Background. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, including Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, are newly emerging pathogens of public health importance. Currently no nationally representative or mandatory surveillance or reporting system exists to examine trends of these important pathogens. Objective. The purpose of the current study was to estimate trends in overall microbial burden and carbapenem resistance in E. coli and K. pneumoniae and to understand the extent to which hospitals which report to voluntary surveillance systems represent all hospitals in the United States. Design. We conducted a descriptive study to compare the hospitals participating in voluntary reporting systems of the University HealthSystem Consortium and the National Healthcare Safety Network with the Healthcare Utilization Project's Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a nationally representative sample of hospital discharges. Methods. Descriptive analyses examined hospital characteristics (region, bed size, hospital control, teaching status, case mix index) and patient characteristics (age, sex, race/ethnicity, admission source, admission type, discharge status, primary payer) of participant hospitals versus all US hospitals. ICD-9-CM codes identified discharges coded for E. coli and K. pneumoniae diagnoses; linear regression was used to evaluate trends in overall microbial burden of E. coli and K. pneumoniae in all US Hospitals and US Academic Centers. Trends in E. coli and K. pneumoniae resistance to carbapenem were also evaluated in hospitals participating in voluntary surveillance systems (n=13). Results. Between 2002 and 2007, slight increasing trends in burden of both E. coli and K. pneumoniae were observed (E. coli: slope = 0.0537; K. pneumoniae slope = 0.0168). Hospitals participating in voluntary surveillance systems are larger and care for fewer elderly patients than all US hospitals. Conclusions. These results suggest that hospitals that participate in voluntary surveillance systems like the National Healthcare Safety Network and the University HealthSystem Consortium may underrepresent trends in smaller hospitals, as well as those that treat elderly patients. Increasing overall burden of infection due to these isolates only reinforces the importance carbapenem resistance in E. coli and K. pneumoniae. This important public health threat may warrant the creation of a national, mandatory reporting system for these and other antimicrobial resistant organisms.


Impedance matching networks for nonlinear devices such as amplifiers and rectifiers are normally very challenging to design, particularly for broadband and multiband devices. A novel design concept for a broadband high-efficiency rectenna without using matching networks is presented in this paper for the first time. An off-center-fed dipole antenna with relatively high input impedance over a wide frequency band is proposed. The antenna impedance can be tuned to the desired value and directly provides a complex conjugate match to the impedance of a rectifier. The received RF power by the antenna can be delivered to the rectifier efficiently without using impedance matching networks; thus, the proposed rectenna is of a simple structure, low cost, and compact size. In addition, the rectenna can work well under different operating conditions and using different types of rectifying diodes. A rectenna has been designed and made based on this concept. The measured results show that the rectenna is of high power conversion efficiency (more than 60%) in two wide bands, which are 0.9–1.1 and 1.8–2.5 GHz, for mobile, Wi-Fi, and ISM bands. Moreover, by using different diodes, the rectenna can maintain its wide bandwidth and high efficiency over a wide range of input power levels (from 0 to 23 dBm) and load values (from 200 to 2000 Ω). It is, therefore, suitable for high-efficiency wireless power transfer or energy harvesting applications. The proposed rectenna is general and simple in structure without the need for a matching network hence is of great significance for many applications.


Bob Woodward's book on President Bush and the Iraq war will be the definitive account of the turning point in history as Bush, his war council and allies launched a pre-emptive attack, toppling Saddam Hussein and taking over the country. From in-depth interviews with key players and notes from national security meetings, Woodward provides a thoroughly original, authoritative narrative of the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring, examining the causes and consequences of the most controversial war since Vietnam. What emerges is an astonishingly intimate portrait of Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, the generals, the CIA and key foreign leaders ranging from Tony Blair to Vladimir Putin. This is the how and why of decision-making - the secret meetings, secure phone calls, strategies, dilemmas and raw emotions of war as it is rarely seen in contemporary history.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Prior studies have demonstrated that most women are comfortable with the option of receiving early abortion care in the family medicine setting, and patients who received early abortion care in this context report satisfaction with their experience. There are few qualitative studies, however, that explore abortion experiences in the family medicine setting. This study aimed to better understand influential factors in women's choices and experiences of their family medicine setting for abortion care.

METHODS
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 women who received early abortion care at an urban federally qualified health center offering full-spectrum family medicine. Transcripts were analyzed in NVivo, using editing and immersion/crystallization approaches.

RESULTS
Women who received abortion care in this setting were highly satisfied. Though many were surprised when they learned abortion care was available, their responses were favorable, and their experiences were positive. Our results indicate that connection to the clinic setting and to the provider who performed the abortion created a context of trust and comfort. Further, women in our study appreciated the privacy offered by a general medical setting as well as the convenience and continuity of care afforded by accessing abortion care in their accustomed primary care setting.

CONCLUSIONS
Women in our study reported high levels of satisfaction with care and would recommend this setting to others. In a context of increasing restrictions on abortion, family physicians are well-positioned to increase access by including abortion care in the range of reproductive health services offered in their primary care practice settings.


Surging public debt since the Great Recession has focused increasing attention on the issue of debt sustainability. This paper provides debt sustainability analyses for the Czech Republic and Slovakia by estimating their public debt to GDP, and primary balance to GDP ratios up until 2022 under three different projections. The first, labelled the baseline projection, predicts their debt ratios to 2022, if neither their public debt to GDP ratios nor their primary balance to GDP ratios change. This projection uses the official forecasts of the key variables. The second projection answers the question of how much the two counties have to consolidate, measured by their primary balance to GDP ratios, if they want to hold their public debt to GDP ratios at their current levels. The third projection answers the question of how much the countries have to consolidate if they aim to reattain their December 2008 pre-crisis public debt to GDP ratios. All three projections are made for the same five scenarios, which cover a status quo case, where official forecasts are realized, and both optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for growth and consolidation outcomes. The paper`s novelty lies in its development of an existing non-parametric methodology to encompass iterative numerical solution methods to assess public debt sustainability. This allows a richer set of results to be obtained, for example estimates for the required level of the public debt to GDP ratio, and the primary balance to GDP ratio, taking account of variables such as nominal interest rates, yields to maturity on public debt, inflation rates and average maturities of debt.


The shoulder of a packaging machine is a developable surface that guides the packing material without stretching or tearing. The shoulder is traditionally manufactured by bending a flexible plate along a given bending curve, also without stretching ortearing. In this paper, the shoulder geometry isdescribed mathematically b methods from classical differential geometry. For a given bending curve the generating lines of the (developable) shoulder surface are completely specified. It is shown that the bending curve can be chosen such that the resulting shoulder contains a planar triangle. The special case of a conical shoulder is also discussed, and the underlying bending curve is determined explicitly.


The energy constraints due to the end of Dennard scaling, the popularity of in-memory analytics, and the advances in 3D integration technology have led to renewed interest in near-data processing (NDP) architectures that move processing closer to main memory. Due to the limited power and area budgets of the logic layer, the NDP compute units should be area and energy efficient while providing sufficient compute capability to match the high bandwidth of vertical memory channels. They should also be flexible to accommodate a wide range of applications. Towards this goal, NDP units based on fine-grained (FPGA) and coarse-grained (CGRA) reconfigurable logic have been proposed as a compromise between the efficiency of custom engines and the flexibility of programmable cores. Unfortunately, FPGAs incur significant area overheads for bit-level reconfiguration, while CGRAs consume significant power in the interconnect and are inefficient for irregular data layouts and control flows. This paper presents Heterogeneous Reconfigurable Logic (HRL), a reconfigurable array for NDP systems that improves on both FPGA and CGRA arrays. HRL combines both coarse-grained and fine-grained logic blocks, separates routing networks for data and control signals, and uses specialized units to effectively support branch operations and irregular data layouts in analytics workloads. HRL has the power efficiency of FPGA and the area efficiency of CGRA. It improves performance per Watt by 2.2x over FPGA and 1.7x over CGRA. For NDP systems running MapReduce, graph processing, and deep neural networks, HRL achieves 92% of the peak performance of an NDP system based on custom accelerators for each application.


