Using data from two studies that elicited nitrate health risk and exposure perceptions before and after a well testing program, this paper investigates whether participants update their risk perceptions with new infonnation. Graphical analyses demonstrate that, in the aggregate, updating occurs when well test infonnation is provided. In particular, uncertainty about safety and exposure appears to be substantially reduced, and perceptions correspond to the distribution of nitrates. Statistical analyses indicate that individual updating of perceptions is a systematic function of prior perceptions and nitrate test levels. Evidence that updating occurs demonstrates that public infonnation programs can be effective in modifying risk perceptions, and offer a critical first step in assessing the cost-effectiveness of such programs


This article traces the emergence of the 'problem' of violent and disorderly young female offenders in Scotland, against a broader background context of the politicization of youth crime and major changes in youth justice policy post-Devolution. It draws attention to the limited empirical evidence about this group, and challenges perceptions about the nature and scale of violent offending by young women. Young women offenders fall between two stools. Policy responses to youth offending focus primarily on young men (ignoring gender) and policies in relation to women offenders fail to differentiate between older and younger women (ignoring age). Perhaps even more so than adult female offenders, young female offenders are an invisible minority whose offending pathways and distinctive needs have gone largely undocumented and unaddressed.


Having good knowledge and comprehension of history is believed to be important for a variety of reasons. In this paper we report the initial results of a large scale exploratory analysis of history-focused references in microblogs based on 11-months long snapshot of Twitter data. The results of this study can be used for designing content recommendation systems and can help to improve time aware search applications.


Food production in India is largely dependent on cereal crops including rice, wheat and various pulses. The sustainability and productivity of rice growing areas is dependent on suitable climatic conditions. Variability in seasonal climate conditions can have detrimental effect, with incidents of drought reducing production. Developing better techniques to predict crop productivity in different climatic conditions can assist farmer and other stakeholders in better decision making in terms of agronomy and crop choice. Machine learning techniques can be used to improve prediction of crop yield under different climatic scenarios. This paper presents the review on use of such machine learning technique for Indian rice cropping areas. This paper discusses the experimental results obtained by applying SMO classifier using the WEKA tool on the dataset of 27 districts of Maharashtra state, India. The dataset considered for the rice crop yield prediction was sourced from publicly available Indian Government records. The parameters considered for the study were precipitation, minimum temperature, average temperature, maximum temperature and reference crop evapotranspiration, area, production and yield for the Kharif season (June to November) for the years 1998 to 2002. For the present study the mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), relative absolute error (RAE) and root relative squared error (RRSE) were calculated. The experimental results showed that the performance of other techniques on the same dataset was much better compared to SMO.


