the UK investor-led platform SyndicateRoom. By separately observing the capital demand set by entrepreneurs and the capital supply by investors, we find that entrepreneurs in financial centers set higher targets in UK markets. There is no difference in the amount of capital raised by female and male entrepreneurs, conditional on female founders setting lower targets in UK markets.


The Insulin/Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Signaling (IIS) pathway was first identified as a major modifier of aging in C.elegans. It has since become clear that the ability of this pathway to modify aging is phylogenetically conserved. Aging is a major risk factor for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases including the motor neuron disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). This raises the possibility that the IIS pathway might have therapeutic potential to modify the disease progression of ALS. In a C. elegans model of ALS we found that decreased IIS had a beneficial effect on ALS pathology in this model. This beneficial effect was dependent on activation of the transcription factor daf-16. To further validate IIS as a potential therapeutic target for treatment of ALS, manipulations of IIS in mammalian cells were investigated for neuroprotective activity. Genetic manipulations that increase the activity of the mammalian ortholog of daf-16, FOXO3, were found to be neuroprotective in a series of in vitro models of ALS toxicity. The small molecule Psammaplysene A (PA) is known to increase the nuclear abundance of FOXO3. PA was also found to be protective in mammalian in vitro models of ALS toxicity as well as a fly and worm model of neurodegeneration. Due to the wide variety of neurodegenerative diseases that share aging as a risk factor, a small molecule modifier of FOXO/daf-16 such as PA could hold great therapeutic potential. Most clinically viable drugs have certain physico-chemical properties that fall within a well-defined set of values, which unfortunately PA does not share. Due to its poor "drug-likness", an investigation into the mechanism of action of PA was undertaken in order to potentially identify more "drug-like" compounds with similar activities. This investigation revealed the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (HNRNPK) is a direct physical target of PA. PA modifies the ability of HNRNPK to stabilize rRNA but does not affect many of HNRNPK's other functions. How changes in rRNA stability modify IIS or whether these changes definitively underlie PA's neuroprotective mechanism remains to be determined. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Neuroscience First Advisor Robert G. Kalb Subject Categories Neuroscience and Neurobiology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/494 GENETIC AND PHARMACOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO PREVENTING


This paper proposes a unified framework for quality-based fusion of multimodal biometrics. Quality- dependent fusion algorithms aim to dynamically combine several classifier (biometric expert) outputs as a function of automatically derived (biometric) sample quality. Quality measures used for this purpose quantify the degree of conformance of biometric samples to some predefined criteria known to influence the system performance. Designing a fusion classifier to take quality into consideration is difficult because quality measures cannot be used to distinguish genuine users from impostors, i.e., they are non- discriminative; yet, still useful for classification. We propose a general Bayesian framework that can utilize the quality infor- mation effectively. We show that this framework encompasses several recently proposed quality-based fusion algorithms in the literature -- Nandakumar et al., 2006; Poh et al., 2007; Kryszczuk and Drygajo, 2007; Kittler et al., 2007; Alonso- Fernandez, 2008; Maurer and Baker, 2007; Poh et al., 2010. Furthermore, thanks to the systematic study concluded herein, we also develop two alternative formulations of the problem, leading to more efficient implementation (with fewer parameters) and achieving performance comparable to, or better than the state of the art. Last but not least, the framework also improves the understanding of the role of quality in multiple classifier combination.


Cryptocurrencies are often thought to operate out of the reach of national regulation, but in fact their valuations, transaction volumes and user bases react substantially to news about regulatory actions. The impact depends on the specific regulatory category to which the news relates: events related to general bans on cryptocurrencies or to their treatment under securities law have the greatest adverse effect, followed by news on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and on restricting the interoperability of cryptocurrencies with regulated markets. News pointing to the establishment of specific legal frameworks tailored to cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings coincides with strong market gains. These results suggest that cryptocurrency markets rely on regulated financial institutions to operate and that these markets are segmented across jurisdictions, bringing cryptocurrencies within reach of national regulation.


The modern treatment of cardiac arrest is an increasingly complex medical procedure with a rapidly changing array of therapeutic approaches designed to restore life to victims of sudden death. The 2 primary goals of providing artificial circulation and defibrillation to halt ventricular fibrillation remain of paramount importance for saving lives. They have undergone significant improvements in technology and dissemination into the community subsequent to their establishment 60 years ago. The evolution of artificial circulation includes efforts to optimize manual cardiopulmonary resuscitation, external mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation devices designed to augment circulation, and may soon advance further into the rapid deployment of specially designed internal emergency cardiopulmonary bypass devices. The development of defibrillation technologies has progressed from bulky internal defibrillators paddles applied directly to the heart, to manually controlled external defibrillators, to automatic external defibrillators that can now be obtained over-the-counter for widespread use in the community or home. But the modern treatment of cardiac arrest now involves more than merely providing circulation and defibrillation. As suggested by a 3-phase model of treatment, newer approaches targeting patients who have had a more prolonged cardiac arrest include treatment of the metabolic phase of cardiac arrest with therapeutic hypothermia, agents to treat or prevent reperfusion injury, new strategies specifically focused on pulseless electric activity, which is the presenting rhythm in at least one third of cardiac arrests, and aggressive post resuscitation care. There are discoveries at the cellular and molecular level about ischemia and reperfusion pathobiology that may be translated into future new therapies. On the near horizon is the combination of advanced cardiopulmonary bypass plus a cocktail of multiple agents targeted at restoration of normal metabolism and prevention of reperfusion injury, as this holds the promise of restoring life to many patients for whom our current therapies fail.