The rhizobacteria were isolated from rhizosphere of rice plant of different fields of 4 districts of Nepal and 5 districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, adjoining states of India with Nepal. The DGGE analysis was performed for diversity analysis. For the construction of dendrogram, 16S rRNA gene was amplified by two different sets of primers. The DGGE ladder consisting of PCR amplified products of nine pure bacterial cultures were obtained. The first DGGE ladder was prepared by 400 bp fragment of 16S rDNA with GC clamp and the second DGGE ladder was prepared with 200 bp fragment of 16S rDNA with GC clamp. The perpendicular DGGE of these amplicons based on their melting behavior clearly demonstrated separation of different isolates. The 16S rDNA fragment amplified with primer set of V2-V3 regions with GC clamp showed separation between 40-60% of denaturant. The DGGE profile based on primer set F352T and 519r for various bacteria present in soil samples of 5 districts of India and 4 districts of Nepal revealed that the number of bands which might be specific for diazotrophic isolates varied from 2 to 11. The dendrogram constructed based on DGGE profile of various samples of 5 districts of India and 4 districts of Nepal showed that all the samples could be clustered in nine groups with 58-96% similarity to each other. Among all these 37 samples, only Var-4 and Var-5 showed 100% similarity, no other samples from any site showed 100% similarity.  Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 5(1): 72-80


This thesis is concerned with the growth and dissolution of gypsum and
analogous crystalline materials, with the aim of understanding the kinetic and
mechanistic processes at the mineral-solution interface. The research
conducted was a collaborative project sponsored by Saint-Gobain Gypsum.
First, an image processing (IP) software package was developed to meet highly
specialised IP needs and expedite the extraction of vital surface information
from images produced in the growth and dissolution studies carried out in this
thesis.
A simple but powerful morphological analysis of characteristic etch pit features
formed on the basal plane of gypsum was proposed, to aid the determination of
intrinsic dissolution kinetics. Limiting the study to short times produced
microscopic active features, which exhibited high and quantitative mass
transport rates. At early times, the reaction was surface controlled, with the
edge planes dominating the process, revealing anisotropic step propagation
kinetics. With time, an increased contribution from mass transport was
observed, suggesting that at later times, the basal plane dominated reaction
kinetics. Common ion effects indicated a greater impact of Ca2+ than SO42- in
reducing dissolution rates while inert ions enhanced dissolution in a directionspecific
way. With this approach, microscopic phenomena were related to
macroscopic measurements thus reconciling experimental length scales.
Dissolution of the basal (010) and edge (001) surfaces of gypsum and
polycrystalline anhydrite, were probed at the bulk scale by coupling the channel
flow cell (CFC) technique which displays high mass transport rates, with off-line
spectrometric measurements of dissolved Ca2+. Quantitative modelling of the
diffusion-reaction within the CFC yielded a linear rate law for the dissolution
process. Rates from the basal plane and anhydrite were found to be consistent
with other bulk measurements, while the highly reactive edge plane exhibited high rates indicating a transport-limited process. Sodium trimetaphosphate, a
common humid-creep inhibitor was found to significantly retard basal plane
dissolution rates. Further CFC studies were carried out on industrially-relevant,
chemically modified CaSO4 based materials, using a simple flux approach. It was
found that models proposing a dissolution-precipitation pathway as the mode
of action of humid-creep inhibitors were less plausible than those proposing a
surface binding pathway.
Finally, the influence of solution stoichiometry, r = (aCa2+ / aSO42-) on the growth kinetics of microscopic gypsum crystals was determined at a constant
supersaturation. Crystal growth was found to be entirely controlled by surface
kinetics over the range of r, with the edge planes dominating the process. The
highest lateral rates were found at r = 1, diminishing sharply at r ≠ 1, and
indicating strong plane-specific dependence on Ca2+ and SO42- availability.
Additionally, dramatic changes in the morphology of grown crystals were
observed. Propagation of steps on the basal face revealed a complex
polynuclear layer-by-layer growth process for this surface. Macroscopic growth
rates compared well to previous bulk measurements indicating that the
approach used provided a comprehensive multi-scale view of gypsum growth
processes.


The Paper offers a new analytical framework for the study of the regulation of family relations. The framework builds on distributive models of the welfare state, and goes beyond the family-state dyad to include the market as a sphere in which the family is meaningfully regulated. The offered framework challenges the traditional boundaries of family law and suggests an understanding of the institution of the family as defined through its interaction with the institutions of the labor market and the welfare state. The framework is applied to welfare state regimes of familial care in the United States and Israel-child care in the United States (federal), and long-term care for the elderly in Israel. The comparative distributive analysis shows that viewing the family from outside traditional Family Law leads to a relaxation of some of the exceptional characteristics of the legal concept of the family, as well as to a realization that family regulation is intimately connected to broad social policy debates about citizenship, social status, labor market, and wealth distribution.


This was a UK-wide research project funded competitively by the AHRC ICT in Arts and Humanities Research Programme. Our brief was to discover user-behaviour and user-needs of researchers in the Arts and Humanities in respect of portals.

We set out to discover:
1) Users' information discovery strategies and internet usage.
2) Users' awareness and attitudes with respect to currently available online services and tools, including such gateways and portals as current exist.
3) Patterns of recent user-activity in relation to the RDN subject hubs and AHDS.
4) Users' responses to what future portal developments can deliver.

The research is unusual in scope (all the 8 arts and humanities domains covered by the AHRC); scale of enquiry (UK-wide, estimated at 50-60,000 active practitioners); and focus (ICT usage and portal requirements). The outcomes, as short, medium and long term recommendations, were expected to have profound implications for:
The tools arts and humanities researchers use to manage their research and discover resources
Major service providers such as AHDS and Intute
Funding bodies such as AHRC and JISC.

Shortly after these recommendations were published, AHRC and JISC announced discontinuation of funding for AHDS. While a direct causal link cannot be demonstrated it is likely that the report was influential in this decision.

Our methodology drew on design-based research and applied social-science methods. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were combined to address:
a. Published Reports and Evaluations of Service Providers
b. Questionnaire survey
c. Focus Groups
d. Delphi
e. Server log analysis
f. User trials

The report is based on a triangulation approach, looking for the reinforcement of the evidence from one set of data in another before drawing strong conclusions on the basis of it.


Shaft fatigue crack is one of the most common defects in rotating equipment, due to its extensive operation with continuous heavy loads. Finding an efficient way to evaluate the true stiffness variation due to the crack rotation is the key step to develop both on-line and off-line crack diagnostic techniques. This study analyzed time-variant bending stiffness of elastic shafts with experimentally-induced fatigue, welding and wire cut transverse cracks. It was found that crack gap has a significant effect on the opening and closing behaviour of the transverse crack. As in the case of a cut crack, large crack gap could completely prevent the crack from closing during rotation. A fatigue crack without a clear gap shows a typical opening and closing behavior. Further, it remains fully closed within a small angular range and most of time it is partially closed. It was also observed that both switch and harmonic models cannot describe periodic stiffness variation well enough to represent the actual breathing function of the fatigue crack.


Kokori: The Struggle for June 12 is the candid account of Chief Frank Kokori, former General Secretary of The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG). It details the roles he and other individuals played in the quest to revalidate the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was annulled by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. The book details, in depth, the events before, during and after the election, up until the incarceration of Chief Kokori as well as the political fall-out which followed.


SUMMARY

Data from 514 Canadian and U.S. purchasing professionals were collected and analyzed to compare Canadian, Mexican, and U.S. suppliers' performance on important competitive dimensions. U.S. purchasing professionals rated Canadian suppliers lower on the dimensions of cooperation, cost, and quality than they rated U.S. suppliers. Canadian purchasing professionals rated U.S. suppliers low on cooperation. Both Canadian and U.S. suppliers rated Mexican suppliers relatively low on all competitive dimensions. These results are discussed and recommendations for future research are offered.


We finally have a federal 'test case.' In Carpenter v. United States, the Supreme Court is poised to set the direction of the Fourth Amendment in the digital age. The case squarely presents how the twentieth-century third party doctrine will fare in contemporary times, and the stakes could not be higher. This Article reviews the Carpenter case and how it fits within the greater discussion of the Fourth Amendment third party doctrine and location surveillance, and I express a hope that the Court will be both a bit ambitious and a good measure cautious.
As for ambition, the Court must recognize that the fundamental liberty protected by the Fourth Amendment—the right to be "secure in [our] persons, houses, papers, and effects"—is squarely at issue when the government seeks to track our longer term movements, whether historically or prospectively. It is not business records, beepers, automobiles, phones, cameras, drones, or some other coincidental medium or technology that is at issue: it is our constitutionally protected liberty. Thus, the Court should hold that law enforcement acquisition of longer term cell site location information (CSLI) constitutes a Fourth Amendment search, ending the monolithic, anachronistic third party doctrine.
As to the precise durational trigger and as to what particular law enforcement restraint would be correspondingly reasonable, the Court should be cautious, as it was in United States v. Jones and Grady v. North Carolina. It will have taken the better part of a half century to undo the Court's expansive third-party declaration in United States v. Miller, an unnecessary overreach best relegated to history. Thus, while the Court should not abandon Fourth Amendment development through reasonable reliance, it should remand these constitutional determinations for lower court development. Those courts should consider not only Fourth Amendment precedents, but also how state supreme courts have independently interpreted their own constitutions.


Face it: Poorly designed, static Web sites just don't cut it anymore. The Web (not to mention the technology surrounding it) has been around long enough, and people have grown accustomed enough to dealing with it, that folks want (and expect) a little razzle-dazzle when they go online. For just $12.99, this compact guide shows you how to deliver it! Whether your boss wants you to jazz up the company's Web site or you're burning the midnight oil trying to pull together some Web animations for a class project, this tightly focused, project-based guide shows you how to start creating Flash animations in an instant! Using big, bold full-color pictures and streamlined instructions, it covers just the need-to-know essentials that will get you animating with Flash: using the Flash authoring tool, creating and animating graphics, tweening, adding sound, and more.