1. The Electromagnetic Model. Introduction. The Electromagnetic Model. Si Units and Universal Constants. Review Questions. 2. Vector Analysis. Introduction. Vector Addition and Subtraction. Products of Vectors. Orthogonal Coordinate Systems. Integrals Containing Vector Functions. Gradient of a Scalar Field. Divergence of a Vector Field. Divergence Theorem. Curl of a Vector Field. Stoke's Theorem. Two Null Identities. Helmholtz's Theorem. Review Questions. Problems. 3. Static Electric Fields. Introduction. Fundamental Postulates of Electrostatics in Free Space. Coulomb's Law. Gauss's Law and Applications. Electric Potential. Conductors in Static Electric Field. Dielectrics in Static Electric Field. Electric Flux Density and Dielectric Constant. Boundary Conditions for Electrostatic Fields. Capacitances and Capacitors. Electrostatic Energy and Forces. Solution of Electrostatic Boundary-Value Problems. Review Questions. Problems. 4. Solution of Electrostatic Problems. Introduction. Poisson's and Laplaces' Equations. Uniqueness of Electrostatic Functions. Method of Images. Boundary-Value Problems in Cartesian Coordinates. Boundary-Value Problems in Cylindrical Coordinates. Boundary-Value Problems in Spherical Coordinates. Review Questions. Problems. 5. Steady Electric Currents. Introduction. Current Density and Ohm's Law. Electromotive Force and Kirchoff's Voltage Law. Equation of Continuity and Kirchoff's Current Law. Power Dissipation and Joule's Law. Boundary Conditions for Current Density. Resistance Calculations. Review Questions. Problems. 6. Static Magnetic Fields. Introduction. Fundamental Postulates of Magnetostatics in Free Space. Vector Magnetic Potential. The Biot-Savart Law and Applications. The Magnetic Dipole. Magnetization and Equivalent Current Densities. Magnetic Field Intensity and Relative Permeability. Magnetic Circuits. Behavior of Magnetic Materials. Boundary Conditions for Magnetostatic Fields. Inductances and Inductors. Magnetic Energy. Magnetic Forces and Torques. Review Questions. Problems. 7. Time-Varying Fields and Maxwell's Equations. Introduction. Faraday's Law of Electromagnetic Induction. Maxwell's Equations. Potential Functions. Electromagnetic Boundary Conditions. Wave Equations and their Solutions. Time-Harmonic Fields. Review Questions. Problems. 8. Plane Electromagnetic Waves. Introduction. Plane Waves in Lossless Media. Plane Waves in Lossy Media. Group Velocity. Flow of Electromagentic Power and the Poynting Vector. Normal Incidence of Plane Waves at a Plane Conducting Boundary. Oblique Incidence of Plane Waves at a Plane Conducting Boundary. Normal Incidence of Plane Waves at a Plane Dielectric Boundary. Normal Incidence of Plane Waves at Multiple Dielectric Interfaces. Oblique Incidence of Plane Waves at a Plane Dielectric Boundary. Review Questions. Problems. 9. Theory and Application of Transmission Lines Introduction. Transverse Electromagnetic Wave Along a Parallel-Plate. Transmission Line General Transmission-Line Equations. Wave Characteristics on Finite Transmission Lines. Transients on Transmission Lines. The Smith Chart. Transmission-Line Impedance Matching. Review Questions. Problems. 10. Waveguides and Cavity Resonators. Introduction. General Wave Behaviors Along Uniform Guiding Structures. Parallel-Plate Waveguide. Rectangular Waveguides. Circular Waveguides. Dielectric Waveguides. Cavity Resonators. Review Questions. Problems. 11. Antennas and Radiating Systems. Introduction. Radiation Fields of Elemental Dipoles. Antenna Patterns and Antenna Parameters. Thin Linear Antennas. Antenna Arrays. Receiving Antennas. Transmit-Receive Systems. Some Other Antenna Types. Review Questions. Problems. Appendix A: Symbols and Units. Appendix B: Some Useful Material Constants. Bibliography. Answers to Selected Problems. Index. Back Endpapers.


Often lauded for offering superior performance, investing in private equity (PE) is costly as investors have to pay fees and committed capital is illiquid for a long-time horizon: Could returns be replicated by levered investments in public markets? This article aims to emulate leveraged buyouts in the public market by purchasing undervalued and poorly performing stocks typical of buyout targets. Similar to LBO transactions, simulated investments are financed partly by debt and realized after five-year holding periods. The authors' investment strategy yields IRRs of up to 13.2%, less than the average of 14.2% reported in studies that analyze PE performance, but without the long periods of illiquidity that characterize the PE market. Finally, in time periods of economic boom, the authors' simulated investments outperform those of PE. The authors offer a new investment perspective for investors without the adverse costs of PE. TOPICS: Private equity, performance measurement, portfolio construction


Chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) is the primary cause for late kidney allograft loss. Carbon monoxide (CO), a product of heme metabolism by heme oxygenases, is known to impart protection against various stresses. We hypothesized that CO could minimize the chronic fibroinflammatory process and protect kidney allografts from CAN. Lewis kidney grafts were orthotopically transplanted into binephrectomized Brown-Norway rats under short-course tacrolimus. Recipients were maintained in room air or exposed to CO at 20 parts/million for 30 days after transplant. Efficacy of inhaled CO was studied at day 30 and day 80. Isografts maintained normal kidney function throughout the experiment with creatinine clearance of approximately 1.5 ml/min. Renal allograft function in air controls progressively deteriorated, and creatinine clearance declined to 0.2 +/- 0.1 ml/min by day 80 with substantial proteinuria. CO-treated animals had significantly better creatinine clearance (1.3 +/- 0.2 ml/min) with minimal proteinuria. Histological examination revealed the development of progressive CAN in air-exposed grafts, whereas CO-treated grafts had minimal tubular atrophy and interstitial fibrosis, with negligible collagen IV deposition. In vitro analyses revealed that CO-treated recipients had significantly less T cell proliferation against donor peptides via the indirect allorecognition pathway and less anti-donor IgG antibodies compared with air controls. Intragraft mRNA levels for chemokines (regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, chemokine receptors (CCR1, CXCR3, CXCR5), IL-2, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 were significantly decreased in CO-treated than in air-treated allografts. Furthermore, reduction of blood flow in air-treated allografts was prevented with CO. In conclusion, inhaled CO at a low concentration efficiently abrogates chronic fibroinflammatory changes associated with CAN and improves long-term renal allograft function.


