"A variety of negative social and environmental factors, such as lack of social support and discomfort with the university social climate, contribute to lower graduation rates for African-Americans.. . The expressed need for career services combined with the typical under use of these services by African-Americans at predominately White Universities warrants further study." -Falconer and Hays, 2006, pp.220. The timely quote above speaks directly to career counselors, career educators, and student affairs professionals in terms of the exigency of appropriate attendance to the career needs, concerns, and the career interventions of and for African- American college students. At this current time there seems to exist a conundrum in relationship to Black students and their participation in higher education. Recent indicators provide evidence that the engagement of African- Americans in post-secondary education is on the rise. Aud and Fox (2010) of the U. S Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, reported that the transition from high school to college for African-American in 2007, compared to 1980, showed an increase of 54 per cent vs. 44 per cent respectively. Additionally, "approximately 32 per cent of Black 18 - to 24 year-olds were enrolled in college or universities (an increase of 12 per cent points from 1980) " (Aud & Fox, 2010, p. vi). The statistics for the enrollment of African-American women in post-secondary education are yet more impressive, accounting for 64 per cent of Black undergraduate enrollment in 2008 (Aud & Fox 2010). These numbers are encouraging yet they represent one portion of the conundrum as related to African-American college students. While the number of Blacks in college has increased, concurrently the attrition rates have grown and the graduation numbers have declined, ergo the present conundrum. For example researchers Guiffrida & Douthit (2010) and, Walker, Pearson, & Murrell (2010) all point to the fact once Black students arrive on college campuses, they appear in troubling numbers, to drop out and not graduate. "The continued disparity between the educational attainments of Blacks and Whites is reflected in the significantly higher attritions rates experienced by Black college students... statistics indicate that only 40 per cent of Black students. . .will ultimately graduate compared with more than 61 per cent of White students" (Guiffrida & Douthit 2010, p. 311). Walker et al. (2010), in lamenting the lack of retention of ethnic minority college students indicate that, "only three out of 10 students of color achieve their educational goal of earning an associate's or bachelor's degree" (p. 739). The most obvious and pressing question then might be framed in terms of, what is occurring with these African-American college students? They are attending college in historically higher numbers while at the same time their retention numbers and degree earning numbers are decreasing. It is the task of this article to address just this disconnect, in reconsidering how the career needs/concerns of African-American college students are being met, or indeed, not being attended. It is also the intent of this article to explore some possible career interventions that might enhance both retention and graduation rates for African- American college students. Concerns That May Impact the Career Behaviors of African American College Students Family Impact on Career Any discussion related to African American college students and their careers must of necessity speak to the sui generis historical, socio-political, and cultural location of African Americans and specifically the African American family. According to Wright and Fernander (2005) it is important for researchers to recognize that the structure of the African American family is viable and functioning of it own accord and should not be conceptualized according to the European American family structure. …


Purpose
Within the current offender personality disorder (OPD) pathway in the UK, black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) populations are underrepresented. Fewer BAME offenders are engaging with services despite being proportionately identified for inclusion and referred on to the pathway. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study explored the experiences of 11 BAME men engaged in a prison-based OPD service for young offenders to identify the highlights and challenges of engagement within the service and to what extent they experienced a sense of inclusion/belonging.

Findings
Thematic analysis was used to identify three overarching themes and sub-themes. Why am I going to be an Outcast? describes the barriers to engagement encountered by the participants; and Give it a Try and Nothing but Respect describe the process of overcoming these barriers. Barriers revolved around the experiences of judgement, alienation and hopelessness. These were overcome through peer encouragement, developing relationships with staff and freedom to regulate levels of engagement.

Practical implications
Practice and policy implications are considered to support similar services in addressing the barriers to engagement faced by BAME individuals. Areas for future research are also recommended.

Originality/value
Currently, no research has directly explored the under-representation of young BAME offenders with emerging personality disorder in the OPD pathway. The findings provided an insight into some of the difficulties these young BAME offenders faced when accessing this service, alongside aspects which maintained their engagement.


Customizable processors have been described as the next natural step in the evolution of the microprocessor business: a step in the life of a new technology where top performance alone is no longer sufficient to guarantee market success. Other factors become fundamental, such as time to market, convenience, energy efficiency, and ease of customization.

This book is the first to explore comprehensively one of the most fundamental trends which emerged in the last decade: to treat processors not as rigid, fixed entities, which designers include "as is" in their products; but rather, to build sound methodologies to tailor-fit processors to the specific needs of such products. This book addresses the goal of maintaining a very large family of processors, with a wide range of features, at a cost comparable to that of maintaining a single processor.

· First book to present comprehensively the major ASIP design methodologies and tools without any particular bias.

· Written by most of the pioneers and top international experts of this young domain.

· Unique mix of management perspective, technical detail, research outlook, and practical implementation.


An application of an existing industry tool to study supersonic jets impinging on flat plates is shown. This industry tool is the commercially available CFD package ANSYS FLUENT. The supersonic jet studied is perfectly expanded with a Mach number of 1.5, and it impinges on a flat surface 4 nozzle throat diameters from the jet exit. All turbulence modeling is done using a hybrid RANS/LES technique known as Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES). A transient solution is calculated using the pressure-based coupled solver formulation with the second-order bounded central-upwind spatial discretization and second-order implicit time marching scheme. Flow features like the stagnation bubble, wall jet and feedback mechanism were studied using contour plots. An examination was also done into the mean flow fields of the jet core. The acoustics of the case were studied using two different techniques, direct measurement and the use of a acoustics source surface method. Using limited computational power, reasonable agreement between simulation and experimental data was found for the flow-field and acoustics. Thus, it was demonstrated that ANSYS FLUENT can be used for this problem to provide good preliminary results in an industry setting with limited computational power.


Over the past eleven years, the photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber has published the book series "All-American", an independent portfolio of work by artists, photographers, essayists, poets, and personalities whose lives and accomplishments warrant celebration. The latest volume in the series is again a collection by Weber that is motivated equally by admiration and a desire to connect. Sometimes the subjects are already wellknown in their own right, but just as often the participants are relatively unknown, noteworthy because their stories or accomplishments reveal something that resonates on a deeper, more personal level. "All-American XII" explores the true characters of the American landscape.


Large-scale use of wind power can alter local and global climate by extracting kinetic energy and altering turbulent transport in the atmospheric boundary layer. We report climate-model simulations that address the possible climatic impacts of wind power at regional to global scales by using two general circulation models and several parameterizations of the interaction of wind turbines with the boundary layer. We find that very large amounts of wind power can produce nonnegligible climatic change at continental scales. Although large-scale effects are observed, wind power has a negligible effect on global-mean surface temperature, and it would deliver enormous global benefits by reducing emissions of CO(2) and air pollutants. Our results may enable a comparison between the climate impacts due to wind power and the reduction in climatic impacts achieved by the substitution of wind for fossil fuels.


Abstract We present a nonlinear waveform inversion method to determine source parameters under point‐source approximation (depth, source time function, centroid moment tensor, and seismic moment) and also travel times and amplitudes of body waves from teleseismic records. We demonstrate that our source time function estimates significantly improve correlation between observed and synthetics broadband seismograms. The scaling of source dimensions with seismic moment is similar for deep and shallow events in the Japanese subduction area for moment magnitudes between 6.1 and 7.5. We compare event depths and moment tensors obtained with our method to those reported by different institutions for a set of Japanese earthquakes. This comparison reveals that our method gives hypocentral depths closer to those obtained with regional arrays than other teleseismic methods. The seismic moment is properly recovered, but data weighting strongly influences the moment tensor solution. Focal mechanisms are biased by high‐frequency body‐wave amplitude variations due to crustal structure below the stations and by errors on the instrument responses. Body‐wave differential travel times are improved compared with phase‐picking measurements. The high‐quality travel times will be exploited to obtain more precise event locations and higher resolution tomographic models. Online Material: Coordinates of Japanese earthquakes processed in this study.


Knit is a new component definition and linking language for systems code. Knit helps make C code more understandable and reusable by third parties, helps eliminate much of the performance overhead of componentization, detects subtle errors in component composition that cannot be caught with normal component type systems, and provides a foundation for developing future analyses over C-based components, such as cross-component optimization. The language is especially designed for use with component kits, where standard linking tools provide inadequate support for component configuration. In particular, we developed Knit for use with the OSKit, a large collection of components for building low-level systems. However, Knit is not OSKit-specific, and we have implemented parts of the Click modular router in terms of Knit components to illustrate the expressiveness and flexibility of our language. This paper provides an overview of the Knit language and its applications.


Electron and energy transfer are ubiquitous in biological, chemical, and physical processes, which has led to extensive multidisciplinary research efforts to elucidate the factors influencing mechanistic pathways. Of considerable importance in these studies have been investigations of intramolecular electron and energy transfer within polymetallic assemblies as a result of the diversity (coordination number, ligand environment, stereochemistry, and redox characteristics) provided by the metal centers in such structures.

Because of their multicomponent nature, these structures have considerable design potential to exploit the cooperation between the metals and/or other redox-active centers. Novel photochemical molecular devices (PMDs) may be constructed which are capable of performing useful light- and redox-induced functionsincluding artificial photosynthesis and photoinduced energy- and electron-transfer processes in light-harvesting "antenna" systems. Metallosupramolecular assemblies have also been designed to mimic the photoinduced charge separation function in photosynthetic organisms, in an attempt to elucidate the complex electron- and energy-transfer mechanisms which occur in natural systems. The possibility of multiple electron transferby absorption of several photons by linked chromophores, or the design of systems which generate more than one electron upon absorption of one photonhas significant implications in catalytic schemes, as well as understanding long-range electron transfer in biological systems, and the conductivity of "molecular wires". In molecules involving delocalized unpaired electrons, polarizability may be present so that the species exhibit interesting nonlinear optical or magnetic properties.