Innovation is a key element of industrialisation and catch-up in developing countries, however its diffusion and adoption is neither costless nor unconditional. In the past decades development indicators have improved in most Low-income Countries (LICs) and the concept of innovation has shifted from being an end of development to a means of it. In this study we reviewed the state of art of the research in the diffusion of innovation in the private sectors (industry and services) in LICs and identified gaps for future research. From an initial sample of 7,385 studies, the systematic review protocol yielded 81 studies which provided case studies and empirical evidence to answer three questions: i) What are the barriers to innovation creation and diffusion in LICs? ii) What are the channels of innovation diffusion within LICs? iii) What are the channels of diffusion of external innovation to LICs? We found that innovation in LICs is not simply about creation or adoption of new technologies; capacity for innovation is embedded in and constituted by dynamics between geographical, socio-economic, political and legal subsystems. Several factors seem to be predominant barriers to innovation across different settings and geographical areas. Weak education systems, unstable political authority, fragile legal systems, limited financial resources, inadequate infrastructure, and cultural and linguistic distances are all factors that impede the diffusion of innovations. The diffusion of knowledge within LICs is facilitated by instituting industrial clusters, strengthening the link between public (universities) and private sectors, and empowering people living at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP). Instead, knowledge diffusion to developing countries is conditioned by the degree of openness of an economy, host-country characteristics, such as the presence of a network of expertise and remittances from migrants, and policies that can foster Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and international trade. We contextualize the findings from the review in the current theoretical framework of diffusion of innovations, and we emphasize how the institutional context typical of LICs impacts the diffusion itself. Finally, we highlight avenues for new research in the last section. STILL DRAFT COMMENTS HIGHLY APPRECIATED. First Version: January 2013 This Version: December 2013 The document has been drafted with the inputs of Giacomo Zanello, Xiaolan Fu, Pierre Mohnen, and Marc Ventresca.


This title is designed to provide an introduction and overview of broker-dealer regulation in the securities markets. It covers broker-dealer front office and back office issues as well as market regulation generally. It gives you with an understanding of basic concepts and the underlying regulatory scheme, providing an explanation of broker-dealer regulation generally, sales practices, analysts' conflicts of interest, civil liabilities, and arbitration. This title also provides an overview of industry self-regulation under FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority).


In the search for producing a low ecological footprint, a lightweight and high-performing technology, bending-active approach has been proposed to be appropriate for kinetic and transformable structures. While traditional deployable structures base their transformability on their hinges topology, pliable structures are based on the elastic deformation of elements. This paper will focus on the feasibility and serviceability of timber pliable bending-active structures by presenting two systems based on rigid couplings of coplanar flat planks. We discuss then their potential in simplifying manufacturing and assembling processes of kinetic systems by the enhancement of the elastic properties of the material, and efficient yet simple fabrication. This paper will present a topological classification of a variety of pliable structures based on rigid couplings. Furthermore it will discuss the implementation in architectural scale of one of the derived systems in a deployable fast-erected pavilion.


This paper deals with key aspects of the Oulipo and Dada methods and their implementation in electronic generative poetry. Oulipian constraints such as acrostics, tautograms, simple numerical limitations and combinatory algorithms are easily integrated into digital environments. The analysis of structural, lexical and stylistic peculiarities of generative poetry is illustrated by permutational schemes (Poem.exe by Liam Cooke, Book of all Words by Józef Żuk Piwkowski), combinatory patterns (Frequency by Scott Rettberg) and syntactic templates (Dizains by Marcel Bénabou, Triolets by Paul Braffort) of electronic poems. Many combinatory and permutational electronic poems present technologically improved versions of the Oulipo constraints and Dada techniques such as open-form poetry and the use of image and graphic components in its structure. However, the electronic environment gives them an ambivalent status. Although the surface of an electronic poem looks open and random, its inward structure is preconfigured to use established parameters.


Extensive row-crop agricultural production systems dominant in the United States Corn Belt are designed to produce high yields of a small number of commodities at low production costs. While remarkably valuable, this model of agriculture is directly and indirectly associated with significant externalized public costs and questions about its long-term viability. Agro-environmental conservation policy in the United States has failed to deliver desired environmental outcomes at broad scales, in part, because policy is supply-oriented with scaled financial and technical incentives aimed at the interests of individual farm managers. Understanding broader stakeholder demand relative to agro-ecosystem outcomes is fundamental to modifying policy toward outcomes. Failed collective policy and management, often indicates failed consensus among stakeholders whose responsibilities are to provide guidance for achieving outcomes. We used a Delphi approach with representatives from Iowa-based agricultural and/or environmental policy, outreach, and industry organizations to explore whether or not consensus may exist regarding desired agricultural outcomes and if so, modes of provision. Through three iterative surveys, we found consensus regarding the array of ecosystem outcomes believed possible within the Iowa agricultural economy. However, when agricultural interests were sorted, a divide emerged between stakeholders who emphasize production agriculture and those who favor a more multi-outcome oriented agriculture that emphasizes multiple ecosystem services. Nevertheless, study participants identified several key ecosystem outcomes, and methods for providing them that are strongly compatible with and support private commodity driven land use while mitigating costly public externalities. A broad and simple six-point framework emerged from our data to contextualize questions and discussions of agricultural land-use management among stakeholders. This framework includes people, their expectations and values, land, management, and ecosystem processes in addition to ecosystem services. Broadening and bounding discourse in these ways may facilitate a shared appreciation of human-nature interconnections and more progressive policy reform that facilitates understanding of land-use decision making within agricultural contexts in ways that benefit all stakeholders.


Past studies show that more students leave colleges or universities without completing a degree. Hence it is critically important to understand the complex forces that influence successful academic adjustment during the first year (Tinto, 1993). A review of studies indicate that the higher the level of educational or occupational goals, the greater the probability the students will complete college education. Another important disposition is the students' commitment to meet individual goals and the willingness to comply with the academic and social demands of the institution. Studies have also shown that students overcame the feelings of pressure and persisted in their education if they made a commitment to their educational goals and remain committed to the belief that attending their institution was the right decision (Sanders & Burton, 1996). Other factors found to be related to academic adjustment include self-confidence of intellectual ability, setting of high educational goals and self-esteem. Based on the above background, a study was conducted on 647 second year students in 4 universities in Klang Valley, Malaysia, to examine the level of their academic adjustment. The study also attempts to examine the relationship between two psychological factors namely achievement motivation and self-efficacy and academic adjustment. Results indicate that the majority (70.8%) of respondents are in the moderate level of academic adjustment, 15.8% in the low category and only 13.4 % in the high category. Positive and significant correlations were also found between academic adjustment and self-efficacy (r= .51, p<.01), achievement motivation (r= .42, p<.01) and CGPA(r=.12, p<.05). The implications are discussed in terms of teaching and learning in tertiary education.


Heart failure (HF) is a chronic disease affecting nearly six million people in the United States with an annual cost of nearly 33 billion dollars. If nurses are inadequately prepared to care for and/or educate patients with HF, evidence-based (EB) nursing care will be suboptimal and hospital readmission rates with the subsequent increased costs for care will continue to soar. To address their higher-than-national average HF readmission rates, an EB nursing project was implemented at a local, urban community hospital to assess intermediate care unit (IMCU) nursing staff's knowledge of HF, selfcare, and best practice guidelines. The Rossworm & Larrabee Model was chosen as the research utilization model for this project to guide health care providers from an assessment of the need for change to implementation and evaluation. Synthesized evidence supported the implementation of educational interventions to improve nurse knowledge of HF self-care. Four 1-1 1⁄2 hour in-services were given to the IMCU nurses on specifics of HF management. Before the first in-service, nurses completed a 20question survey by Albert et al. (2002) to ascertain their knowledge of HF self-care. After the fourth in-service, the nurses completed the same survey to assess for any changes in their knowledge levels. At the completion of the project, a paired-samples t test was calculated that demonstrated significant improvement in nurse knowledge scores (p < .001). The results of this EB project demonstrated that disease-specific education has a positive effect on nurse knowledge. Further study can be done in the future to determine if improvement in nurses' knowledge has any effect on HF patient hospital readmission rates, length of stay, and overall cost. ix HEART FAILURE NURSE KNOWLEDGE 1 CHAPTER


We consider moment matching techniques for estimation in latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA). By drawing explicit links between LDA and discrete versions of independent component analysis (ICA), we first derive a new set of cumulant-based tensors, with an improved sample complexity. Moreover, we reuse standard ICA techniques such as joint diagonalization of tensors to improve over existing methods based on the tensor power method. In an extensive set of experiments on both synthetic and real datasets, we show that our new combination of tensors and orthogonal joint diagonalization techniques outperforms existing moment matching methods.


This article aims to show that the Marxian 'law of value' can provide solid foundations for the comprehension of the constitution and dynamics of Global Value Chains (GVC). It offers an explanation of the social processes of 'value creation and capture' within a chain based on the system-wide motion of global capital accumulation. A firm connection is thus established between the particular dynamics internal to each industry and the general dynamics of the 'system as a whole', which is, precisely, where the greatest weakness of the GVC approach lies. Furthermore, the usefulness of those general theoretical insights is then shown through a more empirical discussion of recent transformations in the composition and governance structure of GVC resulting from two interrelated processes: the tendency for a growing de-linking between innovation and manufacturing and the rise of highly concentrated global contractors. These phenomena have paradigmatically developed in the electronics industry, giving rise to the formation of the so-called modular or turnkey production networks. The discussion therefore focuses on that particular industrial sector.


The deterioration of gait can be used as a biomarker for ageing and neurological diseases. Continuous gait monitoring and analysis are essential for early deficit detection and personalized rehabilitation. The use of mobile and wearable inertial sensor systems for gait monitoring and analysis have been well explored with promising results in the literature. However, most of these studies focus on technologies for the assessment of gait characteristics, few of them have considered the data acquisition bandwidth of the sensing system. Inadequate sampling frequency will sacrifice signal fidelity, thus leading to an inaccurate estimation especially for spatial gait parameters. In this work, we developed an inertial sensor based in-shoe gait analysis system for real-time gait monitoring and investigated the optimal sampling frequency to capture all the information on walking patterns. An exploratory validation study was performed using an optical motion capture system on four healthy adult subjects, where each person underwent five walking sessions, giving a total of 20 sessions. Percentage mean absolute errors (MAE%) obtained in stride time, stride length, stride velocity, and cadence while walking were 1.19%, 1.68%, 2.08%, and 1.23%, respectively. In addition, an eigenanalysis based graphical descriptor from raw gait cycle signals was proposed as a new gait metric that can be quantified by principal component analysis to differentiate gait patterns, which has great potential to be used as a powerful analytical tool for gait disorder diagnostics.