OBJECTIVE
Disturbance of body perception is a central aspect of anorexia nervosa (AN) and several neuroimaging studies have documented structural and functional alterations of occipito-temporal cortices involved in visual body processing. However, it is unclear whether these perceptual deficits involve more basic aspects of others' body perception.

METHOD
A consecutive sample of 15 adolescent patients with AN were compared with a group of 15 age- and gender-matched controls in delayed matching to sample tasks requiring the visual discrimination of the form or of the action of others' body.

RESULTS
Patients showed better visual discrimination performance than controls in detail-based processing of body forms but not of body actions, which positively correlated with their increased tendency to convert a signal of punishment into a signal of reinforcement (higher persistence scores).

DISCUSSION
The paradoxical advantage of patients with AN in detail-based body processing may be associated to their tendency to routinely explore body parts as a consequence of their obsessive worries about body appearance.


Summary and Conclusions
The observations described indicate that heavily contaminated drinking water is the principal source of intestinal infections in the vicinity of Dzitas and of Chichen Itza. What is true of this region is, probably, equally true for other small Yucatecan communities and for all the Indian villages. Other evidence points unmistakably to drinking water as a very serious source of danger in Merida and in other cities in Yucatan. That there is an extremely high mortality from intestinal infections in Merida has been demonstrated (table 1) by Hoffman (1). Further statistical data will be presented in the Report of our Expedition (2).
That safe municipal water supplies are urgently needed by the cities in Yucatan is beyond question.
It is believed that in the smaller Yucatecan communities and in the Indian villages much could be done to reduce the deathrate and to improve the health if the people could be taught the dangers of contaminated water, the importance of cleanliness of water-containers, and the protection offered by boiling. To prevent the contamination of wells would require a complete change in the habits of the people and an expenditure of effort and of money which could hardly be expected of the general population in the near future.


The subject matter of compact groups is frequently cited in fields like algebra, topology, functional analysis, and theoretical physics. This book serves the dual purpose of providing a textbook on it for upper level graduate courses or seminars, and of serving as a source book for research specialists who need to apply the structure and representation theory of compact groups. After a gentle introduction to compact groups and their representation theory, the book presents self-contained courses on linear Lie groups, on compact Lie groups, and on locally compact abelian groups. Separate appended chapters contain the material for courses on abelian groups and on category theory. However, the thrust of the book points in the direction of the structure theory of not necessarily finite dimensional, nor necessarily commutative, compact groups, unfettered by weight restrictions or dimensional bounds. In the process it utilizes infinite dimensional Lie algebras and the exponential function of arbitrary compact groups. The first edition of 1998 and the second edition of 2006 were well received by reviewers and have been frequently quoted in the areas of instruction and research. For the present new edition the text has been cleaned of typographical flaws and the content has been conceptually sharpened in some places and polished and improved in others. New material has been added to various sections taking into account the progress of research on compact groups both by the authors and other writers. Motivation was provided, among other things, by questions about the structure of compact groups put to the authors by readers through the years following the earlier editions. Accordingly, the authors wished to clarify some aspects of the book which they felt needed improvement. The list of references has increased as the authors included recent publications pertinent to the content of the book.


