Objective: Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) is a diagnostic test which is frequently used in the diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CHD). MPS is generally interpreted as ischemia present or absent; however, it has a power in predicting the disease, similar to other diagnostic tests. In this study, we aimed to assist in directing the high-risk patients to undergo coronary angiography (CA) primarily by evaluating patients without prior CHD history with pre-test and post-test probabilities. Methods: The study was designed as a retrospective study. Between January 2008 and July 2011, 139 patients with positive MPS results and followed by CA recently (<6 months) were evaluated from patient files. Patients' pre-test probabilities based on the Diamond and Forrester method and the likelihood ratios that were obtained from the literature were used to calculate the patients' post-exercise and post-MPS probabilities. Patients were evaluated in risk groups as low, intermediate, and high, and an ROC curve analysis was performed for the post-MPS probabilities. Results: Coronary artery stenosis (CAS) was determined in 59 patients (42.4%). A significant difference was determined between the risk groups according to CAS, both for the pre-test and post-test probabilities (p<0.001, p=0.024). The ROC analysis provided a cut-off value of 80.4% for post-MPS probability in predicting CAS with 67.9% sensitivity and 77.8% specificity. Conclusion: When the post-MPS probability is ≥80% in patients who have reversible perfusion defects on MPS, we suggest interpreting the MPS as "high probability positive" to improve the selection of true-positive patients to undergo CA, and these patients should be primarily recommended CA.


Media use cases for emergency services require mission-critical levels of reliability for the delivery of media-rich services, such as video streaming. With the upcoming deployment of the fifth generation (5G) networks, a wide variety of applications and services with heterogeneous performance requirements are expected to be supported, and any migration of mission-critical services to 5G networks presents significant challenges in the quality of service (QoS), for emergency service operators. This paper presents a novel SliceNet framework, based on advanced and customizable network slicing to address some of the highlighted challenges in migrating eHealth telemedicine services to 5G networks. An overview of the framework outlines the technical approaches in beyond the state-of-the-art network slicing. Subsequently, this paper emphasizes the design and prototyping of a media-centric eHealth use case, focusing on a set of innovative enablers toward achieving end-to-end QoS-aware network slicing capabilities, required by this demanding use case. Experimental results empirically validate the prototyped enablers and demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework in such media-rich use cases.


We present several applications of microstructured optical fibers and study their modal characteristics by using Bragg gratings inscribed into photosensitive core regions designed into the air-silica microstructure. The unique characteristics revealed in these studies enable a number of functionalities including tunability and enhanced nonlinearity that provide a platform for fiber device applications. We discuss experimental and numerical tools that allow characterization of the modes of the fibers.


This study investigates voseo and tuteo among Salvadorans residing in Oregon and examines whether tuteo increases as a result of contact with Hispanics of Mexican descent. Analyses of 404 tokens of 2sg verbs taken from natural conversations indicated clear preferences depending on social networks. Salvadoran-oriented Salvadorans mostly relied on voseo , while Mexican-oriented Salvadorans almost exclusively employed tuteo . While we found little intra-speaker variation, voseantes' tokens of tuteo primarily occurred in contexts of reported speech, indicating that, for voseantes , tuteo signals 'otherness'. We predicted that, among the tuteantes , voseo would linger in set phrases, such as fijate . This prediction was not borne out, suggesting that fixed expressions index speakers' identification with the community of their choice rather than national origin.


The standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Depending on selection criteria and quality of care, up to 50% of patients with OSA do not tolerate CPAP. For patients who cannot tolerate CPAP despite good quality care, pharmacological treatment would be a desirable alternative. The mechanisms by which pharmacological treatment is supposed to improve OSA include, amongst others, an augmentation in pharyngeal dilator muscle tone, an increase in ventilatory drive, a reduction in airway resistance and alterations in pharyngeal surface tension forces. In humans, most recent pharmacological approaches to the treatment of OSA in clinical trials have focused on modulating serotoninergic and cholinergic activities, as both have been shown to augment pharyngeal dilator muscle tone. However, currently there is not enough evidence to recommend any particular drug treatment for OSA. Methodological issues of published clinical trials on pharmacological OSA treatment make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions and inform further drug developments in this area. In this article, the pitfalls of clinical trials on pharmacological OSA therapy are summarised and potential solutions and directions for future studies are given.


Chemistry is the scientific discipline involved with elements and compounds composed of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties, behavior and the changes they undergo during a reaction with other substances. In the scope of its subject, chemistry occupies an intermediate position between physics and biology. It is sometimes called the central science because it provides a foundation for understanding both basic and applied scientific disciplines at a fundamental level. For example, chemistry explains aspects of plant chemistry (botany), the formation of igneous rocks (geology), how atmospheric ozone is formed and how environmental pollutants are degraded (ecology), the properties of the soil on the moon (cosmochemistry), how medications work (pharmacology), and how to collect DNA evidence at a crime scene (forensics).


Like numerous other traditional communities in South Africa, the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community lost portions of their ancestral land in the pre-constitutional era. Under an all-encompassing land reform programme, which also provides for the restitution of land in particular circumstances, a land claim was lodged. Having been successful with the land claim as all of the requirements set out in the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994 were met, the first battle of the community in reclaiming their land had been won. The initial victory was short-lived as a second battle ensued, dealing with the governance of and form of control over the newly restored land. While the community wanted a communal property association, provided for in the Communal Property Associations Act 28 of 1996, the traditional leader preferred a trust. In this regard the various options of forms and constructs of collective ownership came into play. The second battle resulted in the Constitutional Court's deciding in favour of a communal property association in the light of the overall scheme of the Communal Property Associations Act , its objectives, the particular role of the Director-General of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and all that had transpired in this particular case. This contribution deals with both of these battles, first setting out the struggle to reclaim the lost land, and then discussing the conflict over ownership and governance issues brought to finality in Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela Communal Property Association v Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela Tribal Authority 2015 6 SA 32 (CC). In this regard the judgment is analysed and thereafter reflected on with respect to recent developments linked specifically to communal property association legislation and then to other developments impacting on communal land and traditional communities in general. With regard to the former, recent draft amendments to the Communal Property Associations Act are highlighted, whereas policy developments and draft legislative measures are discussed with regard to the latter. While it is possible that some of the recent suggested amendments embodied in the Amendment Bill would have streamlined the process had these amendments been in operation when the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community fought the second battle, various problems remain. In this context markedly different - conflicting - approaches emerged from the Constitutional Court judgment and official policy measures. Whereas the Court confirmed more democratic forms of ownership and governance in general, but specifically with respect to traditional communities, official policy documents coupled with draft legislative measures relating to traditional courts entrench traditional leadership constructs. In this regard more democratic forms of governance and ownership are seemingly reserved for areas outside traditional communal areas, most notably outside the former homelands. While the judgment handed down in the Constitutional Court may have brought closure to the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community regarding the formation of a communal property association, the struggle of other traditional communities opting for communal property associations may just be beginning.


We study the universal properties of eigenstate entanglement entropy across the transition between many-body localized (MBL) and thermal phases. We develop an improved real space renormalization group approach that enables numerical simulation of large system sizes and systematic extrapolation to the infinite system size limit. For systems smaller than the correlation length, the average entanglement follows a subthermal volume law, whose coefficient is a universal scaling function. The full distribution of entanglement follows a universal scaling form, and exhibits a bimodal structure that produces universal subleading power-law corrections to the leading volume law. For systems larger than the correlation length, the short interval entanglement exhibits a discontinuous jump at the transition from fully thermal volume law on the thermal side, to pure area law on the MBL side.


Ecuadorian farmers do not play the investment game (Berg 1995) the same with community farmers as they do with agricultural technicians. Women exhibit a preference for trust in agricultural technicians (vertical trust). Using experimental and survey data from 191 farmers we examine factors associated with 1) farmer trust in community farmers, 2) farmer trust in agricultural technicians, and 3) differences between levels of trust in agricultural technicians and community farmers. Then we explore how our measures of trust correlate with pesticide knowledge and purchase of pesticide safety equipment; in addition, we consider how our measures of trust correlate with accessing bank loans. Farmers who place more trust in community farmers score lower on our pesticide knowledge exam and they are less likely to adopt our pesticide safety equipment technology. We find that farmers who exhibit a preference for trusting agricultural technicians score higher on our pesticide knowledge exam; they are also more likely to report having accessed a bank loan.


Describes a material which can substantially reduce the cost of seawater pipes and two methods for building and deploying such pipes for use in land-based OTEC installations, outfall sewers, or underwater tunnels. The material is laminated ferrocement, a lightweight, highly reinforced, ductile, and impact-resistant form of concrete whose long-term durability in seawater has been thoroughly established. In one deployment method, the intake structure is built on a pontoon floating over the site and the pipe is slipformed downward during a period of storm-free weather. In the other method, the pipe is built in segments in floating formwork behind a breakwater or in a basin scooped out of the beach and deployed from shore. Portable equipment is used for both methods and neither method requires a shipyard, a graving dock, or heavy lifts. A method for preparing a trench, deploying pipes through the surf line, and securing them against lateral forces are described.