The relative toxicity of anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs commonly used for self-poisoning was assessed using data on suicides, prescriptions and non-fatal self-poisonings in England, 2005–2012. Data on suicide by self-poisoning were obtained from the Office for National Statistics, information on intentional non-fatal self-poisoning was derived from the Multicentre Study of Self-harm in England and data on prescriptions in general practice from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. We used two indices of relative toxicity: fatal toxicity (the number of fatal self-poisonings relative to the number of individuals prescribed each drug) and case fatality (the number of fatal relative to non-fatal self-poisonings). Diazepam was the reference drug in all analyses. Temazepam was 10 times (95% confidence interval 5.48–18.99) and zopiclone/zolpidem nine times (95% confidence interval 5.01–16.65) more toxic in overdose than diazepam (fatal-toxicity index). Temazepam and zopiclone/zolpidem were 13 (95% confidence interval 6.97–24.41) and 12 (95% confidence interval 6.62–22.17) times more toxic than diazepam, respectively (case-fatality index). Differences in alcohol involvement between the drugs were unlikely to account for the findings. Overdoses of temazepam and zopiclone/zolpidem are considerably more likely to result in death than overdoses of diazepam. Practitioners need to exercise caution when prescribing these drugs, especially for individuals who may be at risk of self-harm, and also consider non-pharmacological options.


This thesis, 'Sexual health issues in adolescents: an examination of the discourses of sexuality within health education', is a feminist poststructural and critical ethnographic investigation of the production of knowledge and gendered subjectivities within a single Tasmanian secondary co-educational government school. The main focus of the research is on the ways in which power operates through dominant teaching practices to constitute particular versions of sexuality as the truth, and to what effect (Foucault 1980).
The research focuses upon teacher and student dominant discursive constructions of knowledge regarding sex, sexuality and sexual decision-making and its impact upon students' production of gendered subjectivity and the sex education program's potential for addressing issues of sexual violence, homophobia and sexual health. The thesis argues that current pedagogies within curriculum-based sex education classes reproduce binary versions of gender, which are inequitable and significantly limiting in terms of transforming homophobic, sexist and discriminatory attitudes.
The methodology for this thesis combines the principles of constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz 2000, 2006) and Foucauldian discourse analysis (Carabine 2001) to develop a framework for data collection and analysis which acknowledges how discourses and social practices construct both a representation of experience and a positioning of individuals as gendered subjects (Hiller 1998).
In conclusion, this thesis offers recommendations for an alternative model of curriculum-based sex education informed by feminist poststructuralist theory and based upon a critical pedagogical approach that focuses on the concept of sexual ethics. These recommendations are informed by the knowledge that critical pedagogies can become catalysts for change in the way sex education is currently perceived, by enabling the production of new knowledges, new discourses and new, more equitable pedagogical practices (Kamler 2001).


Title of Document: THE EFFECTS OF POSITIVE EXPRESSIVE WRITING ON POSTPARTUM WELLBEING: A COMPARISON OF MINDFULNESS AND SELF-AFFIRMATION. Sara Kate Ericson, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Directed By: Professor Mary Ann Hoffman, Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education Research on women during the postpartum period has focused primarily on depression, to the exclusion of other aspects of wellbeing and distress. Though research has also described the barriers to getting help with experiences of postpartum emotional distress there is little research on easily accessible and affordable prevention and treatment interventions or consideration of how women's individual differences may influence the effectiveness of interventions intended to prevent and treat symptoms of emotional distress. In the present study, self-report data was gathered from 257 women at five points in time during the extended postpartum period. Baseline measures of anxiety, depression, wellbeing, and two facets of mindfulness (nonreactivity and nonjudgment of inner experiences) were examined as potential predictors of how two types of positive expressive writing interventions, based on self-affirmation and mindfulness theories, would impact women's symptoms of depression, anxiety, and complaints related to physical and psychological wellbeing. These conditions were also compared to a waitlist control condition. Contrary to what was hypothesized, there were no significant differences between the writing and waitlist conditions on outcome anxiety, depression, or wellbeing. Additionally, nonjudgment and nonreactivity did not interact with type of writing condition in predicted ways. Compared to the self-affirmation condition, those in the mindfulness condition used more emotion words in their writings, and reported more changes in affect over the course of their individual writing sessions. Post-hoc analyses indicated post-writing negative affect might mediate the relationship between baseline and follow-up depression and anxiety. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed along with recommendations for future study. THE EFFECTS OF POSITIVE EXPRESSIVE WRITING ON POSTPARTUM WELLBEING: A COMPARISON OF MINDFULNESS AND SELFAFFIRMATION.


In an ever changing and rapidly developing teaching situation, it is often difficult to keep oneself updated with all types of available technologies. The "wants" are often centre of attention and the how's and why's become neglected and are subject to hindsight. In a 2008 report (Economist 2008) [1] the question: "what does it mean to be an educated person in the 21 century", was raised and concluded with the importance of keeping up with technology – as these changes in the use of technology, at a higher education level, will have a ripple effect on the future society as a whole. In the last 10 to 15 years, higher education (HE) institutions in Norway have invested heavily in information and communication technologies (ICT), which has had a major impact on our own organization, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway; as in to say that it has brought with it some changes to our methods of teaching, and hopefully, it will keep thrusting us towards a better understanding of how to convey best practices and use of ICT in our teaching environments. The role of technology therefore is in shaping the future of higher education. It will, no doubt, have a profound impact on the way we work towards helping our staff to become comfortable with and interested in using technology in and throughout their teachings. However, taking the leap and diving into new and sometimes advanced technologies can raise feelings of uncertainty in one's own technical abilities, especially for those with limited technical competencies. Combined with the need to find a good balance between hands-on skills and didactical competence, and finding the time necessary [2][3], outside an organized framing of a physical course, can be a real challenge to many.


Autonomous network operation realized by means of control loops, where prediction from machine learning (ML) models is used as input to proactively reconfigure individual optical devices or the whole optical network, has been recently proposed to minimize human intervention. A general issue in this approach is the limited accuracy of ML models due to the lack of real data for training the models. Although the training dataset can be complemented with data from lab experiments and simulation, it is probable that once in operation, events not considered during the training phase appear thus leading into model inaccuracies. A feasible solution is to implement self-learning approaches, where model inaccuracies are used to re-train the models in the field and to spread such data for training models being used for devices of the same type in other nodes in the network. In this paper, we develop the concept of collective self-learning aiming at improving models error convergence time, as well as at minimizing the amount of data being shared and stored. To this end, we propose a knowledge management (KM) process and an architecture to support it.


SOUTH ASIA IS HOME to several world religions, over 30 major languages, a thousand dialects, and innumerable castes and subcastes. During the colonial era, princes held nominal rule over more than 580 separate states in India, while a number of other provinces were directly governed by the British. Although only two movements for national independence have succeeded since the departure of the British in 1947--those of Pakistan and Bangladesh--South Asia has experienced countless separatist movements based on religious, linguistic, or ethnic lines, including campaigns for Dravidastan, Assam, Nagaland, Gurkhaland, Kashmir, Khalistan, Pashtunistan, Baluchistan, Sind-hudesh, and Tamil Eelam. With such diverse national movements continuing to challenge state lines, South Asia faces the question: should the territorial integrity and sovereignty of existing states be maintained, regardless of the history and legitimacy of their origins, or should the state's various ethnic groups or "nationalities" be allowed the right of self-determination and secession? The recognition of new states in South Asia may lead to consequences even more disastrous than the status quo, just as the recognition of new states in Europe led to the complete disintegration of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. First, recognition would generate new problems arising from new boundaries and new minorities. Second, the recognition of some states could cause a chain reaction elsewhere, leading to the disintegration of India and Pakistan, and to a lesser extent, Sri Lanka. Third, the level of inter-ethnic bloodshed and refugee flows would generate a humanitarian nightmare in South Asia surpassing that of Europe in the early 1990s. Nation-states based on ethnic lines have rarely existed in South Asia. Instead, great multi-ethnic empires, like those of the Mauryans, Guptas, and Mughals, have arisen and disintegrated. The lesser empires and minor kingdoms that replaced them either comprised multiple ethnic groups or were ethnically pure, but rarely included all the members of the ethnic group within their boundaries. South Asia has no equivalent to Germany, Italy, or Japan, states formed by a group of people largely sharing the same race, language, culture, religion, and historical experience. Even Bangladesh, united by the Bengali language, is divided by religion. Bhutan, too, comes close to an ethnic nation but retains a significant Nepali minority. Since the partition of British India in 1947, the nations that have formed in South Asia have not been ethnic nations but civic nations. The civic nation is based on a community of people who believe they compose a nation and who are willing to commit themselves to common political institutions and processes, regardless of cultural differences. India is the prime example of a civic nation, with Muslims, Sikhs, Bengalis, and other minorities owing allegiance to the country despite the fact that they may not speak Hindi or practice Hinduism. Pakistan, to a lesser extent, fits this broader conception of a nation because of the belief that all Muslims of the Indian subcontinent belonged in the Muslim state regardless of differences in race or language. Although both India and Pakistan were formed as multi-ethnic nations, their founders espoused competing visions of nationhood. The state of Pakistan grew out of the vision of Muslim nationalist Mohammed Ali Jinnah, head of the All-India Muslim League between 1930 and 1947 and the the first president of Pakistan. Jinnah argued that there were two separate nations in the Indian subcontinent, a nation of Hindus and a nation of Muslims, and that the Muslims should have their own state, Pakistan. He argued that Muslims shared religious practices and were expected to obey common laws based on the Quran and the Shariat, the body of Islamic law. Hindus and Muslims could be distinguished often by dress or lifestyle, if not by race or language, and they often lived separately within India. …