Polypyridyl complexes of the d^6 metals Fe^II, Ru^II, and OsII have attracted particular attention as the basis of these assemblies due to a combination of favorable photophysical and redox characteristics, the longevity of their excited states, and their chemical inertness in a variety of oxidation states. An important feature of these complexes is the capability of systematic variation of the ground- and excited-state properties by the judicious choice of the coordinating ligands.


Background Emergency personnel face unpredictable and challenging incidents and their resilience and ability to cope influences their well-being. Personality traits, such as neuroticism, are postulated to be robust predictors of health and health behaviours. Despite evidence in the general population that neuroticism can positively impact health and health behaviours; to date neuroticism in emergency personnel has primarily been associated with adverse health outcomes. Aims To assess whether neuroticism has a negative or positive impact on subjective and objective health and health behaviours in emergency personnel. Methods This study used cross-sectional UK Biobank baseline data of emergency personnel (police, firemen and paramedics). Logistic regression models examined the strength of the associations of neuroticism tertiles with subjective (self-reported overall health and chronic conditions) and objective health (abdominal obesity) and self-reported smoking, sleeping, alcohol use and exercise levels. Results High neuroticism was positively associated with poorer subjective health outcomes in all emergency personnel ( n = 2483). The association between neuroticism and chronic disease/s was significant for police in the second (odds ratio [OR] = 1.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.15–1.94) and third (OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.21–2.16) neuroticism tertiles. Neuroticism in firemen was associated with reduced abdominal obesity (OR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.25–0.96) and increased exercise (OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.07–4.25). Conclusions We observed positive and negative associations between neuroticism and health outcomes and behaviours. While differences were observed across the emergency personnel groups, more research is needed to better understand how personality traits may impact health in workers with physically and mentally intense jobs.


Burnout has become a prominent issue among healthcare providers. The demands of working long shifts, prolonged periods of stress and increased time spent charting all contribute to this phenomenon. Current research suggests that an intrinsic sense of resilience may be key in combating this epidemic. Just as our sense of empathy and compassion can be cultivated through experience, so too can our level of resilience. We propose that engaging in an international health project during medical professional education may promote a greater sense of resiliency. To analyze this, we will use the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale© to survey 4thyear medical students and residents at the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) that have participated in the AMPATH rotation at Moi University in Kenya between June 2018 and May 2019. To determine the potential change in resilience we will ask our subjects to complete the survey prior to their trip, as well as 1-months and 1-year after their trip. This study may lead to the advocacy for such projects to be integrated into medical education curricula to combat the growing problem that is physician burnout.


The ability to transfer learning to new situations lies at the heart of lifelong learning and the employability of university graduates. Because students are often unaware of the importance of learning transfer and staff do not always explicitly articulate this expectation, this article explores the idea that metacognition (intentional awareness and the use of that awareness) might enhance the development of learning transfer. Our exploratory study includes results from a survey of 74 staff and 118 students from five institutions in Australia, Belgium, UK, and USA. Our data indicate that many staff and a majority of students do not have a clear understanding of what learning transfer entails, and that there are many mismatches between staff and student perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors regarding learning transfer. This helps explain why learning transfer does not occur as often as it could. We found significant positive correlations between thinking about transfer and thinking about learning processes and the likelihood to use awareness of metacognition to guide practice. Our findings suggest a positive relationship between metacognition and learning transfer. Implications for the scholarship of teaching and learning are discussed.


In this paper, the filter technique of Fletcher and Leyffer (1997) is used to globalize the primal-dual interior-point algorithm for nonlinear programming, avoiding the use of merit functions and the updating of penalty parameters. The new algorithm decomposes the primal-dual step obtained from the perturbed first-order necessary conditions into a normal and a tangential step, whose sizes are controlled by a trust-region type parameter. Each entry in the filter is a pair of coordinates: one resulting from feasibility and centrality, and associated with the normal step; the other resulting from optimality (complementarity and duality), and related with the tangential step. Global convergence to first-order critical points is proved for the new primal-dual interior-point filter algorithm.


Economists have had much to say about the impact of economic policies on growth, but little on their distributional consequences and poverty impact. The reorientation of development policy from structural adjustment to poverty reduction as the central objective thus called for new tools to examine distributional change. This book analyzes the poverty and distributional impact of policy changes and external shocks in three case studies from Latin America: Trade liberalization in Colombia and Brazil, and the gas boom in Bolivia. It uses an innovative approach that combines computable general equilibrium and microsimulation models. The country applications illustrate that distributional consequences depend very much on the nature of the shock or policy change as well as the characteristics of the country in question. The book issues a warning against policy prescriptions being based on oversimplifying assumptions and models.


The CD11/18 (LFA-1, Mac-1) molecules participate in neutrophil adhesion to cultured endothelium in vitro and are critical for effective neutrophil localization into inflamed tissues in vivo. More recently, the MEL-14 Ag, which was first defined as a lymphocyte homing receptor, has also been implicated in inflammatory neutrophil extravasation. Here we compare the regulation and function of these adhesion molecules on neutrophils during the in vivo inflammatory response. The MEL-14 Ag is expressed at high levels on bone marrow and peripheral blood neutrophils, but is lost on neutrophils isolated from the thioglycollate-inflamed peritoneal cavity. In contrast, Mac-1 is up-regulated on inflammatory neutrophils and little change is seen in the level of LFA-1 expression. In vitro activation of bone marrow neutrophils with PMA or leukotriene B4 results in a dose dependent increase in Mac-1 and decrease in MEL-14 Ag expression within 1 h after treatment, thus reflecting what is found during inflammation in vivo. Neutrophils activated in vitro or in vivo (MEL-14Low, Mac-1Hi) do not home to inflammatory sites in vivo, correlating with the loss of the MEL-14 Ag and the increased Mac-1 expression. Anti-LFA-1, anti-Mac-1, or MEL-14 antibody given i.v. suppress neutrophil accumulation within the inflamed peritoneum (38%, 30%, and 37% of medium control, respectively) without affecting the levels of circulating neutrophils. However, when FITC-labeled cells are precoated with the mAb and injected i.v., only MEL-14 inhibits extravasation into the inflamed peritoneum (25% of medium control). Finally, in ex vivo adhesion assays of neutrophil binding to high endothelial venules in inflamed-lymph node frozen sections MEL-14 inhibits greater than 90%. anti-LFA-1 20 to 30% and anti-Mac-1 less than 10% of the binding of bone marrow neutrophils to inflamed-lymph node high endothelial venules. These results confirm that both the MEL-14 antigen and Mac-1/LFA-1 are important in neutrophil localization to inflamed sites in vivo, but suggest that their roles in endothelial cell interactions are distinct.


The flare response in skin largely depends on an intact primary sensory fiber, the C-fiber. We measured the flare response to the intradermal injection of substance P, histamine, and capsaicin in control subjects and in diabetic patients with and without clinically obvious polyneuropathy. The neuropathic diabetic patients had a reduced flare response to substance P, histamine, and capsaicin, compared with control and nonneuropathic diabetic subjects. The smaller flareresponse in the neuropathic diabetics after capsaicin administration suggested a dysfunction of the peripheral component of the C-fiber. Alternatively, dysfunction of the mast cell or vascular reactivity may contribute to the diminished flare. Because C-fibers participate in nociception in addition to the flare response, the findings of this study, by a method that permits a quantifiable measurement of the function of peripheral sensory neurons in diabetic subjects, has potential usefulness in evaluating sensory neuropathy in diabetic patients.


Many people who mourn the loss of Ivar Skarland who died 1 January 1965, are grateful for his friendship and influence during the development of science and society in Alaska. Ivar Skarland was born in 1899 and grew up in Norway. After graduating from the School of Forestry at Steinkjer, Norway, he worked in the forests of Canada and reached Alaska in 1928. As an undergraduate at the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines (now the University of Alaska) he took part in the Biological Survey investigations into the food habits of large northern herbivores. While at the school, he met Otto Geist who induced him to join in excavations at Kukulik, St. Lawrence Island, which led to important archaeological discoveries and a lifelong friendship and association. After receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Alaska he studied anthropology at Harvard, spending summers in the field in Alaska. He obtained his M.A. in 1942, and that year became associate professor at the University of Alaska. He was soon, however, diverted to Army service in the Aleutian Islands. In 1945 he returned to the University where he remained, except while studying at Harvard for his Ph.D. which he received in 1949. Before the War, Skarland was a powerful supporter of the able and venturesome expeditionary workers who developed the important sites of ancient cultures on Lawrence Island and at Point Hope. After the War these field studies in archaeology continued to progress during his collaboration with Otto Geist and J. L. Giddings and in the company of a sequence of distinguished visitors; important archaeological explorations along the Kobuk River, in the Brooks Range, and on the Arctic coast resulted. Skarland encouraged and supported scientists in their explorations, and although his name did not appear often on publications, he exerted a guiding influence through his firm friendship and wide acquaintance with the land and people of Alaska. As host to the scientists who were developing knowledge of Alaska he was at the focus of a score of investigations that have brought to light localities that are now famous in archaeology and biology, for example: Cape Denbigh, Anaktuvuk Pass, Onion Portage, and Kachemak Bay. He prompted the search in the Susitna Valley and along the Denali Highway that has shown traces of an unexpected ancient population south of the Alaska Range. Ivar Skarland was a charter associate and fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America. Many of its projects in the western arctic resulted from his stimulation and were sustained by his wise counsel. Because of his personal qualities and ability to interest men in scholarly exploration it is not surprising that Skarland was an inspiring teacher. Students liked and trusted him and a considerable number from his small classes published important anthropological papers as undergraduates. Those who became professional anthropologists continued to appreciate Ivar Skarland's encouragement and sincere and constructive criticism. His knowledge and understanding of people made his advice important in matters of public welfare and particularly in political and social considerations of Indian and Eskimo residents as their lands became settled and their ways changed. Looking upon his active life in Alaska we find that Ivar Skarland steadily exerted a powerful influence among scientists, students and his fellow citizens. Not only was he the firmest of friends but his friendship stimulated scholarship, and the progress of the various races as citizens in a northern society.