Circularly arrayed transmembrane helices tilt to facilitate the opening of a bacterial mechanosensitive channel. The Escherichia coli mechanosensitive channel, MscS, opens in response to membrane tension to allow ion efflux so that bacteria can survive hypoosmotic shock. Now two papers provide insight into the molecular basis of channel gating (see the Perspective by Gandhi and Rees). Wang et al. determined the crystal structure of the MscS channel in an open conformation, and Vasquez et al. obtained electron paramagnetic resonance measurements on the open conformation in a lipid bilayer. Comparison with a previously determined closed state structure combined with functional data or computational analysis allowed modeling of the movements of the transmembrane helices that cause channel opening. W. Wang, S. S. Black, M. D. Edwards, S. Miller, E. L. Morrison, W. Bartlett, C. Dong, J. H. Naismith, I. R. Booth, The structure of an open form of an E. coli mechanosensitive channel at 3.45 Å resolution. Science 321, 1179-1183 (2008). [Abstract] [Full Text] V. Vásquez, M. Sotomayor, J. Cordero-Morales, K. Schulten, E. Perozo, A structural mechanism for MscS gating in lipid bilayers. Science 321, 1210-1214 (2008). [Abstract] [Full Text] C. S. Gandhi, D. C. Rees, Opening the molecular floodgates. Science 321, 1166-1167 (2008). [Summary] [Full Text]


The social embedding of immigrants is of crucial importance for their structural integration. Social relations and contexts shape life chances in the educational system as well as on the labor market. The issue is, however, under heavy dispute. While some scholars in assimilation theory reason that a strong reliance on ethnic ties constrains the advancement of immigrants, others argue that ties to co-ethnics can compensate for disadvantages following from other domains of life. Empirically, there is evidence for both kinds of arguments. However, previous studies refer to very different steps within educational careers and, what is more, to diverse immigrant groups in several contexts. Although recently some progress has been made, empirical evidence for the case of Germany is still scarce. Thus, which line of reasoning holds remains open.
It is necessary to clarify causal mechanisms more precisely. Providing a comprehensive review and ap-praisal of the state of research the paper brings together results from three streams of literature that hith-erto remained rather unrelated: i) integration research, ii) education and stratification research and iii) neighborhood effect studies. The first contribution of this paper is to provide a systematic overview of main insights from these fields. Second, I argue that the pathways in which the social embedding matters for the educational achievement of immigrants have to be specified more precisely and that this might be achieved referring to social capital theory. Third, some directions are provided that future research within and beyond MZES research project "Ethnic Networks and Educational Achievement over the Life Course" could take.


Blood doping still remains as a performance enhancement strategy misused by athletes . Blood doping is the practice of boosting the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream by means of either blood transfusion of an individual or by administration of erythropoietin, in order to increase the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. There is no direct method currently for the detection of autologous transfusion, leaving this an open issue in antidoping strategies. Recently it was reported that some proteins might represent suitable markers for in vitro aging of erythrocytes, particularly those proteins that can be detected in the membrane. Thus, this study was conducted on erythrocytes isolated from fresh and 20-day old blood samples of the same individual, with a particular focus on the erythrocyte membrane bound proteins. Isolated proteins were separated into 12 fractions on the Gelfree system, digested with trypsin and separated using a nanoLC. Eluted peptides were then spotted on a MALDI plate with MALDI spotter and detected on MALDI-TOF/TOF instrument. Afterwards, the MS/MS data for these peptides were identified using SwissProt and Mascot database search. The results have shown significant differences in the peptides when comparing fresh and stored blood samples, revealing several potential targets that can be used as markers for blood doping detection. The next step is to prove the reproducibility of the results on a larger number of specimens as an initial validation step.


Previous studies suggest that the estrogen metabolite 16 a hydroxyestrone acts as a breast tumor promoter. The alternative product of estrogen metabolism, 2-hydroxyestrone, does not exhibit estrogenic properties in breast tissue, and lower values of the ratio 2-hydroxyestrone:16 a -hydroxyestrone (2:16) in urine may be an endocrine biomarker for greater breast cancer risk. Vegetables of the Brassica genus, such as broccoli, contain a phytochemical, which may shift estrogen metabolism and increase the 2:16 ratio. Adding 500 g/day of broccoli to a standard diet shifts 2:16 values upward in humans; however, it is unknown as to whether healthy women are able to consume a sufficient quantity of Brassica to affect breast cancer risk through this mechanism. In this study, 34 healthy postmenopausal women participated in an intensive intervention designed to facilitate the addition of Brassica to the daily diet. The diet was measured by repeated 24-h recall, and estrogen metabolites were measured by enzyme immunoassay in 24-h urine samples. In a crude analysis, there was a nonsignificant increase in the urinary 2:16 ratio associated with greater Brassica consumption. With adjustment for other dietary parameters, Brassica vegetable consumption was associated with a statistically significant increase in 2:16 values , such that for each 10-g/day increase in Brassica consumption, there was an increase in the 2:16 ratio of 0.08 (95% confidence interval, 0.02–0.15). To the extent that the 2:16 ratio, as measured in urine, is associated with breast cancer risk, future research should consider Brassica vegetable consumption as a potentially effective and acceptable dietary strategy to prevent breast cancer.