Late Pliocene - early Pleistocene erosions and relative uplifts in the central inversion zone of the Xihu Depression, East China Sea Basin, are independently determined from reflection seismic data and sonic well-logging data, respectively. Relative uplifts estimated from linear least-square models of 26 sonic wells range from 0.0 to 501.3 m, while absolute erosions estimated on their respective well localities are generally larger, in the range of ~50.0 to 1147.5 m measured directly from seismic data, and ~70.0 to 1700.4 m after decompaction. Although discrepancies exist for several of the wells, a strong positive correlation can be found between erosions and relative uplifts. This good correlation verifies on the one hand that sonic well-logging data can give reasonably good estimates of relative uplifts, and on the other hand that erosions incurred during the basin inversion are strongly tectonically driven. Erosions and relative uplifts appear to be more exponentially than linearly interrelated.


Watershed restoration for mitigating or preventing impacts of human land use on aquatic ecosystems is now big business and is far more common and consumes far more financial resources than 10 to 20 y ago. The effects of restoration are assumed to be improvements in stream ecosystem integrity. However, there is not conclusive evidence that shows that most watershed restoration and mitigation projects produce expected environmental and biological changes. Here we present and discuss 4 major challenges associated with the planning, execution, and monitoring of large-scale restoration programs aimed at improving the ecosystem integrity of streams (and their downstream rivers and estuaries), with a focus on agricultural best management practices and urban stormwater control measures. These challenges are 1) the lack of holistic planning for implementing and monitoring large-scale restoration projects, 2) planning that does not include geographic context or considerations of scale, 3) a failure to tie monitoring to specific goals and predicted improvements in ecosystems, and 4) the limited and parochial approach to monitoring taken by funding agencies. We propose solutions for these challenges based on experience gained from planning and executing a large-scale program for improving water quality of the Delaware River in eastern North America.


Kale (Brassica oleracea) is a leafy green vegetable belonging to the Brassicaceae family, and kale leaves have large amounts of dietary fiber and polyphenolics. Dietary fiber can bind bile acids, thus potentially decreasing cholesterol levels; however, whether the polyphenols from kale contribute to in vitro bile acid binding capacity remains unclear. In the present study, kale was extracted with hexane, acetone, and MeOH : water and the dried extracts, as well as the fiber-rich residue, were tested for their bile acid binding capacity. The fiber-rich residue bound total bile acids in amounts equivalent to that bound by raw kale. The lyophilized acetone extract bound significantly more glycochenodeoxycholate and glycodeoxycholate and less of other bile acids. To test whether bile acid binding enhanced the bioaccessibility of polyphenolic compounds from kale, we used ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry to identify chemical constituents and measure their bioaccessibility in an in vitro digestion reaction. This identified 36 phenolic compounds in kale, including 18 kaempferol derivatives, 13 quercetin derivatives, 4 sinapoyl derivatives, and one caffeoylquinic acid. The bioaccessibility of these phenolics was significantly higher (69.4%) in digestions with bile acids. Moreover, bile acids enhanced the bioaccessibility of quercetin by 25 times: only 2.7% of quercetin derivatives were bioaccessible in the digestion without bile acids, but with bile acids, their accessibility increased to 69.5%. Bile acids increased the bioaccessibility of kaempferol from 37.7% to 69.2%. The extractability and biostability of total phenolics in the digested residue increased 1.8 fold in the digestions with bile acids. These results demonstrated the potential use of kale to improve human health.

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The present study investigated the relationship between self-esteem and self-efficacy among college students with physical and learning disabilities. Participants included forty-four undergraduate students and four graduate students registered with a university's office for students with disabilities. Collective Self-esteem, Membership Self-esteem, Private Self-esteem, and Public Self-esteem were positively and significantly correlated with General and Social Self-efficacy. Scores were found to be similar to scores from the normative samples. Thus although self-esteem and self-efficacy were significantly related to each other, they were largely unrelated to disability status. ********** Psychologists have written extensively about the self for over 100 years (e.g., James, 1890). Markus (1977) added to our understanding of the self by developing the notion of self schema, the organized views of self, which we all have. Coopersmith (1967) and Bandura (1986) contributed by identifying self-esteem, the evaluative component of self, and self-efficacy, our perceived abilities. For self-esteem and self-efficacy to be valid and useful, they ought to apply to all groups including those with disabilities, and they ought to be reliably measurable (Kerr & Bodman, 1994). Luhtanen and Crocker (1992) developed a reliable test for measuring self-esteem. Sherer, Maddux, Mercandante, Prentice-Dunn, Jacobs, and Rogers (1982) created a reliable scale to assess self-efficacy. Although experiencing a disability has been shown to have an important impact on the sense of self (Toombs, 1994), Wright (1983) found that there are no general personality differences between people with disabilities compared to their peers. Likewise Kelly, Sedlacek, and Scales (1994) concluded that college students with physical and learning disabilities did not perceive themselves differently from students from the general population. However, Kelly et al. (1994) found that students from the general population rated their peers with disabilities as being lower in extraversion and in emotional stability compared to other peers. Also, Saracoglu, Minden, and Wilchesky (1989) surveyed college students with learning disabilities to determine perceptions of their college experience. The authors concluded that college students with learning disabilities exhibited poor self-esteem as well as poor emotional adjustment. Penn and Dudley (1980) questioned college students with physical disabilities to determine perceptions of their college experience. The researchers concluded that these students ranked self-confidence as one of the major obstacles confronted while attending college. Thus there is disagreement among studies regarding the sense of self of college students with disabilities. The present study attempted to further investigate the relationship between measures of self (self-esteem and self-efficacy) and disability status of college students with disabilities. It was hypothesized that self-esteem and self-efficacy scores would be correlated. Additionally, it was hypothesized that these scores would be lower for students with disabilities compared to the normative sample. Further, it was hypothesized that self-esteem would be correlated with reported academic achievement in high school and college among students with disabilities. Methods Participants Forty-four undergraduate students and four graduate students with disabilities enrolled at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) served as participants in this study. All of the participants were registered with the Disabled Student Services Office and had provided documentation of their disabilities to the director. Twenty-three females and 25 males participated. The numbers of students for each matriculation classification were as follows: freshman (8); sophomore (13); junior (10); senior (13); and graduate (4). …


The stratigraphic serie of the Precaspian Depression during the Upper Permian and the Triassic is analysed. Data from seismic sections and from numerous boreholes are used. The lithological composition and the palaeontological content are cleared for all the time interval. Three palaeogeographical maps are drawing for the Kazanian, the Lower Triassic and the Middle Triassic. The evolution of palaeoenvironments is restored in relation to the tectonic events and the fluctuations of the Boreal Sea and the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean.


Abstract:Democracy is in retreat globally. In 2018, Freedom House's annual Freedom in the World survey recorded the thirteenth consecutive year of decline in freedom around the world. This reversal has spanned a variety of countries across every region, from longstanding democracies such as the United States to consolidated authoritarian regimes such as China and Russia. The relative international power of the highly industrialized democracies is dwindling as newly industrialized economies gain greater clout. Meanwhile, the major democracies are flagging in their support for core democratic norms, which under are serious threat around the world. The norms under attack include free-and-fair elections, term limits for executives, freedom of expression, and protection of the rights of migrants and refugees. Nonetheless, surprising improvements in Angola, Armenia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, and Malaysia show that democracy has enduring appeal.


Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) have continued to emerge in recent years, posing a significant health threat to millions ofpeople worldwide. The majority of arboviruses that are pathogenic to humans are transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks, but othertypes of arthropod vectors can also be involved in the transmission of these viruses. To alleviate the health burdens associated with arbovirus infections, it is necessary to focus today's research on disease control and therapeutic strategies. Animal models for arboviruses are valuable experimental tools that can shed light on the pathophysiology of infection and will enable the evaluation of future treatments and vaccine candidates. Ideally an animal model will closely mimic the disease manifestations observed in humans. In this review, we outline the currently available animal models for several viruses vectored by mosquitoes, ticks, and midges, for which there are no standardly available vaccines or therapeutics.


The effective and efficient management of water is a major problem, not just for economic growth and development in the Nile River basin, but also for the peaceful coexistence of the millions of people who live in the region. Of critical importance to the people of this part of Africa is the reasonable, equitable and sustainable management of the waters of the Nile River and its tributaries. Written by scholars trained in economics and law, and with significant experience in African political economy, this book explores new ways to deal with conflict over the allocation of the waters of the Nile River and its tributaries. The monograph provides policymakers in the Nile River riparian states and other stakeholders with practical and effective policy options for dealing with what has become a very contentious problem - the effective management of the waters of the Nile River. The analysis is quite rigorous but also extremely accessible.


Objectives To investigate the longitudinal relationship between inflammatory lesions in sacroiliac joints on MRI (MRI-SI) and clinical disease activity measures (DA) in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Methods Two-year follow-up data from 167 patients (50% males, mean (SD) age 33 (9) years) fulfilling the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society axSpA criteria in the DEvenir des Spondylarthopathies Indifférenciées Récentes cohort with MRI-SI at baseline, 1 year and 2 years were analysed. The relationship between MRI-SI (as dependent variable) and DA (Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), patient's global DA, night pain, C reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, as independent variables) was investigated using two types of generalised estimating equations (GEE) models: model of absolute scores and model of change scores. Results In the model of absolute scores, the relationship between DA and MRI-SI was different for males and females: in males, but not in females, a statistically significant relationship with MRI-SI was found for all DA except BASDAI. In the model of changes, only ASDAS (beta (95% CI): 2.79 (0.85 to 4.73) and pain at night (0.97 (0.04 to 1.90)) were significantly associated in males while again in females no significant relationship was found. ASDAS fitted the data best. Conclusions In male patients, but not in female patients, with axSpA, clinical DA, especially if measured by ASDAS, is longitudinally associated with MRI-SI inflammatory lesions.