Syngenta Crop Protection, the manufacturers of Warrior® (lambda-cyhalothrin) insecticide, recently announced a label change approved for Iowa and all neighboring states. The preharvest interval has been reduced from 45 days to 30 days in soybeans; therefore, do not apply this product within 30 days of harvest. No new insect pests were added to the label. Warrior is one of several insecticides commonly used for control of soybean aphids. Read and follow all label directions before using this product.


The objective of the paper is to define conditions of mortgage market development in Turkey by presenting the findings of dynamic causal relationships between housing loans and selected socio/macro-economic indicators for the term 2005/01-2011/09. By using monthly time series, we employ granger causality tests, co-integration analysis and vector error correction model (VECM) in the research. The paper specifically aims to analyze the impacts of financial stability, financial risks, monetary policy, households' income/net wealth and housing demand to mortgage credits. We conclude based on the co-integration analysis that housing credit, interest rates, occupancy permits, real GDP per person and monetary aggregate (M2) have long term relationship with housing credits in Turkey. In the paper, we argue that the outcome has important policy implications for both Turkey and emerging economies. In this context, we underline that mortgage market policies in emerging economies should have a balanced approach between market economy and social needs.


Transgenic plum plants expressing the papaya ringspot virus (PRV) coat protein (CP) were produced by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of hypocotyl slices. Hypocotyl slices were cocultivated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58/Z707 containing the plasmid pGA482GG/CPPRV-4. This plasmid carries the PRVCP gene construct and chimeric NPTII and GUS genes. Shoots were regenerated on Murashige and Skoog salts, vitamins, 2% sucrose, 2.5 µM indolebutyric acid, 7.5 µM thidiazuron, and appropriate antibiotics for selection. Integration of the foreign genes was verified through kanamycin resistance, GUS assays, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and Southern blot analyses. Four transgenic clones were identified. Three were vegetatively propagated and graft-inoculated with plum pox virus (PPV)-infected budwood in a quarantine, containment greenhouse. PPV infection was evaluated over a 2- to 4-year period through visual symptoms, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and reverse transcriptase PCR assays. While most plants showed signs of infection and systemic spread of PPV within l-6 months, one plant appeared to delay the spread of virus and the appearance of disease symptoms. Virus spread was limited to basal portions of this plant up to 19 months postinoculation, but, after 32 months symptoms were evident and virus was detected throughout the plant. Our results suggest that heterologous protection with PRVCP, while having the potential to delay PPV symptoms and spread throughout plum plants, may not provide an adequate level of long-term resistance.


Gastrointestinal (GI) mucosal dysfunction predicts and likely contributes to non-infectious comorbidities and mortality in HIV infection and persists despite antiretroviral therapy. However, the mechanisms underlying this dysfunction remain incompletely understood. Neutrophils are important for containment of pathogens but can also contribute to tissue damage due to their release of reactive oxygen species and other potentially harmful effector molecules. Here we used a flow cytometry approach to investigate increased neutrophil lifespan as a mechanism for GI neutrophil accumulation in chronic, treated HIV infection and a potential role for gastrointestinal dysbiosis. We report that increased neutrophil survival contributes to neutrophil accumulation in colorectal biopsy tissue, thus implicating neutrophil lifespan as a new therapeutic target for mucosal inflammation in HIV infection. Additionally, we characterized the intestinal microbiome of colorectal biopsies using 16S rRNA sequencing. We found that a reduced Lactobacillus: Prevotella ratio associated with neutrophil survival, suggesting that intestinal bacteria may contribute to GI neutrophil accumulation in treated HIV infection. Finally, we provide evidence that Lactobacillus species uniquely decrease neutrophil survival and neutrophil frequency in vitro, which could have important therapeutic implications for reducing neutrophil-driven inflammation in HIV and other chronic inflammatory conditions.


Purpose: This paper examines the current methodologies and approaches developed to estimate carbon footprint in supply chains and the studies existing in the literature review about the application of these methodologies and other new approaches proposed by some authors. Design/methodology/approach: Literature review about methodologies developed by some authors for determining greenhouse gases emissions throughout the supply chain of a given sector or organization. Findings and Originality/value: Due to its usefulness for the design and management of a sustainable supply chain management, methodologies for calculating carbon footprint across the supply chain are recommended by many authors not only to reduce GHG emissions but also to optimize it in a cost-effective manner. Although these approaches are in first stages of development and the literature is scarce, different methodologies for estimating CF emissions which include EIO analysis models and standardized methods and guidance have been developed, some of them applicable to supply chains especially methodologies for calculating CF of a specific economic sector supply chain in a territory or country and for calculating CF of an organization applicable to the estimation of GHG emissions of a specific company supply chain.


A recent German Government Bill seeks to reduce the number of concentrations subject to notification and control in Germany. According to the Bill for a Third Act to Alleviate the Burdens for SMEs (Drittes Mittelstandsentlastungsgesetz, BR-Drucks. 558/08), § 35 (1) No. 2 of the Act against a Restraint of Competition (GWB) is to be amended to include a requirement for a minimum domestic turnover of at least two of the undertakings concerned (€ 25 million for one, € 5 million for at least one further undertaking). The article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of such a second domestic turnover threshold. It concludes that, on the one hand, the current breadth of the German notification thresholds does present a problem in multijurisdictional merger cases: Cases with virtually no relevance for German markets are caught und subject not only to substantive merger control, but are also subject to pre-merger notification requirements and to the suspension of concentrations until the concentration is cleared. On the other hand, the planned requirement for a minimum domestic turnover for a second undertaking would in extreme cases exempt even highly problematic mergers - even mergers to monopoly - from any merger control whatsoever. The author proposes a compromise solution: The second domestic turnover threshold should be introduced to determine whether a concentration has to be notified before the merger may be implemented. However, if a concentration has escaped the pre-merger notification procedure solely because of falling short of the second domestic turnover threshold, it should be possible for the Federal Cartel Office to prohibit the concentration ex post, if it fails the substantive (dominance) test.