Schmidtellidae and Aparchitidae form a common element of North American middle Ordovician ostracod faunas. Characterized by relatively simple morphology with few obvious diagnostic features they are conventionally assigned to the Leiocopa. Their simple morphology has led to numerous species being referred to as 'bag gencra' such as Aparchites or Schmidtella. Aparchitids differ markedly from schmidtellids in the nature and degree of valve overlap, shell thickness and development of dorsal and ventral valve modifications. Schmidtellids may be more closely related to leperditellaceans. Kayina, previously assigned to the leiocope Family Jaanussoniidae and recorded from the middle Ordovician of North America, does not conform to leiocope morphology and is probably a leperditellacean. Aparchitaceans (Aparchitidae and Jaanussoniidae) may represent the root-stock from which the Paraparchitacea evolved later in the Palaeozoic. In North America schmidtellids and aparchitids have potential for middle Ordovician stratigraphic correlation. They co-occur in normal marine shelf depositional environments but were absent from marginal marine depositional settings.


Traditional schemes for coherent population transfer or generation of coherent superposition states in multilevel atoms or molecules usually utilize two or more laser beams with radiation bandwidth smaller than the frequency interval between the working levels. We show the possibility of creation of the coherent superposition of three metastable states of a four-level atom with tripodlike level structure using a single short frequency-chirped laser pulse. The bandwidth of the pulse envelope (without chirp) must be comparable to or exceed the frequency distance between the two metastable levels. No appreciable excitation of the atom takes place during the creation of the coherent superposition state, thus diminishing significantly the effect of decoherence due to the spontaneous decay of the excited state. The proposed method of creation of superposition states is robust against variations in the laser pulse parameters. Since this method does not require maintaining steady resonance with the atomic transitions (owing to the frequency chirp of the laser pulse), it is effective both in homogeneously and inhomogeneously broadened media.


In a survey of the computing education community, many respondents suggested "active learning" as a teaching approach that would increase the likelihood of student success. In light of these responses, we analyze the way in which active learning is described in the computing-education literature. We find a strong consensus that active learning is good, but a lack of precision in how the term is used, often without definition, to describe instructional techniques, rather than student learning. In addition, active learning techniques are often discussed as if they were all equally effective. We suggest that making clear distinctions, both between teaching techniques and active learning and among the teaching techniques, would be fruitful for both instructors and researchers. Finally, we propose some dimensions along which distinctions among techniques could usefully be made.


Description Modern Competitive Strategy, 4e focuses on what makes firms successful over time, ultimately within industries that are global in scope. It is meant to be comprehensive yet succinct, discipline-based yet practical, highly general yet applicable to currently emerging industries all of this, we hope, without sacrificing quality of content or style. It is intended to be appropriate for teaching at all levels―undergraduate, MBA, and EMBA and to be understandable to students both with and without business experience. To this end, it serves as a relatively complete introduction to strategy as an academic and practical discipline. Furthermore, it is flexible in its fit to course length module, quarter, or semester.


The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), one of the largest public transportation systems in North America, carries more than 1,000,000 commuters a day. The TTC's tunnels had not received a major restoration of any kind since their construction, but over the years, water infiltration into the tunnels had contributed to delays and safety concerns. The leakage also contributed to a large range of problems, such as extensive concrete and steel deterioration, an accelerated life cycle for the rail and rail fastening systems, deterioration and malfunction of electrical systems and their components, and decay of the structure itself. In view of the great need for structural maintenance, the TCC made tunnel leak remediation a primary objective. The engineers decided that a state-of-the-art acrylamide grouting program would bring an end to the water infiltration problems. Acrylamide was chosen because of its controllable set times, its ability to penetrate the finest and tightest fissures and low-permeability soils, its ability to absorb surrounding water and encapsulate it in the final gel, and its low initial viscosity. The engineers also found that they could accurately predict the volumes of the acrylamide to be used at each location, allowing a precise quantity of material that can be batched on a given shift. The results attained to date have been very successful, and the program is expected to expand in the years to come to include a second grouting work car and a larger crew.


Design exploration is a vital part of the building design process that aims at identifying the best-performing design with regard to the requirements of the client and building regulations. Building performance simulation can support this "explorative" process, its potential however being restricted by the fact that all design parameters are subject to uncertainty. In addition, while the need for an efficient exploration of the design space has resulted in the integration of optimization into the design process, the majority of existing research treats uncertainty quantification and optimization as separate processes. Finally, candidate designs are commonly evaluated with respect to only one or two design criteria, while the multi-dimensionality of real-world problems calls for integrated design solutions that meet several – often-conflicting – objectives.
A new approach is thus developed that aims to help designers identify robust Pareto-optimal solutions that satisfy several design criteria, while remaining optimal regardless of the uncertainty in boundary conditions. Through its implementation to a real-world case-study building, the novel approach is found to be able to identify optimum solutions that preserve their optimality over the entire range of uncertain performance scenarios.


Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, and Vladimir Nabokov transformed the art of the novel in order to convey the experience of time. Nevertheless, their works have been read as expressions of a desire to transcend time--whether through an epiphany of memory, an immanent moment of being, or a transcendent afterlife. Martin Hagglund takes on these themes but gives them another reading entirely. The fear of time and death does not stem from a desire to transcend time, he argues. On the contrary, it is generated by the investment in temporal life. From this vantage point, Hagglund offers in-depth analyses of Proust's Recherche, Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, and Nabokov's Ada. Through his readings of literary works, Hagglund also sheds new light on topics of broad concern in the humanities, including time consciousness and memory, trauma and survival, the technology of writing and the aesthetic power of art. Finally, he develops an original theory of the relation between time and desire through an engagement with Freud and Lacan, addressing mourning and melancholia, pleasure and pain, attachment and loss. Dying for Time opens a new way of reading the dramas of desire as they are staged in both philosophy and literature.


Pyridoxine-dependent seizures are an extremely rare genetic disorder. Early diagnosis and treatment are important for the prevention of permanent brain damage. Elevated levels of glutamate and decreased levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the frontal and parietal cortices are among the characteristic features of this disorder. These metabolic abnormalities eventually lead to seizures and neuronal loss. In this case report, we present magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings of a 9-year-old girl with pyridoxine-dependent seizures with mental retardation. The N-acetyl-aspartate-to-creatine ratio was found to be decreased in the frontal and parieto-occipital cortices, which could indicate neuronal loss. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy could be a useful tool in the neuroimaging evaluation for assessment of parenchymal changes despite a normal-appearing brain magnetic resonance image in patients with pyridoxine-dependent seizures. (J Child Neurol 2004;19:75—78).


In recent decades, the international division of labor expanded rapidly in course of globalization. In this context, highly developed countries specialized on (human) capital intensively manufactured goods and increasingly sourced parts and components from lowwage countries. Since this should be beneficial for the high-skilled and harmful for the lower qualified workforce, especially the opening up of Eastern Europe and the international integration of newly industrializing Asian economies are considered as main reasons for increasing unemployment of the lower qualified in high-wage countries. The present paper addresses this issue for selected Western European countries by analyzing factor content of trade, which allows inferring on factor demand patterns resulting from international trade. This is not only done for countries' total external trade, but also for bilateral trade flows, using input-output analyses. Thereby, differences in factor inputs and production technologies are considered, allowing for product differentiation. According to the results, factor content of bilateral trade flows between Western European high-wage countries does hardly differ. However, the results are different for East-West trade, since exports from Western to Eastern Europe are distinctly more human capital intensively manufactured than imports of Western European high-wage countries from Eastern Europe.


Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) produce intracellular organelles called magnetosomes which are magnetic nanoparticles composed of magnetite (Fe3O4) or greigite (Fe3S4) enveloped by a lipid bilayer. The synthesis of a magnetosome is through a genetically controlled process in which the bacterium has control over the composition, direction of crystal growth, and the size and shape of the mineral crystal. As a result of this control, magnetosomes have narrow and uniform size ranges, relatively specific magnetic and crystalline properties, and an enveloping biological membrane. These features are not observed in magnetic particles produced abiotically and thus magnetosomes are of great interest in biotechnology. Most currently described MTB have been isolated from saline or brackish environments and the availability of their genomes has contributed to a better understanding and culturing of these fastidious microorganisms. Moreover, genome sequences have allowed researchers to study genes related to magnetosome production for the synthesis of magnetic particles for use in future commercial and medical applications. Here, we review the current information on the biology of MTB and apply, for the first time, a genome mining strategy on these microorganisms to search for secondary metabolite synthesis genes. More specifically, we discovered that the genome of the cultured MTB Magnetovibrio blakemorei, among other MTB, contains several metabolic pathways for the synthesis of secondary metabolites and other compounds, thereby raising the possibility of the co-production of new bioactive molecules along with magnetosomes by this species.