Today, more than 30 products using a manufacturing process based on mammalian cell culture have been approved for human therapy. Most of these products are currently supplied with stirred tank bioreactors operated in batch or fed-batch mode. However, the bioprocess industry needs to constantly increase the productivity of its cell culture processes in order to supply more material with minimal investments in additional equipments. Therefore, alternative production techniques must also be considered, such as the perfusion culture of mammalian cells immobilized in packed-bed bioreactors (PBRs). PBRs can reach very high cell density and hence very high volumetric productivity; so their potential for bioprocess applications must be further evaluated. A review of current state-of-the-art in PBRs development (Chapter 2) showed that the latest generation of PBRs used for bioprocess applications have achieved very high cell densities (i.e. 107-108 cells per milliliter) leading to outstandingly high volumetric productivity. However, the major bottleneck for bioprocess PBRs is their relatively small volume due to the impossibility to avoid nutrient concentration gradients in PBRs of large volume. The current maximal volume seems to be in the range 10-30 liters, and more than 10-fold scale-up would still be required make the PBRs a competitive production technique. Beside their use for bioprocessing applications, PBRs have proven to be an excellent tool to fulfill the requirements of compact bioartificial organs in biomedical applications: they can reach the cell density and volume of an organ. However, as observed during the development of bioartificial livers, a decrease of metabolic activity is frequently observed after 1-2 weeks of culture. Therefore, the main challenge in this field is to develop cell lines that grow consistently to high cell density in vitro, and that maintain a stable phenotype for a minimum of 1-2 months to make them applicable to the PBR technology and to fulfill the clinical demand. PBRs are characterized by high cell density levels, thus by high metabolic rates, and accurate control of the cultures is required. Furthermore cell number cannot be determined directly in PBRs so an indirect method is needed. An indirect method based on the Glucose Consumption Rate (GCR) was developed to monitor a PBR process using recombinant Chinese Hamster Ovarian (CHO) cells cultured on Fibra-Cel® disk carriers (Chapter 3). A key step in this process was the switch from the cell growth phase to the production phase triggered by a reduction of the temperature. In this system, a GCR-based criterion was defined for the switch, and this control strategy proved to be robust, very simple, and was applied successfuly in routine operations for the monitoring and control of an industrial process at pilot-scale. The process operated with this GCR-based strategy yielded consistent, reproducible process performance across numerous bioreactor runs performed on multiple production sites. Another consequence of the high cell density reached in PBRs is the need for an intensive medium perfusion rate (feed and harvest) that should be used in order to keep the cells viable and productive. It appears that the perfusion rate is one of the central parameters of such a process: it drives the volumetric protein productivity, the protein product quality and has a very strong impact on the overall economics of the process. Therefore at industrial scale the optimal stationary packed-bed bioreactor process should operate with a perfusion rate as low as possible without compromising on quantity and quality of the product. In Chapter 4, the optimal medium perfusion rate to be used for the continuous culture of a recombinant CHO cell line in a packed-bed bioreactor made of Fibra-Cel® disk carriers was determined. A first-generation process had originally been designed with a high perfusion rate (2.6 vvd), in order to rapidly produce material for pre-clinical and early clinical trials. A reduction of the medium perfusion rate by –25% and –50% was investigated. With a –25% reduction of the perfusion rate, the volumetric productivity was maintained compared to the first-generation process, but a 30% loss of productivity was obtained when the medium perfusion rate was further reduced to –50% of its original level. The protein quality under reduced perfusion rate conditions was analysed for purity, N-glycan sialylation level, abundance of dimers or aggregates, and showed that the quality of the final drug substance was comparable to that obtained in reference conditions. Finally, a reduction of –25% medium perfusion was implemented at pilot scale in the second-generation process, which enabled to maintain the same productivity and the same quality of the molecule, while reducing costs of media, material and manpower of the production process. In Chapter 5, another limitation found in high-density PBR cultures was studied: oxygen supply. A model describing the oxygenation in a PBR of Fibra-Cel® disk carriers was developed. With the help of this model, it was possible to identify that the initial PBR system operated in sub-optimal conditions. Using the model two options were proposed, which could improve the performance of the initial system by about 2-fold: by increasing the density of immobilized cells per volume of carrier from 6.1·107 to 1.2·108 cell·mL-1, or by increasing the packed-bed height from 0.2 to 0.4 meters. Both strategies would be rather simple to test and implement in the packed-bed bioreactor system used for this study. As a result it would be possible to achieve a substantial improvement of about 2-fold higher productivity as compared with the basal conditions. Finally, this work compared the performance of two different CHO cell culture processes (PBR and fed-batch) used for the production of a therapeutically active recombinant glycoprotein at industrial pilot-scale (Chapter 6). The 1st-generation process was based on the Fibra-Cel® PBR technology. However, it appeared during the development of the candidate drug that high therapeutic doses were required (>100 milligrams per dose), and that future market demand would be in excess of 100 kilograms per year. This exceeded by far the production capacity of the 1st-generation process, and triggered a change of technology from a PBR process with limited scale-up capabilities to a fed-batch process with scale-up potential to several thousand litres. The volumetric productivity (in Product·m-3·year-1) reached with the fed-batch process was comparable to productivitiy of the PBR process. However, since the PBR system was limited in scale (0.6 m3 max.) compared to the volumes reached in suspension cultures (15 m3), the fed-batch was selected as the 2nd-generation process. In fact, the total product output per year (in Product·year-1) was about 18-fold higher for the fed-batch compared to the PBR. Data from perfusion and fed-batch harvest samples indicated that comparable product quality (relative abundance of monomers, dimers and aggregates; N-glycan sialylation level; isoforms distribution) was obtained in both processes. This illustrates the need to fix the production process early during the development of a new drug product in order to minimize process conversion efforts and to shorten product development timelines.


Once Europe's supreme maritime power, Spain by the mid-eighteenth century was facing fierce competition from England and France. England, in particular, had successfully mustered the financial resources necessary to confront its Atlantic rivals by mobilizing both aristocracy and merchant bourgeoisie in support of its imperial ambitions. Spain, meanwhile, remained overly dependent on the profits of its New World silver mines to finance both metropolitan and colonial imperatives, and England's naval superiority constantly threatened the vital flow of specie. When Charles III ascended the Spanish throne in 1759, then, after a quarter-century as ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Spain and its colonial empire were seriously imperiled. Two hundred years of Hapsburg rule, followed by a half-century of ineffectual Bourbon "reforms," had done little to modernize Spain's increasingly antiquated political, social, economic, and intellectual institutions. Charles III, recognizing the pressing need to renovate these institutions, set his Italian staff-notably the Marques de Esquilache, who became Secretary of the Consejo de Hacienda (the Exchequer)-to this formidable task. In Apogee of Empire, Stanley J. Stein and Barbara H. Stein trace the attempt, initially under Esquilache's direction, to reform the Spanish establishment and, later, to modify and modernize the relationship between the metropole and its colonies. Within Spain, Charles and his architects of reform had to be mindful of determining what adjustments could be made that would help Spain confront its enemies without also radically altering the Hapsburg inheritance. As described in impressive detail by the authors, the bitter, seven-year conflict that ensued between reformers and traditionalists ended in a coup in 1766 that forced Charles to send Esquilache back to Italy. After this setback at home, Charles still hoped to effect constructive change in Spain's imperial system, primarily through the incremental implementation of a policy of comercio libre (free-trade). These reforms, made half-heartedly at best, failed as well, and by 1789 Spain would find itself ill prepared for the coming decades of upheaval in Europe and America. An in-depth study of incremental response by an old imperial order to challenges at home and abroad, Apogee of Empire is also a sweeping account of the personalities, places, and policies that helped to shape the modern Atlantic world.


Since Andrew Carnegie penned his famous _Gospel of Wealth_ in 1889, corporate philanthropists have championed considerable public good around the world, investing in a wide range of social programs addressing a diversity of public issues, from poverty to healthcare to criminal justice. Nevertheless, the problem of "the Rich and the Poor," as termed by Andrew Carnegie in his famous essay, remains unsolved. Socially conscious investors have recently called for America to reimagine a new "gospel of wealth", one that not only grapples with the what of social injustice, but also explores the how and the why of systemic social and economic inequality. An emerging social finance tool, the social impact bond ("SIB"), has been praised as a promising platform that can help solve many of our social challenges by targeting impact investments toward traditionally underfunded social welfare programs.

This Article sets forth a critical examination of the new SIB model, highlighting some of the opportunities for the social finance tool to promote social impact, while also revealing several of its challenges that may hinder its broader adoption in communities across America. In the process, this Article exposes key flaws inherent in the design of the SIB model, including its neoliberal emphasis on market-based economic development strategies and its disregard for the primary role of government in the protection and advancement of the public good. It concludes by calling for a more progressive economic development framework to guide the implementation of the SIB model, one that can help development practitioners, philanthropists, and impact investors wrestle with the deficiencies of our global capitalist economic system and overcome the entrenched systemic barriers to economic justice in America.