One of the most important advances in modern theoretical surface science and catalysis research has been the advent of Ab-Initio Density Functional Theory (DFT). Based on the electronic structure formulation of Pierre Hohenberg, Walter Kohn and Lu Jeu Sham, DFT has revolutionized theoretical research in heterogeneous catalysis, electrocatalysis, batteries, as well as homogeneous catalysis using first-principles electronic structure simulations. Combined with statistical mechanics, kinetic theory, and experimental inputs, DFT provides a powerful technique for investigating surface structure, reaction mechanisms, understanding underlying reactivity trends, and using them for rational and predictive design of materials for various catalytic chemistries, including those that can propel us towards a clean energy future – for example water gas shift (WGS), methanol synthesis, oxidation reactions, CO2 electroreduction, among many others. Fueled by advances in supercomputing facilities, numerous early and current DFT studies have been primarily focused on idealized simulations aimed at obtaining qualitative insights into experimental observations. However, as the immense potential of DFT has been unfolding, the demand for closer representation of realistic catalytic situations have rapidly emerged, and with it, the recognition of the need to reduce the disparity between theoretical DFT structures and real catalytic environments. Bridging this 'materials gap' necessitates using more rigorous catalyst structures in DFT calculations that can capture realistic experimental geometries, while at the same time, are creatively simplified to be computationally tractable. This thesis is a compilation of several projects on metals and metal/oxide systems that have been undertaken using DFT, in collaboration with experimental colleagues, with the goal of addressing some of the challenges in heterogeneous catalysis, while decreasing the 'materials gap' between theory and experiments.The first several chapters of this thesis focus on bifunctional, metal/oxide systems. These systems are quintessential in numerous heterogeneous catalysis applications and have been the subject of extensive study. More interestingly, they sometimes exhibit synergistic enhancement in rates that is greater than the sum of the individual rates on the metal (on an inert support) or on the oxide in isolation. Such bifunctionality often stems from the modified properties at the nanoscale interface between the metal and the oxide and is an active field of research. In particular, while a large body of literature exists that investigates the activity of metals, the role of the support in bifunctional systems is often uncertain and is the subject of investigation of the first few chapters of this thesis. We chose to study WGS on Au as support effects are particularly prominent on this system. The second chapter examines WGS on Au/ZnO, where realistic catalytic environment at the interface is reproduced by analyzing the thermodynamics of surface hydroxylation of the oxide under reaction conditions, and its effect on WGS kinetics is quantified through a microkinetic analysis. This study highlights the importance of considering spectator species which can drastically influence the energetics and kinetics of a reaction at a metal/oxide interface. In addition, fundamental aspects of the effect of surface hydroxyls on the electronic structure at the interface is also discussed.The third chapter of the thesis builds on this theme and analyzes the effect of systematic perturbation of electronic structure at the interface through substitutional doping of the oxide. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on Au/MgO, a system which has been previously studied in extensive detail in our group and benchmarked through experiments. The effects of a series of dopants of varying electronic valences have been analyzed on a number of properties at the interface – vacancy formation energies, adsorption energies of intermediates, scaling properties, activation energy barriers and so on. Exciting new scaling relationships are identified at this interface, having properties different from that observed on extended surfaces, and are interpreted using an electrostatic model. In the subsequent chapter, we identified Bronsted-Evans-Polanyi relationships for the different steps in the WGS pathway for a series of dopants. Coupled with the scaling relations, these trends were then used in conjunction with a dual-site microkinetic model to perform a volcano analysis for interfacial rates. Our analysis thus builds, for the first time, a rational design paradigm for electronic structure perturbation of the support at a bifunctional interface. The next chapter further investigates support effects, both geometric and electronic, in greater detail for Au supported on a series of oxide supports and discusses accelerated identification of an activity descriptor through a close fusion between computations and experiments.In addition to interfacial effects of the support, this thesis also briefly examines a more apparent role of the oxide, wherein it influences the geometry of the supported metal. Two different Au-based systems are investigated using surface science approaches in Chapter 6 - the segregation properties of a bimetallic Au/Ir alloy on anatase and wetting behavior of Au-FexOy heterodimers – both of which are representative of the structural evolution of a supported catalyst under reaction conditions. Through our analysis, we show that the oxide directly influences these behaviors of the supported metal.The next few chapters explore catalysis using metallic systems, focusing on transition metals, an important class of materials in heterogeneous catalysis and constitutes the major body of DFT literature for trend based catalytic analyses. A crucial factor that contributed to the success of such high-throughput screening studies was identification of linear scaling relationships on transition metals, whereby the adsorption energy of complex molecular fragments was linearly related to that of simple atomic adsorbates. However, while these relationships are valid for low adsorbate coverages, at higher, catalytically relevant coverages, deviations from linearity are common, thus presenting a materials gap in volcano analyses. The incorporation of coverage effects, therefore, in scaling relations has been a pressing challenge. This thesis describes a simple means of systematically capturing changes in reaction energies due to coverage effects through a pairwise interaction model, where the changes in adsorption energies are shown to be a direct function of the number of neighbors and interaction parameters determined through DFT. In addition, we also draw a mathematical correspondence between scaling relations at high coverage and that at low coverage and discuss its implications on the existence of linear scaling relations.In Chapter 8, we discuss collaborative work on Pt based catalysts, an active catalyst for many chemical and electrochemical systems. We explore trends in WGS on bimetallic Pt-M systems and identify an activity descriptor by correlating experimental rates with the binding strength of OH* on model surfaces of bimetallic alloys. In addition, we also investigate the interaction between Na promoter and Pt under reaction conditions, using an inverse oxide model, to obtain insights into the nature of promotion of alkali metals on WGS on Pt catalysts.


The photoluminescence, persistent luminescence and thermoluminescence properties of Mg(0.998-x)Mn0.002BixGeO3 (x = 0, 0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.02) were investigated. A Mn-Bi co-doped sample with x = 0.005 showed the most intense red persistent luminescence due to the Mn2+:4T2→6A1 transition peaked at 680 nm. The persistent luminescence intensity of the sample with x = 0.005 was 30 times higher than that of the Mn singly doped sample (x = 0). All Mn-Bi co-doped samples showed an additional glow peak at approximately 320 K. From the continuous decrease of Bi3+ luminescence intensity in storage process by UV light, it was suggested that Bi itself functions as an electron-trapping center. We proposed an energy level diagram which explains red persistent mechanism in MgGeO3:Mn-Bi.


Current financial turbulence and uncertainty in Europe reinforce arguments in favour of encouraging economic and monetary cooperation but, at the same time, make such cooperation more difficult. Since the rejection by Denmark of the Maastricht Treaty, five Community currencies (those of Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom) have devalued, two of them have left the system (United Kingdom and Italy) and others have come under serious pressure (Denmark and France). The difficulties cannot be ignored. An important component of the problem is the management and control of public expenditure. Adjustments to monetary parameters are necessary to solve urgent problems, but they are not sufficient to build a solid EMU. Excessive use of monetary instruments, with persistent budgetary deficits, is one of the main reasons for the current crisis. Long-lasting financial-market stability requires budgetary discipline. Serious movement towards EMU cannot take place successfully until the budgetary performance of Member States has converged. The European Monetary Union will function properly when Member States accept and work under nominal convergence requirements, among other things, conditions on inflation, interest rates, etc., which means having similar levels of budget deficits. Externalities and interdependence form the basis of the following important arguments identified in support of fiscal cohesion in the European Community: the need for a global European fiscal policy beyond the aggregation of 12 individually decided budgetary positions; the need to avoid the disproportionate use of Community savings by one Member State; a possible bias towards lack of fiscal restraint'; and the need for convergence in budgetary positions during the transition period (A. Lamfalussy, 1989, p. 91). Although the need for fiscal coordination and for controlling national spending in particular have been widely justified, relatively little attention has been paid to identifying and analyzing concrete measures to make this feasible. Most studies on these aspects of the Economic Monetary Union have been concerned with questions as to why the need exist for fiscal convergence and to what degree is it desirable. Attention has only recently been focused on examining what budgetary measures (rules, procedures, structures) can be taken by the Commission or finance ministries for European convergence. This last question was EIPA's main global concern when organizing the workshop Can Norms and Rules enable EC Member States to Secure Budgetary Convergence?' in December 1992. In this workshop, a mixed group of academics and experienced practitioners from the 12 Member States and the Commission met to analyze and discuss the above question and also the general consequences on national budgeting as a result of the conditions put forward by a future European Monetary Union. Presentations and discussions were multidisciplinary. Most of the relevant scientific approaches were represented: public economics, political science, public management and law. A special participant in this workshop was Professor Wildavsky, a visiting professor at EIPA at that time. The objective of the workshop was to analyze, discuss and suggest alternative policy-option initiatives at EC and national levels encouraging convergent financial management behaviour. Discussions were based on the following important questions: What is the current capacity of EC and national governments to manage public spending?'; What budgetary strategies are available to reduce deficits?'; How do social values and political culture affect spending patterns?'; What should the role of the Commission be under these circumstances?'; What is the Member States' responsibility for managing national budgets?'; What budgetary norms and rules should be proposed and negotiated to guarantee convergence of integration?'; What other orders of control should be applied and by whom?' and What strategic and structural arrangements could facilitate integration?'.


Explaining the curious legal doctrine of "coverture," William Blackstone famously declared that "by marriage, husband and wife are one person at law." This "covering" of a wife's legal identity by her husband meant that the greatest subordination of women to men developed within marriage. In England and its colonies, generations of judges, legislators, and husbands invoked coverture to limit married women's rights and property, but there was no monolithic concept of coverture and their justifications shifted to fit changing times: Were husband and wife lord and subject? Master and servant? Guardian and ward? Or one person at law? The essays in Married Women and the Law offer new insights into the legal effects of marriage for women from medieval to modern times. Focusing on the years prior to the passage of the Divorce Acts and Married Women's Property Acts in the late nineteenth century, contributors examine a variety of jurisdictions in the common law world, from civil courts to ecclesiastical and criminal courts. By bringing together studies of several common law jurisdictions over a span of centuries, they show how similar legal rules persisted and developed in different environments. This volume reveals not only legal changes and the women who creatively used or subverted coverture, but also astonishing continuities. Accessibly written and coherently presented, Married Women and the Law is an important look at the persistence of one of the longest lived ideas in British legal history. Contributors include Sara M. Butler (Loyola), Marisha Caswell (Queen's), Mary Beth Combs (Fordham), Angela Fernandez (Toronto), Margaret Hunt (Amherst), Kim Kippen (Toronto), Natasha Korda (Wesleyan), Lindsay Moore (Boston), Barbara J. Todd (Toronto), and Danaya C. Wright (Florida).


In her article "The Meaning of Myth in Ulysses and The Magic Mountain" Susan V. Scaff discusses the proposition that Joyce and Mann combine in their novels myth and history and contradicts Joseph Frank's influential early view that modernist writers avoid history in favor of myth and the more recent verdict of Hayden White that this evasion amounts to an abrogation of civic responsibility mirroring fascism. Mann and Joyce recoil from the horrors of history while exploring the recovery of myth as amelioration. They realize that myths may lose their life bearing quality, and they portray a disoriented Europe lacking the creative power to reestablish connection with its grounding traditions. If humanity cared enough for its welfare, it would recall the regenerative myths of its heritage, yet the protagonists falter. While Hans Castorp, Stephen Dedalus, and Leopold Bloom are cast as heroes in ancient myths of return, in the present day no character completes his story. Just as disturbing, partisans like Joyce's Mr. Deasy and the citizen and Mann's Naphta and Settembrini defend dangerous ideological "myths." The novels balance these risks of unfulfillment and hostility with a theme of healing love represented most powerfully by Bloom: love creates attachments to family, home, and mythical heritage, the only hope for humanizing our lives and history. Susan V. Scaff, "The Meaning of Myth in Ulysses and The Magic Mountain" page 2 of 10 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 11.2 (2009):


An axial superresolution diffraction theory is developed in a two-photon microfabrication system. This method can improve the axial superresolution of the two-photon microfabrication system. A theoretical analysis of the photosensitive resin is discussed based on the exciting power and the concentration of free radical theory. Simulated results of the two-photon microfabrication verify the method and show that it can provide insight into the microfabrication system.