Abstract Fluvial and aeolian sandstones of the Sergi Formation are the most important reservoirs of the Recôncavo Basin, Brazil. Optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy revealed the occurrence of dickite, a clay mineral indicative of deep burial conditions (T >100ºC), in the shallow Buracica (630−870 m) and Água Grande (1300−1530 m) oilfields. Vermicular dickite replaces K-feldspar and plagioclase grains, and fills intra- and inter-granular pores. Its vermicular habit is a product of pseudomorphic kaolinite transformation during burial. The presence of dickite is in accordance with the intensity of compaction, post-compactional quartz cementation and δ18 O values of calcite cements (T up to 109ºC). These petrological features of deep burial, as well as apatite fission-track analyses, indicate that uplift and erosion of at least 1 km, and probably >1500 m, affected the central part of the Recôncavo Basin and possibly the entire region. This uplift has not been detected previously by conventional structural and stratigraphic models.


Paula Murphy, the leading expert on Irish sculpture, offers an extensive survey of the history of sculpture in Ireland in the nineteenth century, with particular emphasis on the large public works produced during the Victorian period. The works of such major figures as Patrick MacDowell, John Henry Foley, Thomas Kirk, and Thomas Farrell are discussed -as well as works by a host of lesser-known sculptors, including John Edward Carew, Christopher Moore, James Cahill, and Joseph Robinson Kirk. Lavishly illustrated, the book covers the work of many Irish sculptors who practiced abroad, particularly in London, and the work of English sculptors, including John Flaxman, Francis Chantrey, E. H. Baily, and Richard Westmacott, who were located in Ireland. Murphy makes extensive use of contemporary documentation, much of it from newspapers, to present the sculptors and their work in the religious and political context of their time.


There may be no denying China's growing economic strength, but its impact on the global balance of power remains hotly contested. Political scientist Aaron L. Friedberg argues that our nation's leaders are failing to act expeditiously enough to counter China's growing strength. He explains how the United States and China define their goals and reveals the strategies each is now employing to achieve its ends. Friedberg demonstrates in this provocative book that the ultimate aim of Chinese policymakers is to "win without fighting," displacing the United States as the leading power in Asia while avoiding direct confrontation. The United States, on the other hand, sends misleading signals about our commitments and resolve, putting us at risk for a war that might otherwise have been avoided. A much-needed wake-up call to U.S. leaders and policymakers, A Contest for Supremacy is a compelling interpretation of a rivalry that will go far to determine the shape of the twenty-first century.


Effective, environmentally sound development, production, and delivery of energy depend on Earth monitoring information. Satellite remote sensing data and products provide unique, objective information that has the additional advantage of yielding global, homogeneous, and repetitive coverage. Satellite remote sensing data and products have been used extensively in parts of the energy sector for applications ranging from climatology to identification of solar and wind energy sources, yet there is significant potential to expand energy applications. This paper discusses the key energy sector organizations and decision-support tools with the greatest potential to benefit from new applications of satellite remote sensing data, identifies relevant remote sensing data and products with a focus on NASA Earth science resources, and provides examples that show the added value of the Earth observations. These examples come from the application of NASA data to solar energy information needs. Although continued work for support of solar energy is warranted, this paper focuses on areas identified with the greatest demonstrated potential for new or expanded applications: renewable energy (specifically wind, biomass, and hydroelectric resources), load forecasting, and long-term energy modeling. This study also addresses the evolving context of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), and the broader framework of integrating satellite remote sensing into energy sector decision-support tools.


Splicing refers to the elimination of noncoding regions in transcribed pre-messenger ribonucleic acid (RNA). Discovering splice sites is an important machine learning task that helps us not only to identify the basic units of genetic heredity but also to understand how different proteins are produced. Existing methods for splicing prediction have produced promising results, but often show limited robustness and accuracy. In this paper, we propose a deep belief network-basedmethodology for computational splice junction prediction. Our proposal includes a novel method for training restricted Boltzmann machines for class-imbalanced prediction. The proposed method addresses the limitations of conventional contrastive divergence and provides regularization for datasets that have categorical features. We tested our approach using public human genome datasets and obtained significantly improved accuracy and reduced runtime compared to state-of-the-art alternatives. The proposed approach was less sensitive to the length of input sequences and more robust for handling false splicing signals. Furthermore,we could discover noncanonical splicing patterns that were otherwise difficult to recognize using conventional methods. Given the efficiency and robustness of our methodology, we anticipate that it can be extended to the discovery of primary structural patterns of other subtle genomic elements.