Proximity to the Indian craton, the Himalayas, and the Indo–Burman ranges and rapid orogenic sedimentation have resulted in the generation of overpressure in the Bengal basin. In eastern Bengal basin, overpressure zones frequently have been reported from the Miocene sequences in exploratory wells. The majority of the wells drilled so far in the eastern Bengal Basin encountered overpressure zones at depths ranging from less than 1 km (Patharia–5) to 4.5 km (Muladi–1). The average geothermal gradient in the eastern Bengal basin area ranges from 15.8 to 30° C/km. In the western stable shelf area, the average geothermal gradients range from 21.1 to 31.6° C/km. The depth–pressure profile indicates that formation pressure gradient increases from 0.12 atm/m in the west and north to 0.18 atm/m in the east and southeast. The depth to the top of the overpressure zone is shallower where the amplitude of structures is lower and depth to the top of Miocene Bhuban Formation is shallower. Therefore, the depth to the top of overpressure becomes shallower toward the east.
Miocene Bhuban sediments exhibit transformation of smectite into illite through intermediate illite/smectite mixed layer clay. The most important change is the loss/gradual decrease of the illite/smectite mixed layer clay, which indicates gradual diagenetic changes with increasing burial depth.
Compaction–induced hydrofracturing and clay injection have been identified in the Fenchuganj–2 well below the overpressure zone. Feldspar dissolution has played an important role in secondary porosity development in the Bengal basin.
 40Ar/39Ar analysis of detrital muscovite from the Kamta–1 well provides muscovite cooling ages between ca 15 Ma and 554 Ma. However, the youngest age cluster in all three samples shows average cooling ages ranging from15 Ma to 16 Ma. Considering the average cooling age and depth of the samples, rate of deposition is estimated to be 0.96 mm/year to 1.88 mm/year.
Incomplete dewatering of fine–grained sediments, smectite dehydration, increase in pressure gradients toward the east, and high rates of sedimentation contributed the development of overpressure in the eastern Bengal basin.


News coverage, social media and protests alike tend to polarise people's stances on abortion. Moreover, these also often reveal category slippage between 'pro-life' and 'Christian' or 'religious,' perpetuating the impression that to be religious is to reject abortion. Contrary to both tendencies, this article engages with abortion from a lived religion perspective. It listens to evangelical healthcare practitioners as they talk about their attitudes towards abortion. This reveals a complex picture, their ethical engagement variously taking the form of resistance, neutrality, uncertainty, compartmentalisation, change and situational negotiation, while drawing upon multiple sources of ethical authority, including their own 'experiential knowledge.' Having presented these complexities, the article concludes by exploring their implications. First, it considers the value of foregrounding emotion when engaging in lived religion research around ethics and controversial topics. Secondly, it suggests that combining social bioethics with emotional narratives might represent a means of communicating this complexity.


The oceanic distributions of oxygen, dissolved nutrients and carbonare strongly affected by the production of particulate material nearthe ocean surface and its subsequent remineralization during sinkingor after deposition on the sea-floor. Dissolved nutrient data canthus be used to derive the rate constants of biogeochemicalprocesses responsible for the observed fields using inversemodeling. Here, a global ocean circulation model is presented thatexploits the existing large sets of hydrographic, oxygen, nutrientand carbon data and determines rates of export production andvertical particle fluxes that are compatible with the concentrationdata. The model is fitted to the property concentration data bysystematically varying circulation, air-sea fluxes, production andremineralization rates simultaneously. The adjoint method is appliedas an efficient tool for the iterative optimization procedure andproduces simulated property fields that are in very good agreementwith measurements. The globally integrated export flux ofparticulate organic matter necessary for the realistic reproductionof nutrient observations is significantly larger than exportestimates derived from primary productivity maps. Discrepancies arelargest in oligotrophic, open-ocean areas, where the model exportfluxes are up to a factor 6 higher than values based on primaryproductivity estimates of Berger [1989]. This modelresult is in line with a recent investigation in the subtropicalNorth Pacific that also revealed high open-ocean fluxes. Modelexport production values are in much closer agreement with estimatesbased on satellite pigment data in most regions except in theSouthern Ocean, where the satellite derived export fluxes seem tounderestimate the carbon export significantly.


Summary 1. Human-caused harassment and mortality (e.g. hunting) affects many aspects of wildlife population dynamics and social structure. Little is known, however, about the social and physiological effects of hunting, which might provide valuable insights into the mechanisms by which wildlife respond to human-caused mortality. 2. To investigate physiological consequences of hunting, we measured stress and reproductive hormones in hair, which reflect endocrine activity during hair growth. Applying this novel approach, we compared steroid hormone levels in hair of wolves (Canis lupus) living in Canada's tundra–taiga (n = 103) that experience heavy rates of hunting with those in the northern boreal forest (n = 45) where hunting pressure is substantially lower. 3. The hair samples revealed that progesterone was higher in tundra–taiga wolves, possibly reflecting increased reproductive effort and social disruption in response to human-related mortality. Tundra–taiga wolves also had higher testosterone and cortisol levels, which may reflect social instability. 4. To control for habitat differences, we also measured cortisol in an out-group of boreal forest wolves (n = 30) that were killed as part of a control programme. Cortisol was higher in the boreal out-group than in our study population from the northern boreal forest. 5. Overall, our findings support the social and physiological consequences of human-caused mortality. Long-term implications of altered physiological responses should be considered in management and conservations strategies.


Mangroves are a coastal marine environment, characteristically biomass-dominated by trees. They support a high biodiversity of marine and terrestrial biota, as well as providifig a haven for estuarine fauna, and a nursery ground for other fauna ranging from flying foxes and seabirds, to offshore fish and crustaceans. The uses and benefits of mangroves equate to our direct use of some of these biota but it also includes other indirect benefits such as protection of coastal foreshores and estuarine margins from erosion. Mangrove environments in, and adjacent to, the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area are in relatively good condition, although there are clear indications that pressures on them are increasing rapidly. Localised impacts are accumulating to a point where large areas, once thought to be able to withstand change, are now threatened. And, detrimental changes appear to exceed societies' current responses to protect mangrove environments and to reduce the overall impact of the growing number of smaller impacts. Human activities affect the establishment, growth, survival and biodiversity of mangrove plants, and their impacts range from: direct removal and damage of mangrove plants; conversion of mangrove lands to other uses; construction of breakwaters and other alterations to water courses and local hydrology affecting depositional planes and sediment levels; changes to air and water quality as increased dust, turbidity, temperature and the addition of chemicals; catastrophic events of pollution bringing long-term impacts like large oil spills; and the introduction of exotic pests and pathogens from land and sea sources. Pressures on mangrove environments are real, and there is an increasing obligation on environmental management authorities to clearly describe coastal and estuarine areas according to the best scientific advice. Based on these descriptions, the next step would be to apply protection status, and in particular, designating specific areas for total protection with surrounding areas as buffers. There has never been such a profound urgency to have coastal management plans in place if we wish to preserve rare natural stands, especially adjacent to more populated areas in the region. The obligation on management authorities extends to their taking a leading role in advising Governments on the uniqueness, fragility, vulnerability and ecological tolerance of mangrove ecosystems, as well as on their benefits. And, once management authorities and all interest groups have made decisions about which areas are to be preserved, future development proposals cannot be a matter of compromise between special action groups and developers since it is the environment we wish to preserve which ultimately must determine where the limits of change are set. In appreciation of the urgency, it is also recommended that we continue to fill gaps in our knowledge and understanding of mangrove forests by further supporting long-term monitoring programs investigating, in particular: ecological processes; loss of mangrove area; and the restoration of damaged mangrove stands. Copyright 1997, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority


Behaviour of laterally loaded piles is studied treating the soil medium as an elastoplastic medium. In the elastic range, the foundation reaction is incorporated in the analysis using the Winkler's hypothesis, while in the plastic range yield pressure of the soil is considered. Solutions are obtained treating the pile as a beam on elasto-plastic foundation. Different cases of boundary conditions of the pile are considered. The response of the pile is obtained in terms of dimensionless parameters and are presented in the form of figures. Results show a good agreement with the observed behaviour.