PART I: APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF THE ANCIENT GREEK
COUNTRYSIDE
CHAPTER 1: THE ANCIENT GREEK COUNTRYSIDE IN CLASSICAL SCHOLARSHIP
The Introduction locates the present study within the wider historiography of research into the ancient Greek
countryside, assessing the contribution of geographical, archaeological and anthropological studies to the history of
the ancient countryside, and analysing the methods which have tended to place the subject on the margins of
traditional, text-based studies of the ancient world.
CHAPTER 2: THE CONTEXT OF THE CASE STUDY
Ch. 2 justifies the choice of the island of Siphnos as a case study to reassess the archaeology of the ancient Greek
countryside in the light of the Ch. 1. The regional context, and the physical environment of this particular polis, are
briefly described.
CHAPTER 3: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD OF RURAL SITES
More than fifty rural sites exhibiting monumental masonry construction (towers and associated structures) have
been recorded throughout the chora of Late Classical-Hellenistic Siphnos. Problems in identifying and dating
occupation at rural sites are discussed within the context of the island's topography and long-term settlement history.
Historical, epigraphic, ethnographic and archaeological evidence is considered with regard to the interpretation of
monumental rural sites. The sites are then re-examined with regard to their architectural construction (Ch.4), their
location and distribution (Ch.5), local land use (Ch.6), and the regional context of the countryside (Ch.7), in order to
examine the economic geography of the polis.
PART II: MONUMENTAL RURAL SITES IN THE CHORA OF ANCIENT
SIPHNOS
CHAPTER 4: SOCIAL ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRYSIDE - ARCHITECTURE OF
RURAL SITES
The rural sites are analysed according to their architectural plan, construction, orientation, and the presence of
adjoining and adjacent structures, walls, courtyards, buildings and water collection devices.
CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRYSIDE - LOCATION AND
DISTRIBUTION OF RURAL SITES
The location of rural sites is examined according to aspect, elevation, coastal distance, intervisibility and nearest
neighbour analysis in order to examine hypotheses concerning their functions. It is argued that the majority of rural
sites on Siphnos fulfilled an agrarian, rather than strategic function.
CHAPTER 6: SOCIAL ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRYSIDE - LAND USE AT RURAL
SITES
Many monumental rural buildings were built on steep sloped uplands (eschatiai). Strategies of land use
(including extractive activities, agriculture, animal husbandry) are considered in relation to the architecture and
location of rural site complexes.
CHAPTER 7; CONCLUSION - RURAL SITES AND THE POLIS
The Conclusion evaluates the findings of the case study according to patterns of rural building and land use in the
ancient Greek countryside and discusses future opportunities for research in the subject.
Volume II contains Appendices and Plates relevant to the case study in Volume I.


We consider two matrix completion problems, in which we are given a matrix with missing entries and the task is to complete the matrix in a way that (1) minimizes the rank, or (2) minimizes the number of distinct rows. We study the parameterized complexity of the two aforementioned problems with respect to several parameters of interest, including the minimum number of matrix rows, columns, and rows plus columns needed to cover all missing entries. We obtain new algorithmic results showing that, for the bounded domain case, both problems are fixed-parameter tractable with respect to all aforementioned parameters. We complement these results with a lower-bound result for the unbounded domain case that rules out fixed-parameter tractability w.r.t. some of the parameters under consideration.


Interactions among proteins mediate regulatory, mechanical, structural and transport functions and are fundamental in the modulation of all cellular activities. About 15 years ago, it was first noted that physical interactions link most if not all proteins to each other in complex networks. The analysis of maps representing current knowledge about these molecular networks can provide insights that range from specific hypotheses on the function of a given protein to system-level properties on the organisation or evolution of biological systems. Here, we provide an updated introduction to the numerous ways and available tools by which protein–protein interaction maps can be analysed, and caveats that need to be kept in mind.

Key Concepts

Protein–protein interaction maps are important tools to develop functional hypothesis, contextualise 'omic' gene lists, analyse system properties and systems evolution and provide an important basis for analysing system dynamics.
Networks can be assembled from small-scale literature data, bioinformatic prediction and experimental high-throughput technologies of which affinity-purification followed by mass spectrometry or binary yeast-based assays are most common.
Global and local properties of protein–protein interaction maps can be influenced by sociological, technological and experimental biases that need to be taken into account.
High-throughput technologies can provide data that are in quality at least comparable to the high-quality fraction from small-scale studies in public databases.
Carefully benchmarked and appropriate quality controls must be implemented for all approaches.
Binary and co-complex methodologies give rise to differential and complementary sets of protein interactions.
Bioinformatic tools are available that enable nonspecialists to analyse and use protein–protein interaction networks.

Keywords:

protein–protein interactions;
protein networks;
molecular networks;
interactome;
yeast-two-hybrid;
mass spectrometry;
systems analysis;
bioinformatics


Introduction We investigated whether markers of airway and systemic inflammation, as well as heart rate variability (HRV) in asthmatics, change in response to fluctuations in ambient particulate matter (PM) in the coarse [PM with aerodynamic diameter 2.5–10 μm (PM2.5–10)] and fine (PM2.5) size range. Methods Twelve adult asthmatics, living within a 30-mile radius of an atmospheric monitoring site in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, were followed over a 12-week period. Daily PM2.5–10 and PM2.5 concentrations were measured separately for each 24-hr period. Each subject had nine clinic visits, at which spirometric measures and peripheral blood samples for analysis of lipids, inflammatory cells, and coagulation-associated proteins were obtained. We also assessed HRV [SDNN24HR (standard deviation of all normal-to-normal intervals in a 24-hr recording), ASDNN5 (mean of the standard deviation in all 5-min segments of a 24-hr recording)] with four consecutive 24-hr ambulatory electrocardiogram measurements. Linear mixed models with a spatial covariance matrix structure and a 1-day lag were used to assess potential associations between PM levels and cardiopulmonary end points. Results For a 1-μg/m3 increase in coarse PM, SDNN24HR, and ASDNN5 decreased 3.36% (p = 0.02), and 0.77%, (p = 0.05) respectively. With a 1-μg/m3 increase in coarse PM, circulating eosinophils increased 0.16% (p = 0.01), triglycerides increased 4.8% (p = 0.02), and very low-density lipoprotein increased 1.15% (p = 0.01). No significant associations were found with fine PM, and none with lung function. Conclusion These data suggest that small temporal increases in ambient coarse PM are sufficient to affect important cardiopulmonary and lipid parameters in adults with asthma. Coarse PM may have underappreciated health effects in susceptible populations.


Abstract Oxide ceramic masses are used for catalysts and catalyst carriers. For a reliable processing hydrocolloids (e. g. cellulose) are usually added in order to decelerate demixing phenomena. Oxide ceramic masses react to simple shearing with hardening (peptisation: increase of the shear stress with the shear deformation) [1]. The present study analyses, if an ultrasonic treatment has also an impact on the structure, the shelf-life (in the green state), the correlated flow behaviour of oxide ceramic masses and presumably (not tested) the mechanical properties in the hardened, sintered state. The idea of using ultrasonic treatment is to change the microstructure (see below) and, therefore, to minimise or even give up the standard addition of stabilizers to minimize demixing in aqueous oxide ceramic suspensions. Besides the additional costs of an extra process unit, stabilisers cause often deteriorated mechanical properties (porosity, crack behaviour) of the ceramics in the hardened state after the sintering. Therefore, pump experiments (apparent viscosity), oscillatory (G´ and G´´) and steady shear experiments (h), particle-size analysis (particle-size distribution, agglomerate strength), light microscopy, decanting experiments and pH-determinations have been performed. The obtained results show, that the hardening of the apparent viscosity (derived from the flow) during pump experiments with simultaneous ultrasonic treatment in a flow cell is combined with an increase of the fine fraction, the formation of enlarged, but smoother agglomerates, the change of the pH-value and the evolution of a three-dimensional network (gelling). All these processes increase both the amount of bound/immobilised (chemically or physically bound by or onto the solid-surfaces) and of retained water (interior of agglomerates and/or the pores of the flowand ultrasonic-induced network). This means that the volume fraction of the rheologically "free" water decreases and simultaneously the effective solid volume fraction increases. With respect to the concept of the rheologically effective solid fraction this is combined with an increasing viscosity. At the same time the tendency of demixing decreases significantly. Thus, by an appropriate combination of shear flow and ultrasonic treatment, the aqueous oxide ceramic suspensions are stabilised and a reliable processing of the initially problematic solid/fluid mixtures can be realised without stabilisers (eluding their negative consequences with respect to the quality of the sintered state).


Background: The pregnancy rate during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) following progesterone supplement still remains very low at around 20%. Objective: To investigate the effects of peanut oil itself on the endometrial receptivity, the pregnancy success rate and fertility during the peri-implantation time in hyper stimulated and normal rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six adult Sprague Dawley rats with at least four regular oestrus cycles were randomly divided into 4 groups: two groups were hyper stimulated by human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and treated with progesterone or with peanut oil; the two other groups were not hyper stimulated and treated with saline solution or peanut oil. On day 5.5 of pregnancy, the uterine horns were removed and blood was collected for histomorphometric and serum progesterone evaluation. 12 rats were allowed to continue the presumed pregnancy to term. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and student t-test were used to compare the means of morphometric and radioimmunoassay data between groups. p-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The mean values of morphometric parameters and serum progesterone varied significantly between the groups (ANOVA, p<0.0001). The lowest values of progesterone parameters were observed in the hyperstimulated groups that did not deliver pups; both hyperstimulated groups had deleterious luminal epithelium with varying degrees of mucosal projections. There were isolated decidualised zones observed in hyper stimulated peanut oil group, whereas peanut oil group had the highest number of implantation sites and deliveries. Conclusion: The results show that hype stimulation reduces the endometrial receptivity, while peanut oil increases endometrial receptivity, pregnancy rates and fertility by triggering decidualisation.