Cultured splenic stroma has been shown to support in vitro hematopoiesis in overlaid bone marrow and spleen progenitors. These co-cultures support longterm production of a novel dendritic-like cell type along with transient production of myeloid cells. They also maintain a progenitor cell population. The splenic stromal lines 5G3 and 3B5 have been identified as a supporter and a non-supporter of hematopoiesis. Based on their gene expression profile, both 5G3 and 3B5 express genes related to hematopoiesis, while 5G3 cells express several unique genes, and show upregulation of some genes over 3B5. Based on gene expression studies, specific inhibitors were tested for capacity to inhibit hematopoiesis in co-cultures. Addition of specific antibodies and small molecule inhibitors identified VCAM1, CXCL12, CSF1 and SPP1 as potential regulators of hematopoiesis, although both are expressed by 5G3 and 3B5. Through inhibition of function, SVEP1 and ALDH1 are also shown here to be deterministic of 5G3 hematopoietic support capacity, since these are uniquely expressed by 5G3 and not 3B5. The achievement of inhibition is notable given the dynamic, longterm nature of co-cultures which involve only small numbers of cells. The alternate plan, to add recombinant soluble factors produced by 5G3 back into 3B5 co-cultures in order to recover in vitro hematopoiesis, proved ineffective. Out of 6 different factors added to 3B5, only IGF2 showed any effect on cell production. The identification of differentially expressed or upregulated genes in 5G3 has provided an insight into potential pathways involved in in vitro hematopoiesis leading to production of dendritic-like cells.


Atmospheric CO2 is expected to more than double by the end of the century. The resulting changes in ocean chemistry will affect the behaviour, sensory systems and physiology of a range of fish species. Although a number of past studies have examined effects of CO2 in gregarious fishes, most have assessed individuals in social isolation, which can alter individual behaviour and metabolism in social species. Within social groups, a learned familiarity can develop following a prolonged period of interaction between individuals, with fishes preferentially associating with familiar conspecifics because of benefits such as improved social learning and greater foraging opportunities. However, social recognition occurs through detection of shoal-mate cues; hence, it may be disrupted by near-future CO2 conditions. In the present study, we examined the influence of elevated CO2 on shoal familiarity and the metabolic benefits of group living in the gregarious damselfish species the blue-green puller (Chromis viridis). Shoals were acclimated to one of three nominal CO2 treatments: control (450 µatm), mid-CO2 (750 µatm) or high-CO2 (1000 µatm). After a 4–7 day acclimation period, familiarity was examined using a choice test, in which individuals were given the choice to associate with familiar shoal-mates or unfamiliar conspecifics. In control conditions, individuals preferentially associated with familiar shoal-mates. However, this association was lost in both elevated-CO2 treatments. Elevated CO2 did not impact the calming effect of shoaling on metabolism, as measured using an intermittent-flow respirometry methodology for social species following a 17–20 day acclimation period to CO2 treatment. In all CO2 treatments, individuals exhibited a significantly lower metabolic rate when measured in a shoal vs. alone, highlighting the complexity of shoal dynamics and the processes that influence the benefits of shoaling.


One of the most radical neoliberal reforms devised and implemented in Chile under the military regime led by General Pinochet (1973–1990) was the major revision of the water law, the 'Water Code', in 1981. Designed according to free-market principles, the result was a law which introduced a system of private water rights that could be traded in free markets with almost no government regulation. The Water Code has also been important in international water policy, having been recommended by some development agencies as a successful model that should be replicated in other countries. This promotion has been heavily based on claims of economic efficiency, but also the potential to generate social benefits and effective water resources management. Social benefits are one of the most contested issues in relation to Chilean water markets, but the debate is clouded by the absence of empirical evidence of how they affect poorer water users.
 The aim of this chapter is to analyze the nature of the 1981 Water Code and explore its social outcomes through two empirical case studies. This research will form the basis for a discussion of the social implications of introducing private tradable water rights systems. The chapter starts by outlining the creation of Chile's 1981 Water Code within the historical-political context of the military regime, and its principal 'neoliberal' characteristics. The following section examines debates, both in Chile and internationally, surrounding the advantages of tradable private water rights and their potential to produce social benefits, and considers existing field studies from Chile. The next section explores the social implications of the conversion of water rights into tradable private property in two regions of northern Chile, focusing on the outcomes for peasant farmers and indigenous communities. The final two sections then draw some conclusions on social equity issues in relation to water markets, and reflect on the extent to which these issues are likely to be addressed by the modifications to the Water Code in 2005.


An Introduction to Forensic Genetics-William Goodwin 2007-11-27 An Introduction to Forensic Genetics is a comprehensive introduction to this fast moving area from the collection of evidence at the scene of a crime to the presentation of that evidence in a legal context. The last few years have seen significant advances in the subject and the development and application of genetics has revolutionised forensic science. This book begins with the key concepts needed to fully appreciate the subject and moves on to examine the latest developments in the field, illustrated throughout with references to relevant casework. In addition to the technology involved in generating a DNA profile, the underlying population biology and statistical interpretation are also covered. The evaluation and presentation of DNA evidence in court is discussed as well with guidance on the evaluation process and how court reports and statements should be presented. An accessible introduction to Forensic Genetics from the collection of evidence to the presentation of that evidence in a legal context Includes case studies to enhance student understanding Includes the latest developments in the field focusing on the technology used today and that which is likely to be used in the future Accessible treatment of population biology and statistics associated with forensic evidence This book offers undergraduate students of Forensic Science an accessible approach to the subject that will have direct relevance to their courses. An Introduction to Forensic Genetics is also an invaluable resource for postgraduates and practising forensic scientists looking for a good introduction to the field.