The chemical and immunological characteristics of the type-specific substance (M) of Streptococcus hæmolyticus are considered. 1. A summary of the evidence for the protein nature of this substance follows: (a) It is precipiated by the usual protein precipitants such as, dilute alcohol, dilute acetic acid, and picric acid. (b) It contains 14 per cent protein nitrogen after considerable purification. (c) It is progressively destroyed by removal of the NH2 group by treatment with nitrous acid. (d) It is completely and readily digested by trypsin and by pepsin. 2. "Purified" extracts react in relatively high dilution with homologous antibacterial sera, but do not precipitate most heterologous antibacterial sera or sera potent in non-type-specific antibodies for the group reactive nucleoprotein P or for the species-specific probable carbohydrate C. Attempts to immunize rabbits with the type-specific protein have been unsuccessful, with simple salt solution extracts of streptococci as well as with purified solutions. This protein seems, therefore, to have the characteristics of a haptene. The type-specific substance (M) is contrasted with the so called nucleoprotein (P) which shows group relationships with nucleoproteins of related species and is the only fraction of hemolytic streptococcus extracts so far obtained which, after separation from the bacterial cell, is a true antigen leading to antibody production when injected into rabbits. The occurrence of another non-type-specific protein (Y) is suggested by occasional cross-reactions of purified M with certain antibacterial sera. Since it has not been separated from extracts containing the type-specific M, little is known of it either chemically or serologically. The cross-reaction disappears on tryptic or peptic digestion of the extract. The fact that such extracts do not show cross-reactions with anti-P sera is evidence that this non-type-specific protein is not P.


Migrants and diaspora communities are shaped by their use of information and communication technologies. This book explores the multifaceted role played by new media in the re-location of these groups of people, assisting them in their efforts to defeat nostalgia, construct new communities, and keep connected with their communities of origin. Furthermore, the book analyses the different ways in which migrants contribute, along with natives, in co-constructing contemporary societies a process in which the cultures of both groups are considered. Drawing on contributions from a range of disciplines including sociology, anthropology, psychology and linguistics, it offers a more profound understanding of one of the most significant phenomena of contemporary international societies the migration of nearly a billion people worldwide - and the relationship between technology and society.


This study aims at increasing our understanding of the regional wind climate in Sweden. Spatial and temporal patterns of the surface winds are presented for the years 1999–2000. Annual mean wind speeds range between 2 and 5 m/s with high values at exposed mountainous sites and on islands off the coast. Combining wind speed and direction into mean wind velocities shows that flow conditions are stronger and more coherent in space in southern Sweden than in central and northern Sweden. The spatial scale, defined as the distance between stations when the correlation for wind speed drops to ∼0.37, was determined by pairwise correlations between all possible station pairs. Scales range from 38 to 530 km for wind speed and from 40 to 830 km for wind direction depending on the region. They tend to be smaller in central and northern Sweden, where the more pronounced relief has a larger influence on the local wind conditions. The strength and the timing of the annual and diurnal wind speed cycle have been estimated for each station. Amplitudes of the annual cycle are greater at exposed sites and correlate generally well with annual mean wind speeds. Monthly mean wind speeds peak in winter in southern Sweden, but peak in other seasons in the remaining regions. In winter, weaker pressure gradients over northern Sweden and surface‐near temperature inversions contribute to weaker surface winds. Diurnal cycles vary in strength between summer and winter. Compared to the last normal climate period (1961–1990), 1999–2000 is characterized by the increased occurrence of westerly and southerly geostrophic flow. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society.


Vaccines based on outer membrane vesicles (OMV) were developed more than 20 years ago against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B. These nano-sized structures exhibit remarkable potential for immunomodulation of immune responses and delivery of meningococcal antigens or unrelated antigens incorporated into the vesicle structure. This paper reviews different applications in OMV Research and Development (R&D) and provides examples of OMV developed and evaluated at the Finlay Institute in Cuba. A Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) process was developed at the Finlay Institute to produce OMV from N. meningitidis serogroup B (dOMVB) using detergent extraction. Subsequently, OMV from N. meningitidis, serogroup A (dOMVA), serogroup W (dOMVW), and serogroup X (dOMVX) were obtained using this process. More recently, the extraction process has also been applied effectively for obtaining OMV on a research scale from Vibrio cholerae (dOMVC), Bordetella pertussis (dOMVBP), Mycobacterium smegmatis (dOMVSM), and BCG (dOMVBCG). The immunogenicity of the OMV has been evaluated for specific antibody induction, and together with functional bactericidal and challenge assays in mice has shown their protective potential. dOMVB has been evaluated with non-neisserial antigens, including with a herpes virus type 2 glycoprotein, ovalbumin, and allergens. In conclusion, OMV are proving to be more versatile than first conceived and remain an important technology for development of vaccine candidates.


The domestication of dogs probably occurred in Eurasia by 16,000 years ago, with the initial peopling of the Americas potentially happening around the same time. Dogs were long thought to have accompanied the first migrations into the Americas, but conclusive evidence for Paleoindian dogs is lacking. The direct dating of two dogs from the Koster site (Greene Co., Illinois) and a newly-described dog from the Stilwell II site (Pike Co., Illinois) to between 10,190-9,630 cal BP represents the earliest evidence of domestic dogs in the Americas and individual dog burials in worldwide archaeological record. The over 4,500 year discrepancy between the timing of initial human migration into the Americas and the earliest evidence for domesticated dogs suggests either earlier dogs are going unseen or unidentified or dogs arrived later with a subsequent human migration.


A physical interpretation of the holographic principle is derived, using a specific non-local hidden-variable theory called the Cordus conjecture. We start by developing an explanation for the vacuum, and differentiate this from the void into which the universe expands. In this theory the vacuum comprises a fabric of discrete field elements generated by matter particules. The outside void into which the universe expands is identified as lacking a fabric, and also being without time. From this perspective the cosmological boundary is therefore the expanding surface where the fabric colonises the void. Thus the cosmological boundary is proposed to contain the discrete field elements of all the primal particules within the universe, and therefore contains information about the attributes of those particules at genesis. Inner shells then code for the changed locations of those particules and any new, or annihilated, particules. Regarding the notion of holographic control of inner contents of the universe from the outer surface, this theory identifies the infeasibility of placing a physical Agent at the boundary of the universe, and also predicts there is no practical way to control the universe from its outer boundary as the holographic principle suggests. It also rejects the notion that the boundary contains information about the future and past, or about all possible universes. The Cordus model suggests that there is no causality from the boundary of the universe to its inner contents.


As her top 60 executives arrived in London for the first strategic planning meeting after Ahrendts took the helm, she noticed that not one of them was wearing a Burberry trench coat, despite the damp, gray weather. It was a sign of the challenges the company faced. Even in a burgeoning global market, Burberry was growing at only 2% a year. It had lost focus in the process of global expansion: Each of the 23 licensees around the world was doing something different. Ubiquity was robbing the brand of its luster. Ahrendts realized that if Burberry was going to be a great, pure, global luxury brand, it needed to have one design director-a "brand czar"-and it needed to capitalize on its historical core: the trench coat. The company decided to innovate at the core to attract the luxury customers of the future: millennials.


Background. Adipose tissue secrets various hormones in body such as adiponectin which has close relationship with controlling weight. Objectives. Therefore, the present article determines movement pattern effect of resistance training on adiponectin, in young men. Methods. 40 male untrained students in 23.8±2.66 years old and weight of 67.43±4.96 kg were randomly selected, who participated volunteering in this investigation, from upper body exercise, lower body exercise , combined (three resistance exercise sessions were held in each week during 8 weeks, 5 exercise sets with 60-85% of one repetition maximum) and control exercise (n=10). Blood samples were measured completely similarly in three steps of pre-test, fourth week, and one day after the eighth week exercise analyzed. Results. It is shown that in upper body group after the 8th week, adipose percentage reduced 7.39% (P<0.002) and leptin was decreased up to 64.02% (P<0.001), adiponectin significantly increased 90.42% (P<0.001) than pre-test step. In addition, in lower body group, adipose percentage reduced 7.39% (P<0.006) and leptin decreased 56.95% (P<0.001), adiponectin significantly increased 87.82% (P<0.012), than pre-test step. In combined group, body mass index (BMI) increased 1.88% (P<0.006), muscular mass increased 2.24% (P<0.007), and adiponectin significantly increased 91.56% (P<0.001), leptin (P<0.001) (59.3%) after eight weeks training significantly decreased than pretest step. Conclusion. Various resistance exercises, increase adiponectin and leptin that are associated with change body composition. These changes can be effective for prevention of cardiovascular diseases.