The core promoter for human DNA polymerase beta contains discrete binding sites for mammalian nuclear proteins, as revealed by DNasel footprinting and gel mobility shift assays. Two sites correspond to sequences identical with the Sp1 factor binding element, and a third site includes an eight residue palindromic sequence, TGACGTCA, known as the CRE element of several cAMP responsive promoters; the 5 to 10 residues flanking this palindrome on each side have no apparent sequence homology with known elements in other promoters. Nuclear extract from a variety of tissues and cells were examined; these included rat liver and testes and cultured cells of human and hamster origin. The DNasel footprint is strong over and around the palindromic element for each of the extracts and is equivalent in size (approximately 22 residues); footprinting over the Sp1 binding sites is seen also. Two potential tissue-specific binding sites, present in liver but not in testes, were found corresponding to residues -13 to -10 and +33 to +48, respectively. Protein binding to the palindromic element was confirmed by an electrophoretic mobility shift assay with the core promoter as probe. Binding specificity of the 22 residue palindromic element, as revealed by oligonucleotide competition, is different from that of AP-1 binding element. Controlled proteolysis with trypsin was used to study structural properties of proteins forming the mobility shift bands. Following digestion with trypsin, most of the palindrome binding activity of each extract corresponded to a sharp, faster migrating band, potentially representing a DNA binding domain of the palindrome binding protein.


Small and medium sized enterprises' (SMEs) activities have contributed significantly to environmental degradation that causes a disastrous effect on us and our future generation. Considering this, sustainable entrepreneurship has been promoted as a resolution of ecological problems capable of addressing climate change issues, public health, and safety concerns, and has become critical for competing in international markets. SMEs activities increased pollution exclusively causing environmental degradation. In response, the world is focusing on ensuring that SMEs produce products through safe and environmentally friendly practices. Literature suggests that organizational support provide SMEs with the impetus to achieve competitive advantage regarding turnover, customer attraction and market share opportunities to achieve business performance. Nonetheless, the implementation of sustainable entrepreneurship among them is still low due to numerous challenges. This paper intends to investigate the influence of organizational support on sustainable entrepreneurship towards performance among SMEs. A case study involving 300 herbal-based SMEs were surveyed using structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation model. The results show that organizational support have a positive effect on sustainable entrepreneurship and performance among the SMEs, accounting for 52% and 47% variance respectively. This finding reveals that organizational support is significantly related to entrepreneurship performance, thus substantiates previous findings on the crucial roles of organizational support in enabling organizations to achieve sustainable entrepreneurship performance. This study contributes to triple bottom line literature based on incorporation of strategic choice theory, strategic sustainability orientation and resource-based view theory in entrepreneurship framework.


Open access: www.balimedicaljournal.org and ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/b j Unilateral pedicle screw fixation as a less invasive surgical procedure: a case series and literature review Tjokorda Gde Bagus Mahadewa1* Introduction: The principle of treatment for degenerative spinal diseases when conservative modality failed is surgery. Unilateral pedicle screw fixation is a less invasive methods with clinical outcomes that were similar to a bilateral fixation, especially for lumbar degenerative disease. Improvement of symptoms, neurological outcome and spinal stability is the utmost priority. This was a case series study with five patients with degenerative spine disease from January 2019 January 2020. The aims are to evaluate unilateral pedicle screw surgery outcomes and elucidate the effectiveness of this method clinically. Case Description: Five patients aged 40-64 years old involved in this series. Four patients presented with lumbar radiculopathy and one patient with cervical radiculopathy. All experienced weakness (MMT score 2-4) and pain along the affected extremities. Three patients diagnosed with concomitant Herniated Nucleus Pulposus (HNP) and Foraminal Stenosis (FS) based on clinical examination and Magnetic Resonance Imaging result. The rest of two patients each diagnosed with FS and HNP. Surgery initiated with a midline incision. Muscle ipsilateral to the symptomatic side was dissected and retracted to expose the facet joint and the vertebral lamina. Screws were inserted into the vertebral body and the rod used to connect the screws was bent following the vertebral curvature. Facetectomy or Hemilaminectomy was done to expose and decompress the ipsilateral side's nerve root and intervertebral space. The incision site is then irrigated and closed. All operation was done by the same surgeon. Postoperative clinical outcomes were evaluated for six months after surgery. All patients showed a complete motor improvement and fully relieved from pain. Conclusion: Unilateral pedicle screw fixation is considered as a less invasive instrumentation system with clinical outcome comparable to bilateral screw fixation.


On the basis of assumption, that Internet is the main measure for e-government in delivering information services for the general public, tendencies of e-services and public information delivery via Internet sites of are analysed in this article. Results of the recent content research (2006) of Internet sites of Lithuanian ministries and self-government institutions are analysed in detail and some comparisons are made by using results of similar surveys conducted four years ago (2002) by other authors. It is shown, that during last period information delivery by these Internet sites was changing very positively, and it is good presumption for farther egovernment development in Lithuania.


Near- and mid-infrared absorption spectra of pure water and aqueous 1.0 g/dL glucose solutions in the wavenumber range 8000–950 cm−1 were measured in the temperature range 30–42 °C in steps of 2 °C. Measurements were carried out with an FT-IR spectrometer and a variable pathlength transmission cell controlled within 0.02 °C. Pathlengths of 50 μm and 0.4 mm were used in the mid- and near-infrared spectral region, respectively. Difference spectra were used to determine the effect of temperature on the water spectra quantitatively. These spectra were obtained by subtracting the 37 °C water spectrum from the spectra measured at other temperatures. The difference spectra reveal that the effect of temperature is highest in the vicinity of the strong absorption bands, with a number of isosbestic points with no temperature dependence and relatively flat plateaus in between. On the basis of these spectra, prospects for and limitations on data analysis for infrared diagnostic methods are discussed. As an example, the absorptive properties of glucose were studied in the same temperature range in order to determine the effect of temperature on the spectral shape of glucose. The change in water absorption associated with the addition of glucose has also been studied. An estimate of these effects is given and is related to the expected level of infrared signals from glucose in humans.


Resistive Random Access Memory(RRAM) technology opens the opportunity for granting both high-performance and low-power features to routing multiplexers. In this paper, we study the physical design considerations related to RRAM-based routing multiplexers and particularly the integration of 4T(ransistor)1R(RAM) programming structures within their routing tree. We first analyze the limitations in the physical design of a naive one-level 4T1R-based multiplexer, such as co-integration of low-voltage nominal power supply and high voltage programming supply, as well as the use of long metal wires across different isolating wells. To address the limitations, we improve the one-level 4T1R-based multiplexer by re-arranging the nominal and programming voltage domains, and also study the optimal location of RRAMs in terms of performance. The improved design can effectively reduce the length of long metal wires by 50%. Electrical simulations show that using a 7nm FinFET transistor technology, the improved 4T1R-based multiplexers improve delay by 69% as compared to the basic design. At nominal working voltage, considering an input size ranging from 2 to 32, the improved 4T1R-based multiplexers outperform the best CMOS multiplexers in area by 1.4x, delay by 2x and power by 2x respectively. The improved 4T1R-based multiplexers operating at near-Vt regime can improve Power-Delay Product by up to 5.8x when compare to the best CMOS multiplexers working at nominal voltage.


In 1575 the men in the village of Goumoens-la-ville voted to abolish the Mass and establish Reformed Christianity as the sole creed in their village. Agreements between the ruling Orte, Bern and Fribourg, devolved the determination of the village�s religious adhesion to the residents themselves. For years, both creeds had coexisted in the village and this arrangement became the status quo that villagers upheld in a previous election. The evidence examined here reveals how rural clergy and residents, both Catholic and Reformed, negotiated religious change at a time when the ruling urban centers were hardening their confessional stances. It is argued that for the residents the choice was complex and involved more than religious sentiment alone. It demonstrates as well that a pragmatic coexistence had continued within the village that allowed residents to live in peace despite their confessional differences, until the vote.


The continuous-wave Raman laser system differs from other Raman systems in that it uses cavity enhancement to augment the pump laser source rather than a highpower pulsed laser source. Through interactions of the pump laser with the Raman active medium, all Raman systems can produce both red-shifted, Stokes, emission and blue-shifted, anti-Stokes, emission. Previous, continuous-wave Raman laser systems have focused on the Stokes emission. This dissertation presents theory and data on the anti-Stokes emission. Specifically, it investigates the anti-Stokes mode structure and the emitted power as a function of input pump power, detuning, pressure, and mode combination. In order to be able to compare theory to data, the existing semi-classical CW Raman laser theory is extended to include the possibility that the spatial mode of any of the three fields (pump, Stokes, or anti-Stokes) is not the fundamental spatial mode. Numerical simulations of this theory are used to understand the behavior of the CW Raman system. All the data is compared to the theory, with varying degrees of success. The pump laser used in this research is a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG at 532 nm and the Raman active medium is H2. This combination results in Stokes and antiStokes wavelengths of 683 nm and 435 nm, respectively. Five methods were found in this research for increasing the amount of anti-Stokes emitted: increasing the input pump power, detuning from gain line-center of the Stokes emission, increasing the reflectivity of the cavity mirrors at the anti-Stokes wavelength, switching to a higher-order spatial mode, and decreasing the H2 pressure within the Raman cavity. In general, it was found that the higher-order anti-Stokes modes did not agree with a single theoretical spatial mode. Superpositions were formed of multiple theoretical spatial modes giving intensity distribution across the profile similar to the measured profile. Three theoretical spatial mode symmetries were investigated: rectangular, cylindrical, and elliptical. Also measured was the Raman gain as a function of pressure. The accepted theory for the Raman linewidth was found to be slightly off.