" Meeting the food needs of the world's growing population while reducing poverty and protecting the environment is a major global challenge. Genetically modified crops appear to provide a promising option to deal with this challenge. However there is a need to make strategic decisions on how to spend limited agricultural research funds in order to achieve a maximum impact with regard to finding sustainable solutions to end hunger and poverty. In international development institutions, there is growing interest in the potential use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as part of a research based Environmental Management System (EMS) to promote mainstreaming of environmental considerations in policy development. SEA was developed as an approach to integrate environmental considerations at a policy level, where alternatives environmental policies can be evaluated. In this paper, we propose using SEA in a policy research and priority setting process regarding new technologies, taking the development of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) as an example. We propose that this method would be a useful tool for the international agricultural research centers of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), streamlining business processes, strengthening accountability, sharpening the research agenda it supports, fostering broader partnerships, and increasing the relevance and impact of CGIAR research in achieving international development goals. Currently international law requires only Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) of specific biotechnology projects. The incorporation of environmental considerations only at the level of specific projects precludes the adoption of alternative environmental policies. In this review, we outline an SEA approach currently being considered at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) for use in evaluating biotechnology policies. SEA may be a useful tool to inform the evaluation of biotechnology policies and priorities by taking account of information on the economic, social, and environmental benefits, cost and risks of adopting those policies." Authors' Abstract


TESOL Quarterly invites readers to submit short reports and updates on their work. These summaries may address any areas of interest to Quarterly readers.


Violent conflict is common among the poorest countries and clearly one of the most important barriers to growth, destroying physical, human, and social capital, often in the long run. At the same time, it is a development `trap' that is not easy to escape from as poverty has also been found to be one of the most important determinants of civil war. With increasing data availability and quality, the analysis of conflict has moved from the macro to the micro level, offering a promising way forward. This dissertation contributes to this developing, quantitative literature on the causes and consequences of violent political behaviour at the micro level.
The first essay analyses the impact of regional oil resources on political groups being active in these areas. Namely, it is interested in these groups' strategic decision to remain peaceful, resort to terrorism or initiate a civil war. Employing multinomial logit models and data for the Middle East and North Africa, we find that the existence of mineral resources does not affect the choice to resort to terrorist means. Yet, insurgencies become significantly more likely where a group has the prospect of controlling revenues from oil extraction. This effect can be mitigated by political participation, thus increasing the access to revenues by peaceful means. Contrary, proven desire for autonomy or the support by a foreign state make (secessionist) conflicts more probable. The second essay carries out an evaluation of the Ugandan refugee legislation regarding its aim to increase economic activity around refugee settlements and to improve access to public infrastructure for the national population. Furthermore, the perceptions of the host population are taken into account. We compare areas hosting refugees with the ones that do not in a difference-in-differences framework and with an instrumental variable approach. We find that Ugandans living close to refugee settlements are better off in terms of consumption and access to public services, especially primary schooling. However, these improvements in objective measures are not reflected in subjective indicators. The third essay looks at two dynamics that have influenced female labour force participation in Vietnam during the 20th century: the Vietnam War and the socialist political system. Using three waves of censuses, we estimate the determinants of a woman's choice to enter the labour market. In order to differentiate the effects of war for women directly affected by it from women only reaching working age after its end, we also carry out a cohort analysis. We find a significant and positive impact of conflict intensity on the probability to work for women of working age during the Vietnam War. For younger generations the effect is still positive but smaller and less robust. In contrast, living in the North and thus having been exposed to socialism for a longer period of time substantially increases the likelihood of a woman working.
In each of the three chapters, the focus lies on the sub-national level in order to draw a nuanced picture of the contexts studied. Each essay finishes with individual policy recommendations and suggestions for further research in the field.


"I am an artist..." begins Eric Carle's vibrant tribute to the creative life. And just like an imaginative child, this is one artist who paints the world as he sees it - a red crocodile, an orange elephant, a purple fox, a black polar bear and a wonderful polka-dotted donkey. Filled with some of the most magnificently colourful animals of Eric Carle's career, this is a book that celebrates imagination and the artist within us all. Inspired by the work of the great Expressionist painter Franz Marc, a founder of the artists' group known as "Der Blaue Reiter" ("The Blue Rider"), who famously used abstract blue horses in his paintings. Marc's vibrantly colourful paintings influenced generations of artists, and fired the imaginations of children's book artists far and wide. Examples of Marc's paintings and a short biography are included at the end of the book.


The aim was to assess the appropriateness of the preliminary South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) as a nutrition education tool for women in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Western Cape (WC) in terms of comprehension interpretation and implementation. This was a qualitative study using focus group discussions. Focus groups were held in five magisterial districts within KZN and the Cape Town metropolitan area of the WC to evaluate the comprehensibility and applicability of the FBDGs. Groups were randomly selected according to settlement type (non-urban urban informal urban formal) and ethnicity (black coloured (of mixed origin) Indian white) to reflect the KZN and WC population. Focus groups were conducted in the home language of the participants namely English Zulu Xhosa and Afrikaans. Participants included 137 women aged 19 - 63 years with no formal nutrition training and who were responsible for food purchasing and food preparation decisions in the household. In general women understood many of the FBDGs and the suggested food categories and could construct a days meals using the FBDGs. Areas of confusion were identified regarding certain terminology and concepts such as the terms legumes foods from animals and healthier snacks. Primary constraints to implementation of the FBDGs included cost and availability of food household taste preferences routine food purchasing habits habitual or traditional food preparation and cooking methods time constraints accessibility (primarily transport difficulties) and underlying attitudes towards health and nutrition. The findings from this study have been used to revise the preliminary FBDGs in order to provide an appropriate tool for effective nutrition education for the purpose of improving nutrition knowledge attitudes and dietary behaviours of South Africans. (authors)