Neurons in primary auditory cortex (A1) are known to exhibit a phenomenon known as stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA), which means that, when tested with pure tones, they will respond more strongly to a particular frequency if it is presented as a rare, unexpected "oddball" stimulus than when the same stimulus forms part of a series of common, "standard" stimuli. Although SSA has occasionally been observed in midbrain neurons that form part of the paraleminscal auditory pathway, it is thought to be weak, rare, or nonexistent among neurons of the leminscal pathway that provide the main afferent input to A1, so that SSA seen in A1 is likely generated within A1 by local mechanisms. To study the contributions that neural processing within the different cytoarchitectonic layers of A1 may make to SSA, we recorded local field potentials in A1 of the rat in response to standard and oddball tones and subjected these to current source density analysis. Although our results show that SSA can be observed throughout all layers of A1, right from the earliest part of the response, there are nevertheless significant differences between layers, with SSA becoming significantly stronger as stimulus-related activity passes from the main thalamorecipient layers III and IV to layer V.


Non-glandular and three types of glandular trichomes localized on a peduncle and the phyllaries of two species (Doronicum orientale and D. macrophyllum) belonging to Senecioneae tribe of Asteraceae were studied by light and electron microscopy, as well as on histochemistry. The plant species differ on the trichome morphology, anatomy and arrangement. Three types of the glandular trichomes are formed on the vegetative and reproductive organs in D. orientale, whereas only one type exists in D. macrophyllum. It was shown by fluorescent microscopy and histochemistry that the phenolic substances, terpenoids and sesquiterpene lactones present in the glandular trichomes. The received results allow assuming that secretion of the trichomes is a chemical barrier to insects and fungi.


1. The absorption of fluid from the joint cavity was studied by measurement of the flow of Ringer solution or paraffin oil, from an infusion reservoir, into rabbit knee joints at constant pressures between 0 and 25 cm water. 2. Although no oil was absorbed across the synovium, oil flowed continuously into the joint cavity at constant intra-articular pressure. It was concluded that the joint capsule expanded with time (delayed compliance, viscous creep). Viscous creep of the capsule could explain, in part, the poor correlation observed clinically between effusion volume and pressure. 3. The rate of absorption of Ringer solution by the synovium was calculated by subtraction of the volumetric rate of creep from the volume i d o w of Ringer solution. The absorption rate increased as a linear function of intra-articular pressure up to 9 cm water but as a much steeper (six-times) function of pressure above 9 cm water (the 'breaking point' phenomenon). Since pressure increases upon joint flexion, flexion may minimize synovial fluid volume by promoting fluid absorption. 4. The absorption rate was unaffected by ligation of the lymphatic drainage of the joint, but was reduced to between 79 and 85% by intermittent interruption of blood flow to the joint. Fluid accumulated in connective tissue outside the synovium. 5. It is concluded that these artificial effusions are absorbed partly into the synovial microcirculation, in accordance with Starling's hypothesis of fluid exchange, and partly into compliant


Focusing of an incident light wave through a plano-convex spherical lens is discussed by calculating the light intensity distribution on the lens's optical axis after the incident wave is multiply scattered inside the lens. It is found that the size and location of the region into which the incident wave is focused are determined by two conditions. It is also found that it is possible for the wave to be focused into two such regions.


Sea ice, snow and atmosphere interactions are major drivers of the spatial distribution of snow over sea ice in polar regions. Here, we quantify changes caused by a snow storm in the spatial distribution of snow over an Antarctic ice floe at resolutions of 1-10 cm and over 100 m x 100 m. The snow/ice elevations were obtained using a Terrestrial Laser Scanner during the SIPEX-2 in 2012. The pre-storm surface (2012-10-20) exhibits multi-directional elongated snow dunes behind aerodynamic obstacles likely formed during previous snow storms. The post-storm surface (2012-10-23) exhibits clear new deposition dunes elongated along the predominant wind direction. The new deposition areas amount to 38% of the total surveyed area. Patterns of erosion are less evident but cover a larger portion of the area. This results in a total volume of change near zero with a mean elevation difference of 0.02 m. After the storm, the statistical distributions of elevation and the 2D correlation functions remain similar to those of the pre-storm surface. The pre- and post-storm surfaces also exhibit power-law relationships in the power spectrum with little change between pre- and post-storm slopes. These observations suggest that despite the significant change observed in the snow surface patterns, the change does not translate into significant changes in the spatial statistical and scaling properties of the surface morphology. Such an observation is important for sea-ice model representations of the sub-pixel variability of sea ice surfaces, particularly between snow storm events, although more datasets will be required to extend these results to a wider range of sea ice surface morphologies.


Using indigenous knowledge systems such as Ubuntu in social work with children empowers them, their families, communities and workers. Yet, the potential of using frames that draw on indigenous ways of knowing, in children's work, remain unrealised since social workers prefer Western models and theories. Ubuntu inspired models of social work view children from family, community, environmental and spiritual perspectives. In contrast, Western models are inspired by individualitic values,  governmental policies and professional viewpoints. However, as will be shown in this article, foreign models have failed to live up to expectations because they tend to disempower and diminish the strengths of everyone involved in case situations. For example, the social worker has to administer a model that they are not fully familiar with or which contradicts their own values. The family is forced to adopt values that they do not know let alone believe in. The community becomes powerless in the process. This article discusses the use of Ubuntu theory in social work with children in Africa. The discussion includes five frameworks of Ubuntu: the orature, scholarly, liberation, practice and integrated. The Ubuntu inspired Zera model of child growth and development was used to aid the discussion. We conclude that, given social work's emphasis on using strengths  perspectives, i.e., those broader frames that deliberately look for and build on the strengths of clients and client systems, social work practice with children in Africa should engage with Ubuntu, as a matter of principle.. Key terms : Ubuntu; Africa; Zimbabwe; indigenous; children; social work


The volcanic filling of the lunar maria, the formation of mascons, the tectonic features of the mare regions, and the thermal evolution of the lunar lithosphere are all interlinked. To explore these processes for the major mascon maria (Serenitatis, Humorum, Imbrium, Orientale, Crisium, Nectaris, Smythii, and Grimaldi), we determine the characteristics and geometry of tectonic features in each mascon mare region, the distribution of major mare units and the flooding and subsidence history for each basin, the temporal relations between tectonic features and geologic units, the effective lithospheric thickness as a function of time in each mascon region, the implications of the derived thicknesses for lunar thermal structure, the relationship between local and global sources of stress in controlling lunar tectonic history, and the consequent limitations this relationship places on lunar thermal evolution.

All mascon basins display some associated tectonic features: linear rilles, which are graben-like features resulting from horizontal crustal tension, and/or mare ridges, which result from horizontal compression and buckling of near-surface material. Crisium, Smythii, and Nectaris have ridges but no associated rilles. Mare ridges occur almost exclusively in mare basalt deposits. Where developed, rilles tend to be concentric to the basin and to occur outside the ridge systems, usually in the adjacent highlands. Volumes, sequences, and timing of basalt emplacement are determined from basin geometry and by stratigraphic reconstruction from remote sensing data and age determinations. Amounts of basin subsidence are determined from patterns of geologic units and present mare surface topography. Total volumes of basalt vary as a function of basin size, amount of subsidence, and stages of flooding (for example, Orientale, little flooding, and Imbrium, extensive flooding). The vast majority of filling for Serenitatis, Crisium, Nectaris, Imbrium, Humorum, and, possibly, Orientale apparently occurred early (3.8–3.6 b.y.). Lesser amounts were added to Serenitatis, Crisium, Imbrium, and Humorum at 3.6–3.2 b.y. Minor amounts were subsequently added to Serenitatis, Imbrium, and Crisium. The earliest basalts subsided shortly after their emplacement, indicating that the mare basalt load was superisostatic at that time. Linear rille formation appears to be restricted to the period prior to about 3.6 ± 0.2 b.y., although subsidence continued well past that time. Mare ridges occur throughout mare regions. Both subsidence and mare ridge formation must have continued until after emplacement of even the youngest mare basalt units.

Detailed models of the flexural response of the lunar lithosphere to the mare basalt loads at the times of emplacement of major mare units permit evaluation of the effective thickness T of the elastic lithosphere. The distribution of well-developed graben concentric to each mare basin center is matched by a spatially variable thickness of the elastic lithosphere during the time of rille formation 3.6–3.8 b.y. ago: T ≲ 25 km for Grimaldi; T = 40–50 km for Serenitatis, Orientale, and Humorum; T ≃ 50–75 km for Imbrium; and T > 75 km for Nectaris, Smythii, and Crisium. The distribution of mare ridges and the topographic relief of present mare surfaces are matched by a greater lithospheric thickness (T ∼ 100 km) at the time of emplacement of the youngest mare units for most mare basins, and the required spatial variation in lithospheric thickness at ∼3.0 b.y. may be less than at ∼3.6 b.y. The growth of the lunar lithosphere beneath each mare basin is a natural consequence of the cooling of the outer portions of the moon. The global synchronism for the cessation of linear rille formation can be explained as being due to the superposition onto the local stress of a global thermal stress that shifted from extensional to compressional as the moon changed from net expansion to net contraction at or before 3.6 ± 0.2 b.y. ago.

A pronounced spatial variation in effective lithosphere thickness during the time of early mare volcanism is clearly indicated. This variation is not simply the product of the average lunar thermal evolution, nor is it explainable solely on the basis of differences in mare fill age or in basin size or basin age. These variations likely represented large-scale inhomogeneities in the thermal structure of the lunar crust and uppermost mantle, arising from lateral variations in crustal heat sources, crustal heat transport, or sublithospheric heat flow. These inhomogeneities apparently lessened in magnitude with time as thermal variations were smoothed out by crustal heat conduction.