As we enter the "decade of data," the disparity between the vast amount of data storage capacity (measurable in terabytes and petabytes) and the bandwidth available for accessing it has created an input/output bottleneck that is proving to be a major constraint on the effective use of scientific data for research. Scalable Input/Output is a summary of the major research results of the Scalable I/O Initiative, launched by Paul Messina, then Director of the Center for Advanced Computing Research at the California Institute of Technology, to explore software and algorithmic solutions to the I/O imbalance. The contributors explore techniques for I/O optimization, including: I/O characterization to understand application and system I/O patterns; system checkpointing strategies; collective I/O and parallel database support for scientific applications; parallel I/O libraries and strategies for file striping, prefetching, and write behind; compilation strategies for out-of-core data access; scheduling and shared virtual memory alternatives; network support for low-latency data transfer; and parallel I/O application programming interfaces.


Bus stops are key links in the journeys of riders with disabilities. Inaccessible bus stops prevent people with physical disabilities from using fixed-route bus services, thus limiting their mobility. Due to limited budgets, transit agencies must select bus stops for which their improvements, as part of the effort to comply with the Americas with Disabilities Act (ADA), can maximize the overall benefits to riders with physical disabilities. In this paper, an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to combine the factors affecting the benefits to riders with physical disabilities, and a binary linear programming model was used to identify bus stops for ADA improvements based on budgetary and construction cost constraints. As an application example, the optimization model was applied to the 5,034 bus stops in Broward County, Florida. Compared to the usual approaches, the optimization model provides a more objective platform on which to identify bus stops for ADA improvements.


In this study, we carried out direct and indirect surveys in 30 Greek areas to clarify the current status of the Balkan chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica). It is an important flagship species for conservation in Greece, protected by both National and European legislation. New chamois populations are recorded for the first time in 3 areas, direct sightings of chamois are found in 11 areas, and presence is reported by locals in a further 4 areas. The overall potential distribution area of the species is 1.663km 2 . The chamois is considered extinct in 6 areas and its presence is doubtful in the remaining 6 areas. Chamois have a frag- mented dispersal pattern in Greece and three blocks of populations are distinguished : Pindus, Sterea Ellada and Rhodopi popula- tions. Population sizes do not usually exceed 30 individuals in each area, and the maximum population size recorded is 120-130 individuals (Mt. Timfi). Our preliminary estimate of the total Greek population size is between 477 and 750, which is slightly higher than previous estimates. Although most sites are within established reserves, protected by the Natura 2000 network, there is an urgent need for further conservation measures. Poaching is considered to be the major threat to this species, therefore effective protection is urgently needed, through the enhancement of guarding system against poaching, the control of roads usage within its core range, and the creation of protected natural corridors between chamois populations.


Background: Epidemiological studies have probed the correlation between telomere length and the risk of lung cancer, but their findings are inconsistent in this regard. The present meta-analysis study has been carried out to demonstrate the association between relative telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes and the risk of lung cancer using an established Q-PCR technique. Methods: A systematic search was carried out using PubMed, EMBASE, and ISI before 2015. A total of 2925 cases of lung cancer and 2931 controls from 9 studies were employed to probe the relationship between lung cancer and telomere length. ORs were used at 95% CI. Random-effects models were used to investigate this relationship based on the heterogeneity test. Heterogeneity among studies was analyzed employing subgroup analysis based on type studies and the year of publication. Results: Random-effects meta-analysis revealed that patients with lung cancer were expected to have shorter telomere length than the control (1.13, 95% CI: 0.82-1.81, P=0.46). The summary of the pooled ORs of telomere length in adenocarcinoma lung cancer patients was 1 (95%CI=0.68-1.47, I2=93%) compared to patients with squamous cell lung cancer, which was 1.78 (95% CI=1.25-2.53, I2=3.9%). The meta-regression revealed that the effect of telomere length shortening, decreased and increased with the year of publication and the age of risks to lung cancer, was clearly related to short telomeres lengths. Conclusion: Lung cancer risks clearly related with short telomeres lengths. In patients with breathing problems, lung cancer risk can be predicted by telomere length adjustment with age, sex, and smoking.