Sustainable development of renewable energy sources is a very complex and manydimensional process. Renewable energy development cannot be dispersed and infinite; the location of the development, the extent and geographical distribution must be planned in such a way that this development would bring the expected result. Also, it is necessary to keep in mind that due to the advances in technology these resources which at the beginning are almost the only alternative may become just one of several possible choices. The development of renewable sources is a dynamic process changing together with the level of society development, so one model applicable to all countries and situations with large differences in levels of economic development does not exist. Another important aspect to be noted is the distribution of renewable energy in the geographical sense, as most of the resources have certain characteristics for a particular area: hydro, wind, etc. This article aims to look at the development of renewable energy not only from an economic or environmental perspective, but also aims to include social and partly institutional aspects as sustainable development policy, policy of the sustainable development of renewable energy sources in particular, should cover a much wider solution than just the potential analysis of the development of a specific resource.


Race and the Lending Gap Redlining, which entails the denial of credit to low-income and minority communities, has been a concern in the United States for decades. The practice took its most overt form in the early to mid-1900s, when the National Association of Real Estate Boards (NAREB) and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) discouraged lending in urban communities with high concentrations of the poor and minorities (Judd, 1984; Massey and Denton, 1993; McKenzie, 1994). Since that time, redlining was made illegal by the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968. Following the passage of this act, community activists led the campaign for a series of laws passed at the federal, state, and local levels which shifted the government's stance from "a position requiring segregation to one prohibiting it, at least in terms of the letter of the law" (Squires, 1994: 69). The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) of 1975 and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 were among the more important laws passed during this period. These laws have provided community advocates and researchers with data and enforcement mechanisms to challenge discriminatory lending policies of banks. Despite opposition from financial institutions, HMDA and CRA have been strengthened over the years due to the combined efforts of community advocates and researchers (Nyden et. al., 1997; Squires, 2003). Together, these efforts have come to form the community reinvestment movement in the United States (Squires, 1992). A major watershed in the community reinvestment movement came in 1988 when a series of articles titled "The Color of Money" was published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Dedman, 1988). These articles brought the issues of redlining into the public eye, adding momentum to efforts to address discrimination in housing markets. The articles indicated that a gap existed in mortgage lending between African Americans and whites living in the Atlanta, Georgia. This lending gap placed African American neighborhoods at a disadvantage in the market for mortgage products and was offered as evidence for the continued practice of redlining. Since the publication of the articles, scholars have paid increased attention to the problem of redlining in American cities. Within this growing body of research, disagreement over the extent to which the racial composition of neighborhoods influences mortgage lending has surfaced. Ross and Yinger (2002) offer a detailed examination of this debate in the research. On one side of this argument, scholars have attempted to forward evidence that race is not a significant indicator of mortgage lending patterns. From this perspective it is argued that other characteristics of a neighborhood's population and housing stock predict mortgage lending patterns. On the other side of this argument, scholars have maintained that redlining based on race remains a component of American housing markets. Although these scholars acknowledge that a variety of factors influence lending patterns, race is believed to be an important aspect of the mortgage process. In the years following the series in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution scholarship began to emerge which downplayed the role of race in mortgage lending. For example, Hula (1991) studied patterns of mortgage lending using aggregate data at the national level. In his analysis, he examined the effects of various population and housing characteristics on both the number and value of mortgages during the 1980's. Hula concluded that there was weak support for redlining based on the racial composition of neighborhoods. Similarly, Shill and Wachter (1993) examined the disposition of mortgage applications in Boston and Philadelphia. In their analysis they also controlled for neighborhood racial composition and housing characteristics. The results of their research produced evidence that rejected claims that redlining was present in the two cities studied. Another study of mortgage lending which focused on Detroit, Michigan, a majority-minority city, reached similar conclusions concerning the relationship between race and mortgage lending (Perle et. …


With a view to developing a formalism that will be applicable at second perturbative order, we devise a new practical scheme for computing the gravitational self-force experienced by a point mass moving in a curved background spacetime. Our method works in the frequency domain and employs the effective-source approach, in which a distributional source for the retarded metric perturbation is replaced with an effective source for a certain regularized self-field. A key ingredient of the calculation is the analytic determination of an appropriate puncture field from which the effective source and regularized residual field can be calculated. In addition to its application in our effective-source method, we also show how this puncture field can be used to derive tensor-harmonic mode-sum regularization parameters that improve the efficiency of the traditional mode-sum procedure. To demonstrate the method, we calculate the first-order-in-the-mass-ratio self-force and redshift invariant for a point mass on a circular orbit in Schwarzschild spacetime.


We propose a new additive decomposition of probability tables that preserves equivalence of the joint distribution while reducing the size of potentials, without extra variables. We formulate the Most Probable Explanation (MPE) problem in belief networks as a Weighted Constraint Satisfaction Problem (WCSP). Our pairwise decomposition allows to replace a cost function with smaller-arity functions. The resulting pairwise decomposed WCSP is then easier to solve using state-of-the-art WCSP techniques. Although testing pairwise decomposition is equivalent to testing pairwise independence in the original belief network, we show how to efficiently test and enforce it, even in the presence of hard constraints. Furthermore, we infer additional information from the resulting nonbinary cost functions by projecting&subtracting them on binary functions. We observed huge improvements by preprocessing with pairwise decomposition and project&subtract compared to the current state-of-the-art solvers on two difficult sets of benchmark.


Neurotensin (NT), an intestinal peptide secreted from N cells in the small bowel, regulates a variety of physiological functions of the gastrointestinal tract, including secretion, gut motility, and intestinal growth. The class IA phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) family, which comprised of p110 catalytic (α, β and δ) and p85 regulatory subunits, has been implicated in the regulation of hormone secretion from endocrine cells. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In particular, the role of PI3K in intestinal peptide secretion is not known. Here, we show that PI3K catalytic subunit, p110α, negatively regulates NT secretion in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate that inhibition of p110α, but not p110β, induces NT release in BON, a human endocrine cell line, which expresses NT mRNA and produces NT peptide in a manner analogous to N cells, and QGP-1, a pancreatic endocrine cell line that produces NT peptide. In contrast, overexpression of p110α decreases NT secretion. Consistently, p110α-inhibition increases plasma NT levels in mice. To further delineate the mechanisms contributing to this effect, we demonstrate that inhibition of p110α increases NT granule trafficking by up-regulating α-tubulin acetylation; NT secretion is prevented by overexpression of HDAC6, an α-tubulin deacetylase. Moreover, ras-related protein Rab27A (a small G protein) and kinase D-interacting substrate of 220 kDa (Kidins220), which are associated with NT granules, play a negative and positive role, respectively, in p110α-inhibition-induced NT secretion. Our findings identify the critical role and novel mechanisms for the PI3K signaling pathway in the control of intestinal hormone granule transport and release.


In recent years, Turkey has introduced fundamental changes into the nature and scope of government intervention in several important sectors. In telecommunications, steps are being taken in electricity and gas to end state monopolies and introduce competition, to allow private enterprises entry, and vertically separate and eventually privatize some of the key public assets. Such steps are accompanied by a major redistribution of discretionary authority to design and enforce rules and regulations away from ministries towards newly established independent regulatory authorities (IRAs). This paper reviews some of the salient features of IRAs and issues they raise in the Turkish context.


Learning DAG or Bayesian network models is an important problem in multi-variate causal inference. However, a number of challenges arises in learning large-scale DAG models including model identifiability and computational complexity since the space of directed graphs is huge. In this paper, we address these issues in a number of steps for a broad class of DAG models where the noise or variance is signal-dependent. Firstly we introduce a new class of identifiable DAG models, where each node has a distribution where the variance is a quadratic function of the mean (QVF DAG models). Our QVF DAG models include many interesting classes of distributions such as Poisson, Binomial, Geometric, Exponential, Gamma and many other distributions in which the noise variance depends on the mean. We prove that this class of QVF DAG models is identifiable, and introduce a new algorithm, the OverDispersion Scoring (ODS) algorithm, for learning large-scale QVF DAG models. Our algorithm is based on firstly learning the moralized or undirected graphical model representation of the DAG to reduce the DAG search-space, and then exploiting the quadratic variance property to learn the causal ordering. We show through theoretical results and simulations that our algorithm is statistically consistent in the high-dimensional p>n setting provided that the degree of the moralized graph is bounded and performs well compared to state-of-the-art DAG-learning algorithms.


Self-generated touch feels less intense and less ticklish than identical externally generated touch. This somatosensory attenuation occurs because the brain predicts the tactile consequences of our self-generated movements. To produce attenuation, the tactile predictions need to be time-locked to the movement, but how the brain maintains this temporal tuning remains unknown. Using a bimanual self-touch paradigm, we demonstrate that people can rapidly unlearn to attenuate touch immediately after their movement and learn to attenuate delayed touch instead, after repeated exposure to a systematic delay between the movement and the resulting touch. The magnitudes of the unlearning and learning effects are correlated and dependent on the number of trials that participants have been exposed to. We further show that delayed touches feel less ticklish and non-delayed touches more ticklish after exposure to the systematic delay. These findings demonstrate that the attenuation of self-generated touch is adaptive.