This article is an edited transcript of Professor Graeme W Austin's Inaugural Lecture, delivered in the Council Chamber of Victoria University of Wellington on 15 November 2012. Professor Austin was appointed Chair in Private Law in the Faculty of Law in November 2010. This lecture explores claims that in copyright law, the public domain is necessarily in opposition to proprietary rights, and suggests that in many contexts the incentives offered by copyright contribute to the vibrancy and volume of material that is available for downstream creativity and innovation. Drawing on his earlier work on the relationship between human rights law, Professor Austin's lecture advances the idea that cognisance of the human rights dimensions of intellectual property, including creators' human rights, should inform conceptions of the property domain of copyright law. The lecture concluded with a warning against the "Walmartization" of copyright, according to which the only policy concern is lowering the price that consumers pay for copyright-protected material.


'Incest' refers to illegal sexual relations between family members. Its precise contours, however, are culturally specific. Hence, an illegal incestuous union in one social context may be a legal close-kin union in another. First-degree sexual unions, between a parent and child, or between siblings, are most widely prohibited and abhorred. This book discusses all overt and covert first-degree incest relations in the Hebrew Bible and also probes the significance of gaps and what these imply about projected sexual and social values. As the dominant opinion on the origin of first-degree incest continues to be shaped, new voices such as those of queer and post-feminist criticism have joined the conversation. It navigates not only the incest laws of Leviticus and the narratives of Lot and his daughters and of Amnon and Tamar but pursues subtler intimations of first-degree sexual unions, such as between Adam and his (absent but arguably implied) mother, Haran and Terah's wife, Ham and Noah. In pursuing the psycho-social values that may be drawn from the Hebrew Bible regarding first-degree incest, this book will provide a thorough review of incest studies from the early 20th century onward and explain and assess the contribution of very recent critical approaches from queer and post-feminist perspectives.


In the United States, gamification is used in education for more than 10 years. Gamification is a procedure that employs certain game specific elements in different fields like education, health, sport or human resources. This process is known as "Human-Focused Design", as opposed to "Function-Focused Design." It's a design process that optimizes for human motivation in a system, as opposed to pure efficiency. Most systems are "function-focused", designed to get the job done quickly. This is like a factory that assumes its workers will do their jobs because they are required to. However, Human-Focused Design remembers that people in a system have feelings, insecurities, and reasons why they want or do not want to do certain things, and therefore optimizes for their feelings, motivations, and engagement. Since games have spent decades learning how to master motivation and engagement, we are now learning from games, and that is why we call it Gamification. Take for example Duolingo, a massive online collaboration which combines a free language-learning website with a paid crowdsourced text translation platform. The service is designed so that students can learn a given language online, while helping to translate websites and documents.  The traditional motivational methods are less and less efficient and thus the companies are forced towards more attractive and innovative methods, fit for the psychological profile of the current generation, a generation raised and schooled in close connection with the technological progress. European Union started to show interest for these aspects, as proven by the Game-Based Learning and Gamification training course that was organized in Spain by the means of a European Commission project.


An Nd-doped Lu(1.5)Y(1.5)Al(5)O(12) (Nd:LuYAG) crystal was obtained by Czochralski method. Absorption and emission spectra were recorded at low and room temperature. Continuous wave (CW) and passively Q-switched laser operations of Nd:LuYAG crystal were, to our knowledge, demonstrated for the first time. A CW output power of 1.67 W with slope efficiency of 39.8% was obtained. In the passively Q-switched operation, the shortest pulse width, largest pulse energy, and highest peak power were achieved to be 9.6 ns, 61.7µJ, and 6.4 kW, respectively, with Cr(4+):YAG crystals as the saturable absorbers.


ABSTRACT The study reported herein posits a relationship between the extent of municipal financial disclosure and the political culture of that municipality. Municipal financial disclosure is framed as a monitoring device, serving as a communication tool between municipal government and interested users of that information. Political culture is principally a measure of the interaction between a government and its citizenry. The study builds an argument that when there is a significant amount of interaction between a municipal government and its related population (ie., the political culture construct), the level of disclosure will be greater. The study finds a positive relationship between the political culture of a municipality and the amount of information dissemenated by that municipal government. INTRODUCTION Watts and Zimmerman (1990), in an assessment of a decade of positive theory research, asserted that most positive theory studies have focused on three types of variables in explaining management disclosure choice: those associated with management incentives, debt constraints, and political costs. With respect to entities within the private sector, political costs arise as a result of increased exposure. Most often, this has been related to the size of the entity, and studies have probed the relationship between firm size and levels of disclosure (e.g., Depoer ,2000; Malone, 1994; Chow and Wong-Boren, 1987; Buzby, 1975; and Singhvi and Desai, 1971). Extent of disclosure has also been extended to institutions of higher learning, in which systematic relationships between not only traditional measures (e.g., institution size) but also service-related factors were found positively related to extent of disclosure (Gordon, et.al., 2002.) Municipalities have also been studied for the relationship between size and extent of disclosure (Plewa, 1983). This study moves beyond the use of size and other traditional variables in explaining the level of disclosure. Political culture is a measure of a certain dimension of the "personality" of a municipality, dealing primarily with the relative interaction between the government of a municipality and its population. This study offers evidence that the level of that interaction will influence levels of disclosure by the municipality. Specifically, using a positive theory of predicting institutional behavior, this study posits that in an environment where political culture tends more toward a moralist perspective (higher levels of interaction), exposure of the municipality and participation by the populace are high, and thus the level of monitoring will be increased. For a municipality that tends more toward a traditionalist perspective (lower levels of interaction), exposure of the municipality and participation by the populace are low, and the level of monitoring will be lower. The results of the study indicated a correlation between extent of disclosure and five of nine variables measuring relatively narrow dimensions of political culture, two of three somewhat broader dimensions of political culture, and with the broadest measure of political culture adopted by the study. Additionally, the study examined the relationship between extent of municipal financial disclosure and five traditional constructs and judged two of those correlations to be significant. The remainder of the paper discusses the literature associated with extent of disclosure and political culture, research questions and hypotheses, methods to test the hypotheses, analysis of data and results, and conclusions and recommendations for further study. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Cerf (1961) seems to have been the first to measure the extent of financial disclosure through the construction of an index. Others that followed measured extent of disclosure using various indices of disclosure, sometimes with analyst weightings, and at other times not. Variables that have traditionally been examined in those studies have included firm size, listing status, size of the external auditor, and leverage. …