This paper describes the Event Nugget Detection system that we submitted to the TAC KBP 2016 Event Track. We sent out two runs; UMBC1 and UMBC2. UMBC1 is a sentence-level classification system based on Convolution Neural Network and applied the probability to select a word as an event nugget. UMBC2 is the classification model trained from our features using Weka and filtered out low confidence prediction output using threshold. Our performance was low; we got F1 measure of 34.14 for UMBC1 and 35.24 for UMBC2.


The Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD) is excited to announce the rollout of a standardized national graduate survey. Beginning in 2016, the survey will be conducted through the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Maintenance of Certification process. Understanding the scope of practice and success of family medicine residency graduates post-residency is a crucial step in improving residency education. The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Family Medicine state that "Program graduates should be surveyed at least every 5 years, and the results should be used in the annual program evaluation" (V.C.6, Detail Requirement). Although some residencies collaborated on standardized surveys and data collection previously, no standardized national initiative was in place.

Recognizing an opportunity to both standardize the survey process and increase the response rate, the AFMRD approached the ABFM to explore opportunities to use ABFM-collected data to fulfill the graduate survey requirement. In turn, the ABFM offered to sponsor the development of a graduate survey to be administered through the Maintenance of Certification process, thus assuring a high response rate.

In cooperation with the ABFM, the AFMRD led a steering committee of representatives from AFMRD, ABFM, family medicine research organizations, the ACGME, and a new graduate. The steering committee identified the major stakeholders of a national graduate survey to be, in order of priority: (1) residencies for use in program evaluation and improvement and for milestone validation; (2) family medicine organizations regarding family medicine practice scope and characteristics, as well as the quality of and trends in medical education; and (3) the "public" for use in educational research and policy analysis. The steering committee recommended and then conducted a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process to select a survey development team, ultimately choosing a team from the University of Washington, headed by Dr Freddy Chen.

The survey development team completed a needs assessment and a literature search, reviewed previously developed graduate surveys, and conducted phone interviews of key stakeholders and recent graduates and roundtable discussions with program directors. In order to achieve a high survey completion rate, the goal was to limit the survey to questions that can be completed in fewer than 12 minutes. Two rounds of pilot testing have included input from stakeholders, including significant AFMRD input, to identify the most important questions to be included in the survey.

The survey is now being rolled out by the ABFM to all ABFM Diplomates 3 years after graduation. The ABFM will incorporate the survey into its Maintenance of Certification process, providing information to residency programs each year on the survey cohort. This meets the ACGME program requirement and provides valuable information to each program for continuous quality improvement of residency education. The ABFM will provide each program with its own confidential survey results, with individual responses de-identified. Individual program data will not be available to the ACGME for individual program accreditation. Broader graduate survey data will be available in aggregate form only, to assure the anonymity of information that may be sensitive for individual programs. A data set for research purposes will be available in de-identified form through the ABFM upon request. The ABFM and AFMRD are committed to the protection of individual data, while providing only aggregate data for national analysis.

The steering committee recommended using a 3-year post-graduation timeframe. Graduate scope of practice and success information is likely most useful to programs at that time, being neither too soon nor too long from the time of graduation. While the initial survey will include only residents 3 years after graduation, the ABFM intends to expand the survey so that each ABFM Diplomate completes a survey every 5 years, providing more robust information to programs.

Starting in 2016, the AFMRD plans to create an advisory group to work with the ABFM to annually monitor the performance of the survey, the usefulness of the data for residencies, and to determine if any changes are needed in the questions. The AFMRD urges all program directors to inform their residents and graduates of the importance of the national graduate survey and to encourage their participation; additionally the AFMRD encourages program directors to incorporate the results into their annual program evaluation.