This perspective covers the use of molybdenum disulfide and related compounds, generally termed MoSx, as electro- or photoelectrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). State of the art solutions as well as the most illustrative results from the extensive electro- and photoelectrocatalytic literature are given. The research strategies currently employed in the field are outlined and future challenges pointed out. We suggest that the key to optimising the HER activity of MoS2 is divided into (1) increasing the catalytic activity of the active site, (2) increasing the number of active sites of the catalyst, and (3) improving the electrical contact to these sites. These postulations are substantiated by examples from the existing literature and some new results. To demonstrate the electrocatalytic properties of a highly conductive MoS2 hybrid material, we present the HER activity data for multi-wall MoS2 nanotubes on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWMoS2@MWCNTs). This exemplifies the typical data collected for the electrochemical HER. In addition, it demonstrates that the origin of the activity is closely related to the amount of edges in the layered MoS2. The photoelectrocatalytic HER is also discussed, based on examples from literature, with an emphasis on the use of MoSx as either (1) the co-catalyst providing the HER activity for a semiconductor, e.g. Mo3S+4on Si or (2) MoS2 as the semiconductor with an intrinsic HER activity. Finally, suggestions for future catalyst designs are given.


Abstract Anaerobic intestinal spirochetes (genus Brachyspira) include several species that are recognized as pathogens of poultry. Surveys undertaken in Europe and Australia have shown that layer and breeder flocks are often colonized by the pathogenic species Brachyspira intermedia and Brachyspira pilosicoli, but similar surveys have not been conducted in the United States. In the current study, DNA was extracted from fecal samples (n  =  50) collected from each of 21 flocks of laying hens >40 wk of age in Pennsylvania, and this material was tested for B. intermedia and B. pilosicoli using a duplex PCR. Negative samples also were tested using a Brachyspira genus-specific PCR. The consistency of the feces was observed, and manure handling systems and medication histories were recorded. Brachyspira intermedia was detected in 662 (63.1%) samples from 17 (81%) flocks, with a within-flock prevalence of 10%–100%. Brachyspira pilosicoli was detected in 112 (10.7%) samples from 5 flocks (23.8%), with a within-flock prevalence of 8%–82%. Four of the flocks had both pathogenic species present, three had no pathogenic species detected, and two had no Brachyspira species detected. Nine flocks had many fecal samples with a wet appearance and/or a caramel color, and all of these were colonized with one or the other of the two pathogenic species. Nine of 12 flocks with manure that was mainly dry also were colonized. Differences in colonization rates between flocks with or without wet manure were not significant. Colonization with pathogenic Brachyspira species, and particularly B. intermedia, occurs very commonly in layer flocks >40 wk of age in Pennsylvania. The significance of this high rate of colonization requires further investigation.


The focus of Software for Dependable Systems is a set of fundamental principles that underlie software system dependability and that suggest a different approach to the development and assessment of dependable software. Unfortunately, it is difficult to assess the dependability of software. The field of software engineering suffers from a pervasive lack of evidence about the incidence and severity of software failures; about the dependability of existing software systems; about the efficacy of existing and proposed development methods; about the benefits of certification schemes; and so on. There are many anecdotal reports, which-although often useful for indicating areas of concern or highlighting promising avenues of research-do little to establish a sound and complete basis for making policy decisions regarding dependability. The committee regards claims of extraordinary dependability that are sometimes made on this basis for the most critical of systems as unsubstantiated, and perhaps irresponsible. This difficulty regarding the lack of evidence for system dependability leads to two conclusions: (1) that better evidence is needed, so that approaches aimed at improving the dependability of software can be objectively assessed, and (2) that, for now, the pursuit of dependability in software systems should focus on the construction and evaluation of evidence. The committee also recognized the importance of adopting the practices that are already known and used by the best developers; this report gives a sample of such practices. Some of these (such as systematic configuration management and automated regression testing) are relatively easy to adopt; others (such as constructing hazard analyses and threat models, exploiting formal notations when appropriate, and applying static analysis to code) will require new training for many developers. However valuable, though, these practices are in themselves no silver bullet, and new techniques and methods will be required in order to build future software systems to the level of dependability that will be required.


A captive woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha) maintained as pet was brought to the clinic due to the presence of a swelling in the neck, loss of appetite and weakness. The swelling corresponded to an abscess. The radiographic test showed signs of bronchopneumonia, the acid alcohol test ruled out the presence of mycobacteria and in the bacterial culture Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated. Antibiotic therapy, based on enrofloxacin 5 mg/kg i.m. daily was administered for 10 days, as this antibiotic showed high susceptibility in the antibiogram. The patient fully recovered.


The most important component for living beings on the earth is access to clean and safe drinking water. Globally, water scarcity is pervasive even in water rich areas as immense pressure has been created by the burgeoning human population, industrialization, civilization, environmental changes and agricultural activities. The problem of access to safe water is inevitable and requires tremendous research. Nanotechnology has many successful applications in different fields but recently its application for water and wastewater treatment has emerged as a fast developing, promising area. This chapter highlights the recent advances on the development of nanoscale materials and processes for treatment of surface water, groundwater and industrial wastewater that are contaminated by toxic metals, organic and inorganic compounds, bacteria and viruses. In addition, the toxic potential of engineered nanomaterials for human health and the environment will also be discussed. This chapter also deals with the fate and transport of engineered nanomaterials in water and wastewater treatment systems along with the risks associated with nanomaterials.


Polya's enumeration theorem states that the number of labelings of a finite set up to symmetry is given by a polynomial in the number of labels. We give a new perspective on this theorem by generalizing it to partially ordered sets and order preserving maps. Further we prove a reciprocity statement in terms of strictly order preserving maps generalizing a classical result by Stanley (1970). We apply our results to counting graph colorings up to symmetry.


Background Evidence linking working hours and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is limited and inconsistent in Asian populations. No study has addressed the combined association of long working hours and sleep deprivation on T2DM risk. We investigated the association of baseline overtime work with T2DM risk and assessed whether sleep duration modified the effect among Japanese. Methods Participants were Japanese employees (28,489 men and 4,561 women) aged 30–64 years who reported overtime hours and had no history of diabetes at baseline (mostly in 2008). They were followed up until March 2014. New-onset T2DM was identified using subsequent checkup data, including measurement of fasting/random plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and self-report of medical treatment. Hazard ratios (HRs) of T2DM were estimated using Cox regression analysis. The combined association of sleep duration and working hours was examined in a subgroup of workers (n = 27,590). Results During a mean follow-up period of 4.5 years, 1,975 adults developed T2DM. Overtime work was not materially associated with T2DM risk. In subgroup analysis, however, long working hours combined with insufficient sleep were associated with a significantly higher risk of T2DM (HR 1.42; 95% CI, 1.11–1.83), whereas long working hours with sufficient sleep were not (HR 0.99; 95% CI, 0.88–1.11) compared with the reference (<45 hours of overtime with sufficient sleep). Conclusions Sleep duration modified the association of overtime work with the risk of developing T2DM. Further investigations to elucidate the long-term effect of long working hours on glucose metabolism are warranted.


Current knowledge of animal and zoonotic helminthiases in which effects of climate change have been detected is reviewed. Climate variables are able to affect the prevalence, intensity and geographical distribution of helminths, directly influencing free-living larval stages and indirectly influencing mainly invertebrate, but also vertebrate, hosts. The impact of climate change appears to be more pronounced in trematodes, and is mainly shown by increased cercarial production and emergence associated with global warming. Fascioliasis, schistosomiasis (S. japonicum) and cercarial dermatitis caused by avian schistosomes have been the focus of study. Alveolar echinococcosis is currently the only cestode disease that climate change has been found to influence. Nematodiases, including heterakiasis, different trichostrongyliases and protostrongyliases, ancylostomiases and dirofilariases, are the helminth diseases most intensively analysed with regard to climate change. It may be concluded that helminth diseases should be listed among the infectious diseases with which special care should be taken because of climate change in the future, especially in temperate and colder northern latitudes and in areas of high altitude.


Questions: Species–habitat associations may contribute to the maintenance of species richness in tropical forests, but previous research has been conducted almost exclusively in lowland forests and has emphasized the importance of topography and edaphic conditions. Is the distribution of woody plant species in a Peruvian cloud forest determined by microhabitat conditions? What is the role of environmental characteristics and forest structure in habitat partitioning in a tropical cloud forest? Location: Cloud Forest, north Peruvian Andes. Methods: We examined species–habitat associations in three 1-ha plots using the torus-translation method. We used three different criteria to define habitats for habitat partitioning analyses, based on microtopography, forest structure and both sets of factors. The number of species associated either positively or negatively with each habitat was assessed. Results: Habitats defined on the basis of environmental conditions and forest structure discriminated a greater number of positive and negative associations at the scale of our analyses in a tropical cloud forest. Conclusions: Both topographic conditions and forest structure contribute to small-scale microhabitat partitioning of woody plant species in a Peruvian tropical cloud forest. Nevertheless, canopy species were most correlated with the distribution of environmental variables, while understorey species displayed associations with forest structure.


The zwitterionic organopolymerization of four different acrylic monomers (N,N-dimethylacrylamide, methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate and tert-butyl methacrylate) based on neutral initiators, so-called N-heterocyclic olefins (NHOs), is presented. The scope and underlying (deactivation-)mechanisms were studied in a combined experimental and computational effort. From a range of differently structured NHOs it was shown that imidazole-derivatives, in contrast to imidazoline- and benzimidazole-derivatives, readily polymerize the selected monomers. While the additive-free reactions proceed with a relatively low degree of control to yield a largely atactic material, for the acrylamide the addition of LiCl as a μ-type ligand has been shown to result in a rapid and quantitative monomer consumption. The thus generated poly(N,N-dimethyl acrylamide) was found to be highly isotactic (>90% isotactic dyads) with high molecular weight (Mn = 250 000–650 000 g mol−1, ĐM = 1.3–1.6). Complementing DFT calculations considered the zwitterionic chain growth with respect to competing side reactions, namely spirocycles and enamine formation. It was found that NHOs with an unsaturated backbone better support the zwitterionic chain growth, with the spirocycles acting as dormant species that slow down but do not quench the polymerization process. Contrasting this, enamine formation irreversibly terminates the polymerization and is found to be energetically favored. This pathway can be blocked by the introduction of substituents on the exocyclic carbon of the NHO, resulting in structures like 2-isopropylidene-1,3,4,5-tetramethylimidazoline (4) which consequently deliver the most controlled polymerizations. Finally, a good correlation of the initiation energy barrier with the buried volume (%VBur) and the Parr electrophilicity index is described, allowing for a quick and reliable screening of potential monomers based on these two readily accessible parameters.