Abstract A description of the new mineral innsbruckite, Mn33(Si2O5)14(OH)38, a hydrous manganese phyllosilicate found in Tyrol, Austria is given. The crystal structure was determined by singlecrystal synchrotron radiation diffraction experiments at the X06DA beamline at the Swiss Light Source (Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland). The space group is Cm and lattice parameters are a = 17.2760(19), b = 35.957(5), c = 7.2560(8) Å , β = 91.359(7)°, V = 4506.1(10) Å3, Z = 2. Innsbruckite belongs to the group of modulated 1:1 layer silicates and is chemically and structurally quite closely related to bementite, Mn7(Si2O5)3(OH)8. The chemical analysis revealed a close to ideal composition with only minor amounts of Al, Fe and Mg. Using Liebau's nomenclature for silicate classification the silicate anion can be described as an unbranched siebener single layer. Innsbruckite shows a complex topology of the silicate sheet, exhibiting 4-, 5-, 6- and 8-membered rings. The silicate sheet is fully characterized using vertex symbols, and its topology is compared to those in other complex sheet silicates. Furthermore, the structural investigation is complemented with Raman spectroscopic studies.


Many inhabitants of the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean speak a mixture of English and Japanese that resulted from the islands' unique and complicated history. The development of Bonin English began with the arrival--on previously uninhabited islands--of men and women speaking eighteen European and Austronesian languages in the early nineteenth century. As the islanders intermixed, their native languages intertwining, the need arose for a common language and shared means of communication. Eventually, a pidgin version of English emerged as the preferred method of communication as well as a strong symbol of island identity. As Bonin English developed among second- and third-generation islanders, it was further complicated by the arrival of thousands of Japanese speakers. Increasingly, these formerly "western" islanders became bilingual, and by the mid-twentieth century Bonin English had evolved to incorporate elements of Japanese. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of Bonin English and the complex sociolinguistic factors that have influenced its endurance and metamorphosis.


This is a study of people's retirement timing under defined benefit pension plans (DB plans). The actuarial structure of DB pensions generally creates strong incentive for people to stay with their employers, at least to their early retirement ages, not to retire beforehand. Upon tracking respondents covered by DB plans in the Wave I (1992 cohort) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) until they left their 1992 employers, we found that a significant percentage of people (about 17%) left their jobs prior to their early retirement ages. Why did people leave prematurely? Several possible hypotheses were considered and examined. Through simple tabulation analyses, we found that workers in the early-leaving group tend to have significantly smaller pension benefits and significantly poorer knowledge about their pensions. The impact of self-reported health status and early retirement windows were not evident. Logistic regressions showed that conditional on age dummies, pension size, and having basic pension knowledge was strongly negatively correlated to premature departure. Both excellent and poor health statuses correlate positively with early departure. Accepting an early-out window also had a significantly positive correlation with early departure.


The "mother" hypothesis is one of the main adaptive explanations of human menopause. It postulates that reproductive cessation constitutes a strategy that has been selected for during human evolution because mothers at older ages might maximize their fitness by investing resources in the survival and reproduction of their living children rather than by continuing to reproduce. This study provides a test of this hypothesis. Fertility functions that maximize fitness are built into a model incorporating the fact that the survival of females during the rearing period is a major determinant of their children's survival. Results are given according to different scenarios of increase with mothers' age of maternal mortality risk and risk of stillbirth and birth defects (on the assumption that these females do not experience menopause). Different estimates of the effect of a mother's death on her child's survival were also incorporated. Finally, a population genetics framework allows us to estimate selection on these optimal fertility functions. To determine whether or not these fertility functions show a menopause, three criteria are discussed: the rapidity of fertility decline, if any; the magnitude of selection on menopause compared with a nonmenopausal strategy; and the selection on survival during post-reproductive life. Our results show that menopause and subsequent post-reproductive life are significantly advantageous when two conditions are satisfied: a marked increase in stillbirth and risk of birth defects as well as in maternal mortality with mother's age.


This thesis comprises a study of various types of signal processing techniques, applied to the tasks of extracting information from speech, cough, and dolphin sounds. Established approaches to analysing speech sounds for the purposes of low data rate speech encoding, and more generally to determine the characteristics of the speech signal, are reviewed. Two new speech processing techniques, shift-and-add and CLEAN (which have previously been applied in the field of astronomical image processing), are developed and described in detail. Shjft-and-add is shown to produce a representation of the long-term "average" characteristics of the speech signal. Under certain simplifying assumptions, this can be equated to the average glottal excitation. The iterative deconvolution technique called CLEAN is employed to deconvolve the shift-and-add signal from the speech signal. Because the resulting "CLEAN" signal has relatively few non-zero samples, it can be directly encoded at a low data rate. The performance of a low data rate speech encoding scheme that takes advantage of this attribute of CLEAN is examined in detail. Comparison with the multi-pulse LP C approach to speech coding shows that the new method provides similar levels of performance at medium data rates of about 16kbitfs. The changes that occur in the character of a person's cough sounds when that person is afflicted with asthma are outlined. The development and implementation of a micro-computer-based cough sound analysis system, designed to facilitate the ongoing study of these sounds, is described. The system performs spectrographic analysis on the cough sounds. A graphical user interface allows the sound waveforms and spectra to be displayed and examined in detail. Preliminary results are presented, which indicate that the spectral content of cough sounds are changed by asthma. An automated digital approach to studying the characteristics of Hector's dolphin vocalisations is described. This scheme characterises the sounds by extracting descriptive parameters from their time and frequency domain envelopes. The set of parameters so obtained from a sample of click sequences collected from free-ranging dolphins is analysed by principal component analysis. Results are presented which indicate that Hector's dolphins produce only a small number of different vocal sounds. In addition to the statistical analysis, several of the clicks, which are assumed to be used for echo-location, are analysed in terms of their range-velocity ambiguity functions. The results suggest that Hector's dolphins can distinguish targets separated in range by about 2cm, but are unable to separate targets that differ only in their velocity.


Madison sediments accumulated in two depositional realms--a basinal, predominantly limestone province in Montana and adjoining Dakotas; and the Wyoming shelf, characterized by prominent dolomitization on the south. The belt of transition in southern Montana and adjoining South Dakota showed relatively little migration throughout deposition. West of the Wyoming shelf, limestone and shale deposition took place in the Idaho geosynclinal trend. Southeastward to the Cambridge arch, Madison sediments were affected by increasing amounts of pre-Pennsylvanian erosion in Wyoming and western South Dakota. Mississippian sediments are absent from a part of southeastern Wyoming. Early, medial, and late stages of sedimentation may be differentiated on the basis of lithologic cycles or sequences developed in the Madison group. Early sedimentation was characterized by deposition of tile approximate Lodgepole formation and equivalents, Guernsey, Englewood, and lower Pahasapa formations. Deposition commenced earliest in the Williston basin and central Montana trough with the development of black shales, followed by dense limestone and shales; minor terrestrial to nearshore marine clastic sedimentation in the Black Hills area commenced somewhat later, preceding and accompanying the initial marine transgression on the Wyoming shelf. Widespread deposition of normal marine and fragmental oolitic limestones (mainly dolomitized equivalents in the shelf areas) occurred. hoaling was prominent, and as a result local minor restricted deposition took place. Marine limestone and dolomite sedimentation, modified by two episodes of evaporite precipitation, occurred during medial Madison time. Mission Canyon carbonates containing an intermediate evaporite zone and overlain by the prominent basal Charles evaporites constitute the resulting middle unit. Evaporitic deposition was characterized by the precipitation of anhydrite and halite in the basinal areas at the north. Southward, progressively less restriction is demonstrated by the disappearance of halite, thinning of anhydrite, and the development of primary dense carbonate zones. Late sedimentation was characterized by restoration of normal marine conditions and development of a complex evaporite cycle (Charles formation, excluding basal evaporites). Big Snowy clastics were deposited in Chester time in the northern basinal areas. In other areas, pre-Amsden or pre-Pennsylvanian to pre-Middle Jurassic erosion had varying effects on the Madison surface. Limestone reservoirs in the basinal areas of Montana and North Dakota, and dolomites in northwestern Wyoming yield Madison oil. Optimum facies changes and post-depositional tectonic effects make the Madison group an excellent prospective unit in many areas.


In this paper we consider the robustness of subgame perfect implementation in situations when the preferences of players are almost perfectly known. More precisely, we consider a class of information perturbations where in each state of the world players know their own preferences with certainty and receive almost perfectly informative signals about the preferences of other players. We show that implementations using two-stage sequential move mechanisms are always robust under this class of restricted perturbations, while those using more stages are often not.


Background/Aims:Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) play a key role in fibrogenesis associated with acute and chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP), an acute-phase protein, is dramatically upregulated during acute and chronic pancreatitis. Assuming a protective role of PAP, we investigated its effects on human PSCs. Methods:PSCs were obtained by outgrowth from fibrotic human pancreas tissue. PAPwas expressed in the yeast Pichia pastoris. PAPwas added at 10 ng/ml to cultured PSCs. Cell proliferation was determined by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation. PSC migration was assessed by a wound healing assay. Collagen types I and III, fibronectin, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs) and reversion-inducing cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs (RECK) were demonstrated on protein and mRNA level. Results: PAP had no significant effect on PSC proliferation and migration. Cell-associated fibrillar collagen types I and III and fibronectin increased after addition of PAP to PSCs. PAP diminished the expression of MMP-1 and -2 and TIMP-1 and -2 and their concentrations in PSC supernatants. RECK was detected on the surface of PSCs and its expression was reduced after PAP application. Conclusions: Our data offer new insights into the biological functions of PAP, which may play an important role in wound healing response and cell-matrix interactions.