Off-policy Evaluation (OPE), or offline evaluation in general, evaluates the performance of hypothetical policies leveraging only offline log data. It is particularly useful in applications where the online interaction involves high stakes and expensive setting such as precision medicine and recommender systems. Since many OPE estimators have been proposed and some of them have hyperparameters to be tuned, there is an emerging challenge for practitioners to select and tune OPE estimators for their specific application. Unfortunately, identifying a reliable estimator from results reported in research papers is often difficult because the current experimental procedure evaluates and compares the estimators' performance on a narrow set of hyperparameters and evaluation policies. Therefore, it is difficult to know which estimator is safe and reliable to use. In this work, we develop Interpretable Evaluation for Offline Evaluation (IEOE), an experimental procedure to evaluate OPE estimators' robustness to changes in hyperparameters and/or evaluation policies in an interpretable manner. Then, using the IEOE procedure, we perform extensive evaluation of a wide variety of existing estimators on Open Bandit Dataset, a large-scale public real-world dataset for OPE. We demonstrate that our procedure can evaluate the estimators' robustness to the hyperparamter choice, helping us avoid using unsafe estimators. Finally, we apply IEOE to real-world e-commerce platform data and demonstrate how to use our protocol in practice.


Titanium and boron nitride and carbide, titanium diboride were synthesized by carbothermic reduction as single phase as well as mixtures intended to form composite materials. The aims of the project is to study the physical chemistry of carbothermic reduction for the production of pure nonoxide ceramic powders and also for the in-situ formation of ceramic/ceramic partially-densified composites. The thermodynamic and kinetic factors that govern the phase constituents are discussed and the effect of processing parameters on the morphology and extent of reduction are also established. The first part of the present investigation is aimed at the production of titanium nitride, carbonitride and carbide powders and the in-situ formation of TiN/TiC partially-densified composites by the carbothermic reduction of titania in suitable nitriding atmospheres. The investigation includes the aspects of the thermodynamics and kinetics of the nitriding reaction and points out the reaction mechanism by identifying the phase formed after the nitridation process. The microstructures produced after the reduction-nitridation process have been correlated with the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters. The synthesized titanium nitride powder was identified as the carbonitride phase, Ti(CxN1_x), having a range of composition. The rate of reduction of TbO2 was found to be determined by the rate of oxygen diffusion in the sub-oxide lattice and the derived value of activation energy in the temperature range 1473K to 1773K from the Arrhenius plot is 120 kJ-mole-1 of T102. TI305 was found as a high temperature precursor phase for the formation of titanium nitride. The use of iron chloride as catalyst and activated charcoal in the mixtures of oxide increased the yield of titanium nitride phase by enhancing the rate of reduction of titanium oxides. The morphology of titanium carbonitride particles was dependent upon the reactivity of carbon and the temperature. The calculated equilibrium phase fields were found to be in agreement with the experimental data and provide a means to select the variables for the reduction condition for designing a required ceramic microstructure. The microstructure of boron nitrides is closely related to the structural chemistry of carbon and nitriding agent. The main aim of the second part of the project was to synthesize boron nitride and carbide powders and whiskers by carbothermic reduction of boric anhydride (6203) in nitrogen atmosphere and also to understand a relation between the processing parameters and the phases produced. The effect of processing conditions such as the gas composition, reactivity of carbon, reaction temperature and time as well as the composition of starting materials on the synthesis of boron nitride and carbide phases were studied. The reactivity of carbon, B/C ratio and gas composition were the most important variables that determined the formation, structure and morphology of the nitride. During the nitridation process, boron carbide phase also formed and played a significant role. The investigation also reports the evidence for the formation of metastable forms of BN i. e wurtzite and cubic BN. We also report the results of the solubility of nitrogen in C-saturated B4C structure. The third part of the present work is aimed at the production of TiB2 powders. Aspects of the formation of two or three ceramic phase mixtures were also examined together with the relative stability of the single phase mixed diborides with respect to pure diboride phase. The central aim of this part is to establish the mechanism of the synthesis reaction leading to the formation of uniform size of titanium diboride crystals. Titanium boride (TiB2) powder was produced in the powder form by the reduction of ingredient oxides with carbon via a gas-solid phase reaction. For the production of the composite microstructure, the nitrogen partial pressure was found to be the most critical factor. In the composite microstructure, the titanium nitride particles have a submicrometer size whereas the boride particle size is only a few micrometers with predominantly hexagonal morphology. Some calculated equilibrium phase fields have been experimentally verified. The empirical verification is a useful tool to establish the correctness of the calculated phase diagram. The theoretical approach therefore enable to identify the condition for the formation of phase mixtures. The constituent phases depend on the reduction conditions. For example, nitrides in equilibrium with Ti62 can only form above a critical nitrogen partial pressure whereas TiC or B4C form in the inert atmospheres. This results is applicable to all other ceramics. The investigation also shows the viability of production of the composite powder mixture via the oxide co-reduction technique. The synthesis of TIB2/TiN, TiB2ýC, TB2/TN/BN and mixed diboride composites is possible by employing the reduction route.