An adult amynodont skull, collected from the Middle Eocene Niezhuang Formation of Jiyuan Basin (Henan, China), is recognized as a new species Amynodontopsis jiyuanensis sp. nov. The specimen possesses the typical features of the genus Amynodontopsis , such as a dolichocephalic skull with elevated roof, premaxilla-nasal contact, large preorbital fossa extending posteriorly medial to the orbit, inner surface of anterior orbital bar concave in continuation with the preorbital fossa, antecrochet usually presented on M1, and metastyle of M3 strongly deflected labially. A . jiyuanensis is diagnosed by a combination of the following characters: long nasals, nasal process of premaxilla extending far back laterally below the nasal and excluding the maxilla from the border of external nares, nasal notch above the post-canine diastema, more transverse and proportionally longer protoloph and metaloph on upper molars. Comparison with known species of Amynodontopsis indicates that it is the most primitive one in the genus, due to the possession of primitive characters. Associated fossil mammals support a correlation of the strata bearing A . jiyuanensis with the Shara Murun Formation of the Erlian Basin, Nei Mongol, China, namely the Middle Eocene Sharamurunian Asian Land Mammal Age (ALMA), prior to all other known Amynodontopsis species. The earlier geologic age and primitive morphological features of A . jiyuanensis suggest that Amynodontopsis has an Asian origin in the Middle Eocene and later immigrated into North America.


In this article, I explore the connections between Amish gender socialization and Amish birth practices to suggest that an Amish construction of femininity shapes the ways that Amish women experience childbirth. This study is framed by Amish women's health research and takes as a point of departure two observations often made about Amish childbirth practices: (1) medical research has found that Amish women have shorter labors than their non-Amish (English) counterparts, and (2) doctors, midwives, and birth attendants have argued that Amish women's expression of pain during labor and delivery differs substantially from their English counterparts. I draw on my two years of ethnographic work on Amish midwifery and homebirth to argue that there is deep sociological richness in medical findings that often dismiss Amish life as merely culturally anomalous. I argue that Amish birth is shaped by the norms of Amish society, particularly those that govern gender. I conclude that many of the features of Amish birth that have so interested health researchers cannot be fully understood without a sociological investigation of Amish life, and plain Anabaptist scholarship seems well positioned to foreground the social and cultural features of Amish society that likely remain invisible to health researchers. Reciprocally, comparative health studies on the Amish may illuminate areas of inquiry that were previously understudied and offer new possibilities for future social and cultural research within plain Anabaptist studies.


A fundamental interest in circuit analysis is to parse out the synaptic inputs underlying a behavioral experience. Toward this aim, we have devised an unbiased strategy that specifically labels the afferent inputs that are activated by a defined stimulus in an activity-dependent manner. We validated this strategy in four brain areas receiving known sensory inputs. This strategy, as demonstrated here, accurately identifies these inputs.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The great similarity of the genomes of humans and other species stimulated us to search for genes regulated by elements associated with human uniqueness, such as the mind-body interaction. DNA microarray technology offers the advantage of analyzing thousands of genes simultaneously, with the potential to determine healthy phenotypic changes in gene expression. The aim of this study was to determine the genomic profile and function of neutrophils in Falun Gong (FLG, an ancient Chinese Qigong) practitioners, with healthy subjects as controls.

SUBJECTS AND DESIGN
Six (6) Asian FLG practitioners and 6 Asian normal healthy controls were recruited for our study. The practitioners have practiced FLG for at least 1 year (range, 1-5 years). The practice includes daily reading of FLG books and daily practice of exercises lasting 1-2 hours. Selected normal healthy controls did not perform Qigong, yoga, t'ai chi, or any other type of mind-body practice, and had not followed any conventional physical exercise program for at least 1 year. Neutrophils were isolated from fresh blood and assayed for gene expression, using microarrays and RNase protection assay (RPA), as well as for function (phagocytosis) and survival (apoptosis).

RESULTS
The changes in gene expression of FLG practitioners in contrast to normal healthy controls were characterized by enhanced immunity, downregulation of cellular metabolism, and alteration of apoptotic genes in favor of a rapid resolution of inflammation. The lifespan of normal neutrophils was prolonged, while the inflammatory neutrophils displayed accelerated cell death in FLG practitioners as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Correlating with enhanced immunity reflected by microarray data, neutrophil phagocytosis was significantly increased in Qigong practitioners. Some of the altered genes observed by microarray were confirmed by RPA.

CONCLUSION
Qigong practice may regulate immunity, metabolic rate, and cell death, possibly at the transcriptional level. Our pilot study provides the first evidence that Qigong practice may exert transcriptional regulation at a genomic level. New approaches are needed to study how genes are regulated by elements associated with human uniqueness, such as consciousness, cognition, and spirituality.


Objectives Diet and nutrition might play an important role in the aetiology of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Most studies that examine the effects of food intake on MetS have used conventional statistical analyses which usually investigate only a limited number of food items and are subject to sparse data bias. This study was undertaken with the goal of investigating the concurrent effect of numerous food items and related nutrients on the incidence of MetS using Bayesian multilevel modelling which can control for sparse data bias. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting This prospective study was a subcohort of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. We analysed dietary intake as well as pertinent covariates for cohort members in the fourth (2008–2011) and fifth (2011–2014) follow-up examinations. We fitted Bayesian multilevel model and compared the results with two logistic regression models: (1) full model which included all variables and (2) reduced model through backward selection of dietary variables. Participants 3616 healthy Iranian adults, aged ≥20 years. Primary and secondary outcome measures Incident cases of MetS. Results Bayesian multilevel approach produced results that were more precise and biologically plausible compared with conventional logistic regression models. The OR and 95% confidence limits for the effects of the four foods comparing the Bayesian multilevel with the full conventional model were as follows: (1) noodle soup (1.20 (0.67 to 2.14) vs 1.91 (0.65 to 5.64)), (2) beans (0.96 (0.5 to 1.85) vs 0.55 (0.03 to 11.41)), (3) turnip (1.23 (0.68 to 2.23) vs 2.48 (0.82 to 7.52)) and (4) eggplant (1.01 (0.51 to 2.00) vs 1 09 396 (0.152×10–6 to 768×1012)). For most food items, the Bayesian multilevel analysis gave narrower confidence limits than both logistic regression models, and hence provided the highest precision. Conclusions This study demonstrates that conventional regression methods do not perform well and might even be biased when assessing highly correlated exposures such as food items in dietary epidemiological studies. Despite the complexity of the Bayesian multilevel models and their inherent assumptions, this approach performs superior to conventional statistical models in studies that examine multiple nutritional exposures that are highly correlated.


In this paper I examine William Alston's work on the epistemology of religious belief, focusing on the threat to the epistemic status of Christian belief presented by awareness of religious diversity. I argue that Alston appears to misunderstand the epistemic significance of the 'practical rationality' of the Christian mystical practice. I suggest that this error is due to a more fundamental misunderstanding, regarding the significance of practical rationality, in Alston's 'doxastic practice' approach to epistemology; an error that leads to arbitrariness among the class of rational doxastic practices. I suggest how one might remedy this weakness, with an additional, epistemic, criterion that rational doxastic practices must satisfy.


Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer in the world today. The search for effective treatment and screening methods is a highly active area of research. The digital image-based elastotomography (DIET) project is a new breast cancer screening system under development, where surface motion from the mechanically actuated breast is measured in 3D, and used as input to an inverse problem solving for breast elasticity. Cancerous lesions appear as high contrast features, being an order of magnitude stiffer than healthy tissue. The 3D motion capture is measured by an array of digital cameras using computer vision techniques. This paper presents a computer vision imaging system for the capture of 3D breast surface motion for the DIET system, including the image acquisition system, camera calibration, and 3D surface and motion reconstruction. Results are presented for experiments performed with silicone gel phantoms, with conditions designed to replicate the clinical procedure. Full 3D surface motion is successfully captured using an array of 5 cameras. Some successful results from the DIET inverse problem are also presented to demonstrate the viability of the system in practice.