Visible and near infrared (Vis-NIR) spectroscopy is a non-destructive analytical method that can be used to complement, enhance or potentially replace conventional methods of soil analysis. The aim of this research was to predict the particle size distribution (PSD) of soils using a Vis-NIR) spectrophotometry in one irrigate field having a vertisol clay texture in the Karacabey district of Bursa Province, Turkey. A total of 86 soil samples collected from the study area were subjected to optical scanning in the laboratory with a portable, fiber-type Vis-NIR spectrophotometer (AgroSpec, tec5 Technology for Spectroscopy, Germany). Before the partial least square regression (PLSR) analysis, the entire reflectance spectra were randomly split into calibration (80%) and validation (20%) sets. A leave-one-out cross-validation PLSR analysis was carried out using the calibration set with Unscrambler (R) software, whereas the model prediction ability was tested using the validation (prediction) set. Models developed were used to predict sand and clay content using on-line collected spectra from the field. Results showed an "excellent" laboratory prediction performance for both sand (R-2 = 0.81, RMSEP = 3.84% and RPD = 2.32 in cross-validation; R-2 = 0.90, RMSEP = 2.91% and RPD = 2.99 in the prediction set) and clay (R-2 = 0.86, RMSEP = 3.4% and RPD = 2.66 in cross validation; R-2 = 0.92, RMSEP = 2.67% and RPD = 3.14 in the prediction set). Modelling of silt did not result in any meaningful correlations. Less accurate on-line predictions were recorded compared to the laboratory results, although the on-line predictions were very good (RPD = 2.24-2.31). On-line predicted maps showed reasonable spatial similarity to corresponding laboratory measured maps. This study proved that soil sand and clay content can be successfully measured and mapped using Vis-NIR spectroscopy under both laboratory and on-line scanning conditions.


In French history textbooks published after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871, the presentation of the war and its outcome frequently include the myth of France's revanche and depictions of the Prussian enemy as barbarians. Other textbooks presented a narrative of progress in which the French Third Republic is shown as the endpoint of a process of advancing civilization. While the idea of a French revanche can be regarded as a founding myth of the Third Republic, the narrative of progress can be seen as an echo of this myth, cleansed of the concept of the enemy as barbarian, which constitutes a national master narrative.


We offer a diachronic view of Spanish/Romanian Psychological constructions with Dative Experiencers, which are not always stative. Spanish constructions with Dative Experiencers can be telic, with an aspectual reflexive, or stative, without reflexive. The contrast exists in the earliest documents, and guides the evolution of Psychological constructions in the postmedieval period to the present. In earlier Spanish/Romanian, Dative Experiencers could be in High Applicatives encoded as a clitic, with or without Dative phrase. Alternatively, Experiencers could be in Locative Phrases, encoded as just a Dative Phrase/ pronoun, without clitic. The Locative type was lost, so Dative Experiencers became Applicatives with obligatory clitics in Spanish/Romanian. Nominatives became obligatory in Psychological constructions with Dative Experiencers in Spanish, but not Romanian. Earlier Spanish/Romanian shared nominativeless constructions with Oblique Themes found in present Romanian but not Spanish, where they are restricted to inalienable possession.


A high activity of a two-dimensional (2D) copper oxide (CuO) electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is presented. The CuO electrode self-assembles on a stainless steel substrate via chemical bath deposition at 80 °C in a mixed solution of CuSO4 and NH4OH, followed by air annealing treatment, and shows a 2D nanosheet bundle-type morphology. The OER performance is studied in a 1 M KOH solution. The OER starts to occur at about 1.48 V versus the RHE (η = 250 mV) with a Tafel slope of 59 mV dec−1 in a 1 M KOH solution. The overpotential (η) of 350 mV at 10 mA cm−2 is among the lowest compared with other copper-based materials. The catalyst can deliver a stable current density of >10 mA cm−2 for more than 10 hours. This superior OER activity is due to its adequately exposed OER-favorable 2D morphology and the optimized electronic properties resulting from the thermal treatment.


E-health, the provision of healthcare services via the Internet, has the potential to address the limited capacity of the healthcare system and thereby improve health outcomes. While there is considerable development of e-health services in practice, research in this important area often lags practice and takes a restricted view of user needs. The study presented in this paper undertakes a holistic evaluation of perceptions of e-health services and tools by addressing the activities of diverse stakeholders from healthcare practitioners to the general public. The research uses Q-methodology to explore the opportunities, challenges, barriers, and potential benefits of e-health to guide the development of a holistic e-health strategy that targets all stakeholders. Q methodology is a research design that provides a foundation for the systematic study of subjectivity and so is appropriate as a way of fostering deep understandings of e- health phenomena from different user perspectives . A three factor solution was selected for the interpretation of the data. Our finding suggests that government authorities and healthcare providers should be aware of the existence of health literacy issue as well as other issues among diverse users of the health system. The design of universal (ubiquitous) online health systems must accommodate users with different skills, knowledge, age, gender, and disabilities.


Whereas most research on public perceptions of genetically modified products have focused on first-generation biotechnologies and genetically modified foods, this paper examines public support for a variety of animal and plant agricultural biotechnology applications and explores whether the determinants of support for each application vary by knowledge, trust, benefits, and sociodemographic variables. The data for this study were gathered from 432 adults in a regional Southwestern telephone survey conducted from March 28 through May 4, 2004. The results revealed that the vehicle used (animal or plant) appears to outweigh both the function and type of application, although nonfood applications tended to receive higher support levels than genetically modified foods. Plant applications received higher support than animal applications. Additionally, the determinants for each biotechnology application were different, and their explanatory power varied by application. Only perceived benefits was significantly related to each biotechnology application.


A variety of paleogeographic reconstructions have been published, with applications ranging from paleoclimate, ocean circulation and faunal radiation models to resource exploration; yet their uncertainties remain difficult to assess as they are generally presented as low-resolution static maps. We present a methodology for ground-truthing the digital Palaeogeographic Atlas of Australia by linking the GPlates plate reconstruction tool to the global Paleobiology Database and a Phanerozoic plate motion model. We develop a spatio-temporal data mining workflow to validate the Phanerozoic Palaeogeographic Atlas of Australia with paleoenvironments derived from fossil data. While there is general agreement between fossil data and the paleogeographic model, the methodology highlights key inconsistencies. The Early Devonian paleogeographic model of southeastern Australia insufficiently describes the Emsian inundation that may be refined using biofacies distributions. Additionally, the paleogeographic model and fossil data can be used to strengthen numerical models, such as the dynamic topography and the associated inundation of eastern Australia during the Cretaceous. Although paleobiology data provide constraints only for paleoenvironments with high preservation potential of organisms, our approach enables the use of additional proxy data to generate improved paleogeographic reconstructions.


Modern software is increasingly developed using multi-language implementations, large supporting libraries and frameworks, callbacks, virtual function calls, reflection, multithreading, and object- and aspect-oriented programming. The predominant example of such software is the graphical user interface (GUI), which is used as a front-end to most of today's software applications. The characteristics of GUIs and other modern software present new challenges to software testing. Because recently developed techniques for automated test case generation can generate more tests than are practical to regularly execute, one important challenge is test suite reduction . Test suite reduction seeks to decrease the size of a test suite without overly compromising its original fault detection ability. This research advances the state-of-the-art in test suite reduction by empirically studying a coverage criterion which considers the context in which program concepts are covered. Conventional approaches to test suite reduction were developed and evaluated on batch-style applications and, due to the aforementioned considerations, are not always easily applicable to modern software. Furthermore, many existing techniques fail to consider the context in which code executes inside an event-driven paradigm, where programs wait for and interactively respond to user- and system-generated events. Consequently, they yield reduced test suites with severely impaired fault detection ability. The novel feature of this research is a test suite reduction technique based on the call stack coverage criterion which addresses many of the challenges associated with coverage-based test suite reduction in modern applications. Results show that reducing test suites while maintaining call stack coverage yields good tradeoffs between size reduction and fault detection effectiveness compared to traditional techniques. The output of this research includes models, metrics, algorithms, and techniques based upon this approach.


Sensitive troponin assays have been developed to meet the diagnostic goals set by the universal definition of myocardial infarction (MI). The analytical advantages of sensitive troponin assays include improved analytical imprecision at concentrations below the 99th percentile and the ability to define a reference distribution fully. Clinically, the improved sensitivity translates into the ability to diagnosis MI earlier, possibly within 3 h from admission and the ability to use the rate of change of troponin (Δ troponin) for diagnosis. Very sensitive assays may, in appropriately selected populations (perhaps with the addition of Δ troponin), allow diagnosis on hospital admission or within 1–2 h of admission. An elevated troponin level occurring in patients without suspected acute coronary syndromes has, in all studies to date in which outcome has been examined, been shown to indicate an adverse prognosis whatever the underlying clinical diagnosis. Failure of elevation means a good prognosis allowing early, safe hospital discharge, whereas a raised value requires investigation and should help prevent clinically significant pathology being overlooked. Sensitive troponins do present a challenge to the laboratory and the clinician. For the laboratory, the diagnosis of MI requires a change in troponin value. For the clinician, the challenge is to shift from a simplistic yes/no diagnosis of MI based on a single troponin value to a diagnosis that utilises early troponin changes as part of the clinical picture, and to relate the new class of detectable troponin elevation in patients with ischaemic myocardial disease to existing clinical guidelines and trial evidence.