ABSTRACT DNA polymerase ι (Polι) is a member of the Y family of DNA polymerases, which promote replication through DNA lesions. The role of Polι in lesion bypass, however, has remained unclear. Polι is highly unusual in that it incorporates nucleotides opposite different template bases with very different efficiencies and fidelities. Since interactions of DNA polymerases with the DNA minor groove provide for the nearly equivalent efficiencies and fidelities of nucleotide incorporation opposite each of the four template bases, we considered the possibility that Polι differs from other DNA polymerases in not being as sensitive to distortions of the minor groove at the site of the incipient base pair and that this enables it to incorporate nucleotides opposite highly distorting minor-groove DNA adducts. To check the validity of this idea, we examined whether Polι could incorporate nucleotides opposite the γ-HOPdG adduct, which is formed from an initial reaction of acrolein with the N2 of guanine. We show here that Polι incorporates a C opposite this adduct with nearly the same efficiency as it does opposite a nonadducted template G residue. The subsequent extension step, however, is performed by Polκ, which efficiently extends from the C incorporated opposite the adduct. Based upon these observations, we suggest that an important biological role of Polι and Polκ is to act sequentially to carry out the efficient and accurate bypass of highly distorting minor-groove DNA adducts of the purine bases.


Perhaps the weakest aspect of the 'triple bottom line' understanding of sustainable development has been the 'economic' dimension. Much of the thinking about the appropriate 'political economy' to underpin sustainable development has been either utopian (as in some 'green' political views) or 'business as usual' approaches. This article suggests that 'ecological modernisation' is the dominant conceptualisation of 'sustainable development' within the UK, and illustrates this by looking at some key 'sustainable development' policy documents from the UK Government. While critical of the reformist 'policy telos' of ecological modernisation, supporters of more radical versions of sustainable development need to also be aware of the strategic opportunities of this policy discourse. In particular, the article suggests that the discourse of 'economic security' ought to be used as a way of articulating a radical, robust and principled understanding of sustainable development, which offers a normatively compelling and policy-relevant path to outlining a 'green political economy' to underpin sustainable development.


This work is focused on applying frequency weighted model predictive control (FMPC) on three blade horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). A wind turbine is a very complex, non-linear system influenced by a stochastic wind speed variation. The reduced dynamics considered in this work are the rotational degree of freedom of the rotor and the tower for-aft movement. The MPC design is based on a receding horizon policy and a linearised model of the wind turbine. Due to the change of dynamics according to wind speed, several linearisation points must be considered and the control design adjusted accordingly. In practice is very hard to measure the effective wind speed, this quantity will be estimated using measurements from the turbine itself. For this purpose stationary predictive Kalman filter has been used. Stochastic simulations of the wind turbine behaviour with applied frequency weighted model predictive controller are presented. Statistical comparison between frequency weighted MPC, standard MPC and baseline PI controller is shown as well.


This article proposes shared federal-state authority over labor relations policy. As private sector unionization sinks toward oblivion, employee free choice rights regarding representation must be more vigorously and creatively protected. Adjustments in labor law can also restore greater structural balance in economic arrangements as a counterweight to the bloated powers of the executive suite and financial industry. The debate over the proposed EFCA only began a discussion about how to modernize labor relations law. Shared state- federal authority would square labor law with the broader field of employment law where state and federal governments share authority over such issues as status discrimination, wage and hour policy, OSHA law, and employee leave entitlements. Moreover, revision of the broad labor law preemption doctrines created by judges, not Congress, decades ago would bring labor law into alignment with modern preemption jurisprudence. These include a reinvigorated presumption against preemption, and recognition, under the constitutional division/separation of powers, that only Congress possesses authority to displace constitutionally preserved state authority. Labor law preemption doctrines find little support in the rationales offered upon creation and are shredded with exceptions and inconsistencies. The "Garmon" doctrine's primary agency jurisdiction rationale reflected the New Dealers' almost blind faith in federal administrative agencies, was controversial among the Justices at its inception, sweeps broader than necessary to protect federal interests today, and in any case has been severely undercut by the politization of the NLRB, and repeated judicial reversals of Board policy rulings. The "Machinists" doctrine's "free play of economic forces" and the "uniformity" rationales seem anomalous in light of state authority to legislate labor standards directly, to decide issues like unemployment benefits during labor disputes, and to outlaw union shops. Finally the article offers several suggestions about what a reworking of labor law preemption doctrine might look like.