Semiconducting quantum dots (QDs) have been considered as promising building blocks of solar energy harvesting systems because of size-dependent electronic structures, e.g. QD-metal heterostructures for solar-driven H2 production. In order to design improved systems, it is crucial to understand size-dependent QD-metal interfacial electron transfer dynamics, picosecond processes in particular. Here, we report that the transfer rates of photogenerated electrons in Pt-decorated CdS QDs can be varied over more than two orders of magnitude by controlling the QD size. In small QDs (2.8 nm diameter), conduction band electrons transfer to Pt sites in an average timescale of ∼30 ps, giving a transfer rate of 2.9 × 1010 s-1 while in significantly larger particles (4.8 nm diameter) the transfer rates decrease to 1.4 × 108 s-1. We attribute this to the tuning of the electron transfer driving force via the quantum confinement-controlled energetic off-set between the involved electronic states of the QDs and the co-catalyst. The same size-dependent trend is observed in the presence of an electron acceptor in solution. With methyl viologen present, electrons leave the QDs within 1 ps for 2.8 nm QDs while for 4.6 nm QDs this process takes nearly 40 ps. The transfer rates are directly correlated with H2 generation efficiencies: faster electron transfer leads to higher H2 generation efficiencies. 2.8 nm QDs display a H2 generation quantum efficiency of 17.3%, much higher than the 11.4% for their 4.6 nm diameter counterpart. We explain these differences by the fact that slower electron transfer cannot compete as efficiently as faster electron transfer with recombination and other losses.


This paper discusses fiscal surveillance criteria for the countries of the Central African Monetary and Economic Union (CEMAC), most of which depend heavily on oil exports. At present, the CEMAC`s macroeconomic surveillance exercise sets as fiscal target a floor on the basic budgetary balance. This appears inadequate, for at least two reasons. First, fluctuations in oil prices and, hence, oil receipts obscure the underlying fiscal stance. Second, oil resources are limited, which suggests that some of today`s oil receipts should be saved to finance future consumption. The paper develops easy-to-calculate indicators that take both aspects into account. A retrospective analysis based on these alternative indicators reveals that in recent years, the CEMAC`s surveillance exercise has tended to accommodate stances of fiscal policy that are at odds with sound management of oil wealth.


An accident is described which involved the explosion of an ion-exchange column containing about 100 g of 241Am. A chemical operator was injured in this accident, receiving acid burns and superficial cuts on the upper part of his body. From 1 to 5 Ci of 241Am is estimated to have been deposited on the injured worker and on his clothing.


Laser shock peening (LSP) is an innovative surface treatment technique for metal alloys, with the great improvement of their fatigue, corrosion and wear resistance performance. Finite element method has been widely applied to simulate the LSP to provide the theoretically predictive assessment and optimally parametric design. In the current work, 3-D numerical modelling approaches, combining the explicit dynamic analysis, static equilibrium analysis algorithms and different plasticity models for the high strain rate exceeding 106s-1, are further developed. To verify the proposed methods, 3-D static and dynamic FEA of AA7075-T7351 rods subject to two-sided laser shock peening are performed using the FEA package–ABAQUS. The dynamic and residual stress fields, shock wave propagation and surface deformation of the treated metal from different material modelling approaches have a good agreement.


During the mid to late 2000s, a period of contentious politics emerged in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) concerning social movement responses to so-called 'mega-events' due to be hosted there – e.g. the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. Central to contentions were newly implemented policing and housing policies associated with preparations for these mega-events: firstly installation of policing in favelas and secondly an extensive programme of evictions and displacements referred to in short as 'pacification' and 'removals' respectively. In my thesis, I chart the development of local social movements' responses to these mega-events, focussing especially on one area of favelas named Mare in the North Zone periphery of Rio. I describe these developing contestations over a period of ten years from around 2006-2016 which I frame in terms of an extended episode or cycle of contention and protesting about a specific set of themes – most prominent to which is a series of deaths of favela residents killed during military police operations in favelas. Based on one year of fieldwork in Rio over 2013-2014 and archival research thereafter, the empirical focus of the study is on protest events (e.g. demonstrations and protest marches), the themes that were contested through these, how such events connected over time, and the social uses of literacy and related communication technologies in their mobilization, performance, and dissemination. Firstly, from a synchronic perspective, the findings show five sets of literacy practices which were central to protest events and social movement activities: campaigning literacies, memorial literacies, media-activist literacies, arts-activist literacies, and demonstration literacies. Seen as interconnecting and taken together, these were the principle literacies of social protest, or protest literacies. Secondly, from a diachronic perspective, I highlight multiple examples of meaning making trajectories that interlinked ongoing protest events from 2006-2016. The two main examples were realised through flows of recontextualized and resemiotized texts and practices, referred to as symbolization trajectories and memorialization trajectories. Lastly, I show how traditional protesting texts and practices locally were becoming reshaped by the uptake of new communications technologies (websites, blogs, SNS, etc.), which had started to become used by social movements during the period in discussion (from around 2006 onward). In this changing social-political setting and changing communications-technological environment, new roles and usages for texts emerged. These allowed for the amplification of local voices on national and global scales – especially so, over 2013-2014, the year of my fieldwork and also the period of the largest and most sustained protesting in Rio and Brazil for thirty years. Theoretically, my thesis draws on and contributes toward ethnographic and historical traditions in the New Literacy Studies, whilst combining this research lens with work from Discourse Studies, Social Movement Studies, and Cultural Anthropology, amongst others. Data and findings contribute to both local and global academic and activist work on the issues addressed, from the impacts of global mega-events upon local communities, to the increasing militarization of public spaces and social life, as well as social movements' contestations of these and other issues, through traditional and changing means of protest.


Starting from the merits of Sen's Development as Freedom, the article also explores its shortcomings. It argues that they are related to an uncritical adoption of the discourse of 'development', which is the hegemonic framework for ameliorating global inequality today. This discourse implies certain limitations of thought and action, and the article points out three areas where urgent questions of global justice have been largely ignored by development theory and policy as a consequence. Struggles for justice on a global scale, this is the conclusion, should not take the detour of 'development'.


Outdoor recreation activities are popular among most Malaysian youths. It is
also being used to develop their personalities and competencies. Since recreation
participation is voluntary, the youths must be motivated to participate. Their
motivation is influenced by their behavioural patterns such as preferences and
needs. The study was carried out to determine the pattern of their motives and
preferences, and the profile of youths from selected youth recreation associations
who participated in such activities, as well as to determine the variables that
influenced their participation
Descriptive research design using self-administered questionnaire was
adopted for this study. The purposive sample population came from members of
selected youth recreation NGOs and youth NGOs, local institutions and other
recreation programmes.
The respondents of the study reside in the Klang Valley. They comprised
both the males and females, belong to youth with age groups of 15 to 25 years and
26 to 40 years. In addition, the respondents are mainly students from non-tertiary and tertiary institutions, as well as youths who are employed in both public and
private sectors.
The findings suggest that health and fitness, self-confidence, peace,
developing skills, and nature appreciation are the top five predominant preferred
motives for their participation in their personal development. The respondents
regardless of their socio-economic background prefer to participate in outdoor
recreation activities on weekends or a period of not more than 5 days, social
participation with their friends and peers in pursuing recreation and through their
association, or institutions which they belong to. They prefer to travel to destinations
close to their homes of within 20 kilometres for their recreation using a combination
of transportation means. Learning safety, camping and exploration skills are their
main preferred training need. They prefer quality managers and good leaders for
their activity delivery. Camping, swimming and flying are the most preferred
activities. However, the main constraints to their participation are money, time,
transport, equipment, companionship and lack of information about recreation
programmes.


The present paper reviews certain of the essential features which characterize the growth of crown gall, especially as they bear upon the general problems of cancer. In addition, it contains a number of new observations, which appear to bring this vegetable growth into relation with the group of tumors described as embryomata. II. CROWN GALL In brief, crown gall as here described is a plant disease, tumorlike in nature, which is produced by a bacterial organism. It is a growth very common in many parts of the world (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa) on a great variety of cultivated plants, and on some wild ones. It is known by many names, but generally in the United States as "crown gall," because it occurs very often on what the gardeners call the crown of the plant, i.e., on that part where stem and root join, but it may occur on any part of the plant (Pl. I, figs. 1 and 2). III. NATURE OF THE TUMOR Arguments against the cancerous nature of plant tumors based upon conditions in those tumors of turnips and cabbage which have been most studied by animal pathologists, or in over-growths due to gall-insects, or to various fungi, or even to other bacteria, do not apply to this tumor. Crown gall, is not an hypertrophy due to the enormous enlargement of a few special parasitized cells, like the bacterial root nodules of legumes or the finger-and-toes of cruciferous plants, ascribed to the slime-mold Plasmodiophora brassicae, nor is it a granulomatous hyperplasia in which the bacteria are located in cavities or pockets between the cells and pass by way of the vascular system into distant regions, like the olive tubercle, due to Bacterium savastanoi. On the contrary it is a peculiar hyperplasia, the bacteria which are the cause of it developing sparingly and only within the cells, which they compel to divide early and repeatedly, so that a great mass of non-capsulated, small-celled tumor tissue arises (Pl. I, figs. 3 and 4, Pl. II, figs. 5 and 6, and Pl. IV, figs. 17a, 18) in which the bacteria themselves are invisible. These numerous, small, incompletely developed, atypical, unripe cells are endowed with enormous reproductive capacity which is not under the physiological control of the plant (Pl. III, figs. 7 to 13 and Pl. IV, figs. 14 to 16—sunflower), and the continued development of which is detrimental to the plant both locally and constitutionally. Various grades of anaplasia exist, some of the cells in the tumor reaching nearly the normal size and form before division, while others divide quickly again and again, remaining quite embryonic. The tumors, even when deep-seated, are incompletely vascularized (Pl. IV, figs. 17, 18, and Pl. VIII, fig. 26), often quite fleshy, and very subject to decay (Pl. V, fig. 20). These conditions naturally result in the production of open wounds, which are subject to a variety of secondary infections, some of them very harmful to the plant. The tumor when inoculated on fleshy roots such as the sugar beet is often larger than the root itself.