Congo red (CR) is a histological stain used for the detection of extracellular amyloids mediating various neurodegenerative diseases. Given that damaged photoreceptors appear to degenerate similarly to other nerve cells, CR staining was evaluated in experimentally injured porcine retina. CR staining appeared mostly as discrete cytosolic deposits with no obvious plaque formation during the investigated time period. Increases of CR labeling coincided temporally with the known accumulation of mislocalized opsins and increases of cell death. Coculture, either with human retinal pigment epithelium (ARPE) or human neural progenitor (ReN) cells, was accompanied by a significant reduction of CR labeling. Of particular interest was the reduction of CR labeling in cone photoreceptors, which are important for the perception of color and fine details and afflicted in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Electron microscopy revealed inclusions in the inner segment, cell body, and occasionally synaptic terminals of photoreceptor cells in cultured specimens. Closer examinations indicated the presence of different types of inclusions resembling protein aggregates as well as inclusion bodies. The current results indicate that injury-related response resulted in accumulation of CR deposits in photoreceptor cells, and that trophic and/or structural support attenuated this response.


One hundred and forty-eight species of benthic foraminifera are recorded from depths shallower than 80 m around the subantarctic Auckland (130 spp.) and Campbell (71 spp.) Islands, southwest Pacific. Comparisons with other circum-polar, subantarctic island groups suggest that they all have relatively low diversity, shallow-water benthic, foraminiferal faunas, with their sheltered harbours dominated by species of Elphidium, Notorotalia, Cassidulina, Haynesina and Nonionella-Nonionellina. More exposed environments are dominated by a small number of species of Cibicides, Miliolinella, Rosalina, Quinqueloculina and Glabratellidae. The extremely low species richness (three species) in high-tidal grass-dominated salt marsh on Campbell Island is similar to that reported from Tierra del Fuego at a similar latitude. The faunas of Auckland and Campbell Islands have their strongest affinities (70–75% species in common) with New Zealand's three main islands, 460–700 km away. Ten percent of their fauna has not been recorded from mainland New Zealand, reflecting one endemic species and a small element of apparently subantarctic and bipolar-restricted species. Since there have been no shallow-water (<500 m) links to other lands since these two Miocene volcanic islands were formed, it is concluded that most benthic foraminiferal species have arrived in suspension in eddies of surface water, many since the peak of the Last Glacial.


The use of intrinsic chiral molecules opens the door to bio-imaging specific tools and to the development of target-therapy. In this work the synthesis and characterization of polythiophenes with alkyl side chains containing one R or S chiral carbon is reported. Enantiopure chiral nanoparticles (R or S NPs) were prepared from the polymers by a reprecipitation method. UV-vis, photoluminescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy of the NPs are described. In vitro analysis and metabolic assays show that both R and S NPs are efficiently taken-up by fibroblast cells without signs of toxicity. SDS-PAGE experiments show that formation of hard protein 'corona' enhances the chirality difference between nanoparticles. Co-localization experiments demonstrate that the cells are able to discriminate between the enantiomeric R and S nanoparticles. Finally, experiments carried out on Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria show that the enantiomeric NPs display different antibacterial activity.


Background Wild waterfowl is the natural reservoir of influenza A virus (IAV); hosted viruses are very variable and provide a source for genetic segments which can reassort with poultry or mammalian adapted IAVs to generate novel species crossing viruses. Additionally, wild waterfowl act as a reservoir for highly pathogenic IAVs. Exposure of wild birds to the antiviral drug oseltamivir may occur in the environment as its active metabolite can be released from sewage treatment plants to river water. Resistance to oseltamivir, or to other neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs), in IAVs of wild waterfowl has not been extensively studied. Aim and Methods In a previous in vivo Mallard experiment, an influenza A(H6N2) virus developed oseltamivir resistance by the R292K substitution in the neuraminidase (NA), when the birds were exposed to oseltamivir. In this study we tested if the resistance could be maintained in Mallards without drug exposure. Three variants of resistant H6N2/R292K virus were each propagated during 17 days in five successive pairs of naïve Mallards, while oseltamivir exposure was decreased and removed. Daily fecal samples were analyzed for viral presence, genotype and phenotype. Results and Conclusion Within three days without drug exposure no resistant viruses could be detected by NA sequencing, which was confirmed by functional NAI sensitivity testing. We conclude that this resistant N2 virus could not compete in fitness with wild type subpopulations without oseltamivir drug pressure, and thus has no potential to circulate among wild birds. The results of this study contrast to previous observations of drug induced resistance in an avian H1N1 virus, which was maintained also without drug exposure in Mallards. Experimental observations on persistence of NAI resistance in avian IAVs resemble NAI resistance seen in human IAVs, in which resistant N2 subtypes do not circulate, while N1 subtypes with permissive mutations can circulate without drug pressure. We speculate that the phylogenetic group N1 NAs may easier compensate for NAI resistance than group N2 NAs, though further studies are needed to confirm such conclusions.


Whiplash injuries (AIS 1 neck injuries) are still common in rear impacts, but research has shown the importance of seat design in order to reduce this type of injury. The aim of the study was to evaluate a number of seat configurations to assess the whiplash injury risk at different severities. A total of 21 sled tests were performed with 4 different severities and 5 different seat configurations. The dummy used was the BioRID II. The crash pulse was of the double peak type with either 60 or 120 m/s2 as a maximum. The Delta-V was either 15 or 25 km/h. The results show that seat design and restraint systems have a significant impact on the dummy kinematics in a low to medium severity rear impact. NICmax values between 7 and 35 m2/s2 were produced. Furthermore, upper neck tension forces (Fz) between 180 and 1680 N were produced. Several other parameters were evaluated including the upper neck moment, and head angular acceleration. The result shows that the same Delta-V generated with different pulse shapes can significantly alter the dummy response. Also of importance is that the dummy possibly needs to be more biofidelic in medium severity rear impacts since there is a risk of an artefact in the interaction between the head restraint and the upper back of the dummy. This is likely to be the case for the Hybrid III dummy as well. The anti-whiplash seats included in this study are likely to provide increased protection in low and medium severity rear impacts. A good seat design as determined by the BioRID involves controlled displacement and yielding of the seat above a certain severity in combination with support for the whole spine.


Several global strategies for protected area (PA) expansion have been proposed to achieve the Convention on Biological Diversity's Aichi target 11 as a means to stem biodiversity loss, as required by the Aichi target 12. However, habitat loss outside PAs will continue to affect habitats and species, and PAs may displace human activities into areas that might be even more important for species persistence. Here we measure the expected contribution of PA expansion strategies to Aichi target 12 by estimating the extent of suitable habitat available for all terrestrial mammals, with and without additional protection (the latter giving the counterfactual outcome), under different socio-economic scenarios and consequent land-use change to 2020. We found that expanding PAs to achieve representation targets for ecoregions under a Business-as-usual socio-economic scenario will result in a worse prognosis than doing nothing for more than 50% of the world's terrestrial mammals. By contrast, targeting protection towards threatened species can increase the suitable habitat available to over 60% of terrestrial mammals. Even in the absence of additional protection, an alternative socio-economic scenario, adopting progressive changes in human consumption, leads to positive outcomes for mammals globally and to the largest improvements for wide-ranging species.


This study examined recidivism in an Australian correctional population. Three different groups of offenders were identified from their recidivism profiles: low-risk or slow recidivists, moderate-risk or delayed recidivists, and high-risk or rapid recidivists. Slow recidivists were more likely to be younger Indigenous men, with a history of both drug use and parole suspension or cancellation. Delayed recidivists were more likely to be younger non-Indigenous women serving shorter sentences. Rapid recidivists were differentiated only by being more likely to serve shorter sentences. Data were drawn from the Queensland Corrective Services Integrated Offender Management System. The findings will be useful to policymakers and practitioners working in corrections and related fields.


A composer describes his concerns in relation to a 34-minute musical work (The Angel of Death) written in consultation with perceptual psychologists. This work was conceived, and has served, as an experimental object suited to the testing of a range of issues of interest to composers as well as psychologists: in particular, are the musical materials and the formal structure of a piece of music heard by listeners in the ways that the composer anticipates? The thematic sources of the subject work are described in relation to an overall formal design that was realized in two contrasted ways: Sectional (strongly characterized sections with clear boundaries) and Domain (an interwoven presentation of materials that minimizes formal articulation). These two realizations can be performed in either order (S-D, or D-S), but in either case, a computer component enters at the end of the first part, coexisting with the second.


The goal of this study was to assess the relationship between Aβ deposition and white matter pathology (i.e., white matter hyperintensities, WMH) on microstructural integrity of the white matter. Fifty-seven participants (mean age: 78±7 years) from an ongoing multi-site research program who spanned the spectrum of normal to mild cognitive impairment (Clinical dementia rating 0–0.5) and low to high risk factors for arteriosclerosis and WMH pathology (defined as WMH volume >0.5% total intracranial volume) were assessed with positron emission tomography (PET) with Pittsburg compound B (PiB) and magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Multivariate analysis of covariance were used to investigate the relationship between Aβ deposition and WMH pathology on fractional anisotropy (FA) from 9 tracts of interest (i.e., corona radiata, internal capsule, cingulum, parahippocampal white matter, corpus callosum, superior longitudinal, superior and inferior front-occipital fasciculi, and fornix). WMH pathology was associated with reduced FA in projection (i.e., internal capsule and corona radiate) and association (i.e., superior longitudinal, superior and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi) fiber tracts. Aβ deposition (i.e., PiB positivity) was associated with reduced FA in the fornix and splenium of the corpus callosum. There were interactions between PiB and WMH pathology in the internal capsule and parahippocampal white matter, where Aβ deposition reduced FA more among subjects with WMH pathology than those without. However, accounting for apoE ε4 genotype rendered these interactions insignificant. Although this finding suggests that apoE4 may increase amyloid deposition, both in the parenchyma (resulting in PiB positivity) and in blood vessels (resulting in amyloid angiopathy and WMH pathology), and that these two factors together may be associated with compromised white matter microstructural integrity in multiple brain regions, additional studies with a longitudinal design will be necessary to resolve this issue.


Five Egyptian parental genotypes of Faba bean were used for carrying out half diallel design to study heterosis and nature of gene action for earliness, vegetative, yield and yield components traits. Mean squares of genotypes were found to be highly significant for all studied traits. The results showed that the majority of crosses exhibited significant heterosis estimates for better parent for all studied traits. General combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) mean squares were highly significant for all studied traits. The results indicated that the magnitude of additive genetic variance (σ 2 A) were positive and lower than those of non additive ( σ 2 D) one for all the studied traits, indicating that non additive gene action played a major role in the inheritance of different traits under study. The broad sense heritability estimates (H 2 b %) were more than their corresponding narrow sense heritability (H 2 n %) for all studied traits. However, estimates of narrow sense heritability were 34.2 and 14.8% for earliness traits and ranged from 15.2 to 29.8% for number of branches per plant and plant height, respectively. Respecting to yield components, the estimates of narrow sense heritability ranged from 8.8 to 70.9% for number of pod per plant and weight of 100 seed (g), respectively. The results showed that the two cultivar, Giza 843 (P 4) and Misr 2 (P1) was good general combiner for earliness, yield and yield components, respectively. The cross (P 1xP 5) showed desirable SCA effects and significant heterosis values for earliness, and yield components. While, the two crosses, (P 1xP 3) and (P 3xP 4) exhibited desirable SCA effects for vegetative traits. These promising crosses could be used for breeding programs to produce pure lines.


Abstract The isotope activity concentration of rocks and bottom sediments was evaluated based on the samples collected from sedimentation ponds and gangue repositories. Radium 226Ra, thorium 228Th and potassium 40K activities were measured by gamma spectrometry using high-purity germanium detector – HPGe 4020. The radiation effect resulting from the presence of natural radionuclides was estimated by radiological hazard indices such as f1 and f2 coefficients, radium equivalent, internal and external hazard indices and absorbed dose rate. Performed measurements and calculations have shown that the bottom sediments are most contaminated. They may pose a serious radiological hazard for present and future generations.


Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic polymeric receptors, capable of specifically binding a target molecule, just like a biological antibody. There has been a recent trend to improve the properties of these materials by using modern methods of controlled radical polymerization (CRPs) for their synthesis. Despite the recognized advantages associated with their "living character", the effect of the "controlled nature" has still to be clearly demonstrated. This is far from obvious as the high amounts of short cross-linkers normally used for their synthesis complicate the formation of homogeneous polymer networks. In order to gain more insights into the potential benefits for the binding properties of MIPs resulting from the use of CRPs, the imprinting of a model target (S-propranolol) has been used to compare reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerisation (RAFT) and free-radical polymerisation (FRP) on acrylic and methacrylic matrices. While most MIPs are based on methacrylates, we used acrylates as a "difficult imprinting matrix" for comparison. In fact, the absence of the methyl groups in their polymer back-bone reduces their entanglement, resulting in a more flexible network. This renders the material more difficult to imprint, and at the same time makes it easier to evaluate the effects of RAFT polymerization and FRP on structural parameters and thus binding properties. Moreover, we also progressively reduced the amount of cross-linking in order to explore the effects of RAFT and FRP on a wider range of scaffold rigidities. Although MIPs are normally highly cross-linked, some recent emerging applications require lower degrees of cross-linking. Binding experiments, SEM, BET, DMA, swelling and nanoindentation analyses revealed that RAFT is effective in promoting the synthesis of more homogeneous networks compared to FRP, even at very high cross-linker contents, which results in higher target affinities, especially in the case of acrylates.


Members of online menswear communities spend their leisure time engaged in extensive textual discussions of menswear. This article presents some of the findings from a study of these online menswear communities. It is based on an online ethnography of six online menswear forums and 50 in-depth interviews with men from Britain, Canada and the United States who use them. It details how the research participants, despite their passion for clothing, produced a rhetorical distance between style and fashion. Fashion was rejected in favour of what was described as 'classic menswear', 'style', 'timeless style' or simply 'clothes'. This was a productive critique of fashion's temporality, with online menswear communities offering a more democratic, inclusive and participatory alternative to men's fashion. However, this rejection of fashion also reflected the persistent gendering of fashion. As spaces for the discussion of clothing, as opposed to fashion, online menswear communities allowed men to enjoy clothes and consumption without their masculinity being tainted by fashion's associations with femininity.


Multiple small erythematous plaques of different size, well- defined with regular contours and smooth surface in place and scaly by others, at the level of the body of the penis of a young man of 28 years , and the balano-preputial groove. A cutaneous biopsy was performed demonstrating a moderately acanthotic epidermis with moderate papillomatosis surmounted by a thickened orthokeratotic corneal layer with a continuous compact continuous parakeratosis with focally rare polynuclear neutrophils .


Socialist feminist theory has assumed that patriarchy and capitalism are the main sources of women's limited roles and related attitudes in society. Informed by this theory and using the data from the World Values Survey wave six, this study aimed at analysing the factors influencing individuals' attitudes towards women's employment and gender roles in Rwandan society. A hierarchical multiple regression modelling method was used to analyse data through R and SPSS statistics programs. The main findings yielded by three research models show that Rwandans express ambivalent attitudes toward women's work and gender roles, comprising both traditional and non-traditional attitudes. Women, young people, highly educated people, private-sector workers and people who rarely use mass media have non-traditional attitudes while men, old people, less educated people, public sector workers, and media-heavy users hold traditional attitudes toward gender roles. Overall, these results bear important theoretical implications as they broaden the existing literature by arguing that patriarchy and capitalism are not the only factors determining peoples' attitudes on women's employment and gender roles as claimed by socialist feminist theory. Instead, the study suggests that additional dynamics including gender, age, educational level, job sectors, and mass media factors work together to shape individuals' attitudes on women's work and gender roles.


This critical review addresses 26 studies of Wayfinding conducted in a real-world setting (large-scale), and with subjects using a map or an aerial photograph in their navigation. The purpose of the review is to summarise how previous surveys have been conducted and to provide some methodological advice for future research. Research design has consequently been the main priority, emphasising methods, measures, participants, context and types of map. Both qualitative and quantitative studies should be initiated, but the lack of research is significant within quantitative studies, the link between laboratory-based and real-world studies, studies where the subjects have been children with map experience and adult novices, and studies conducted in complex settings. Type of map appears to be an important determinant of performance and should be varied according to age and level of skills. Alignment of a map could be a possible source of error.


'Lessons learnt on Ecosan in Morocco' is a short analysis of experience gained in Morocco especially in rural areas where people do not have adequate systems of evacuation of their wastewater. The rural population cannot afford conventional sanitation systems. In response to this, we have thought to promote ecological sanitation that recognises wastewater not as a waste but as a resource. The first Urine-Diversion Dehydration Toilets (UDDTs) were introduced in a rural village called 'Dayet Ifrah' in Morocco in December 2009. Since then, households are starting to see the advantages of UDDTs and the systems are becoming more and more accepted. The UDDT systems implemented in the village could be used as a model for Moroccan rural areas. This paper sets out how the Ecosan approach was successfully introduced in Morocco where people are motivated by reasons to improve this approach such as no smell, safety, comfort, privacy and water reuse. Results reveal that the users are satisfied with the Ecosan approach to cleanse their wastewater. Although Ecosan is relatively new to Morocco, it seems that it can succeed in very poor populations. The paper contains information on general experiences in the different countries and also lessons learnt on Ecosan in each country.


Abstract Several factors threaten populations of albatrosses and giant petrels, including the impact of fisheries bycatch and, at some colonies, predation from introduced mammals. We undertook population monitoring on Gough Island of three albatross species (Tristan albatross Diomedea dabbenena L., sooty albatross Phoebetria fusca Hilsenberg, Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos Gmelin) and southern giant petrels Macronectes giganteus (Gmelin). Over the study period, numbers of the Critically Endangered Tristan albatross decreased at 3.0% a year. Breeding success for this species was low (23%), and in eight count areas was correlated (r 2 = 0.808) with rates of population decline, demonstrating chick predation by house mice Mus musculus L. is driving site-specific trends and an overall decline. Numbers of southern giant petrels were stable, contrasting with large increases in this small population since 1979. Significant population declines were not detected for either the Atlantic yellow-nosed or sooty albatross, however, caution should be applied to these results due to the small proportion of the population monitored (sooty albatross) and significant interannual variation in numbers. These trends confirm the Critically Endangered status of the Tristan albatross but further information, including a more accurate estimate of sooty albatross population size, is required before determining island wide and global population trends of the remaining species.


We study ex post information rents in sequential screening models where the agent receives private ex ante and ex post information. The principal has to pay ex post information rents for preventing the agent to coordinate lies about his ex ante and ex post information. When the agent's ex ante information is discrete, these rents are positive, whereas they are zero in continuous models. Consequently, full disclosure of ex post information is generally suboptimal. Optimal disclosure rules trade off the benefits from adapting the allocation to better information against the effect that more information aggravates truth-telling.