The efficient management of nutrients on dairy farms is an important factor to ensuring that the industry reduces environmental risk whilst increasing production. It is currently perceived that many soils under intensive grazing pastures are either deficient in critical nutrients or have nutrient levels above optimum for pasture production. It is thought that some farmers fail to conduct regular soil tests. Variations and in some cases excessive soil nutrient values are supported by research in the dairy industry, where the levels of phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S) can be above the optimum levels for pasture growth (Burkitt and Coad, 2006; Gourley et al., 2010). This study sought to evaluate the nutrient status of each paddock used for milk production on twenty dairy farms in the Brid and Meander catchments in Northern Tasmania, and use the results to develop whole farm nutrient budgets and nutrient distribution maps for pH, Olsen P, Colwell K and Sulphate S. The main objective was to assist farmers and land managers to identify base level nutrient deficiencies or excesses for targeted nutrient re-distribution and/or additions. Information was collected from farmers relative to nutrient export and import including the number of livestock, live weight gain of animals sold off the farm, annual milk production, grain and fodder and applied inorganic fertilisers. This was then used to develop nutrient budgets with the Nutrimatch programme (developed by DPI, Victoria). Effluent from the milking sheds on all the dairy farms was retained on site, so the nutrients lost or gained were not considered in the whole farm budget as part of this project. It is anticipated that as a result of project deliverables, farmers may demonstrate behavioural adaptability from improved awareness and willingness to undertake changes on their farm with regard to nutrient management and sustainable fertiliser use. The trial has also highlighted the importance of strategic soil testing to better target fertiliser applications and reduce the environmental risk that intensive grazing systems may pose to water and soil quality. Furthermore, the project has added to the data collected on previous dairy pastures and provided researchers and the dairy industry a better understanding of the nutrient condition of intensive grazing pastures used for milk production.


This research focuses on an Australian agribusiness supply chain, the Australian Beef Supply Chain. The definition of the Australian Beef Supply Chain is the chain or sequence of all activities from the breeding property to the domestic or overseas consumers. The beef sector in Australia is undergoing rapid change because of globalisation, a highly competitive beef market (local and export), quicker production cycle and delivery times and consequently reduced inventories, a general speed-up of the rate of change in the business environment, the trend toward more outsourcing of activities, and the rapid development of IT. In this business environment, advanced supply chain systems have the potential to provide significant contributions to Australian beef industry performance. A conceptual framework of the research project has been proposed. There are three elements of conceptual framework. Firstly, supply chain practice of Australian beef industry consists of five sub-elements such as strategic supplier partnerships, customer relationships, information sharing, information quality and a lean system. Moreover, there is an antecedent of cooperative behaviour such as trust and commitment influencing supply chain practice and supply chain performance indicators. Secondly, supply chain performance indicators include four sub-elements such as flexibility, efficiency, food quality and responsiveness. Finally, the competitive advantage framework of the Australian beef enterprises consists of price, quality, export sales growth and time to market. As a further step of the research after developing the conceptual framework, the research project focuses the analysis on how the antecedents of the sub-elements of supply chain practice affect supply chain performance in Australian beef enterprises, how trust and commitment in trading partners affect supply chain performance, how attributes such as flexibility, efficiency, food quality and responsiveness influence the sub-elements of competitive advantage. The research project leads on to further work on how Australian beef enterprises measure their supply chain performance and what the major difficulties are arising when implementing supply chain management in the Australian beef industry and what kind of changes can be made to beef supply chains to enhance their performance.


Non-viral gene delivery into mammalian cells is widely used in bio-processing for the production of recombinant proteins as well as considered for clinical trials in gene therapy and vaccination. DNA can be delivered through various non-viral methods including polymers, lipids, peptides and entrapment within nanoparticles. Non-viral gene delivery often entails nucleic acids that are bound to a polymer or polycation to form a complex referred to as polyplexes. Various factors may affect the efficiency of polyplex uptake in mammalian cells. One factor is DNA topology, which is important from a regulatory perspective whereby FDA guidelines require the majority of plasmid DNA (pDNA) (>80%) to be in its supercoiled (SC) form. Therefore the motivation of this study was to investigate the impact of DNA topology on non-viral gene delivery. In this study pDNA (6.8kb) was complexed with poly-L-lysine (PLL) (MW, 9600) to form PLL/DNA polyplexes. pDNA of three topologies; SC, open circular (OC) and linear-pDNA were complexed with PLL. Biophysical analyses which included size, surface charge, DNA binding and nuclease resistance assays revealed topology dependent results. For example SCpDNA polyplexes were smaller (<140nm); more efficiently packaged and displayed greater nuclease resistance than OC- and linear-pDNA polyplexes. DNA release from PLL was analysed although such experiments were not a time course study, rather a confirmatory assay to identify PLL-bound DNA. Polyplex uptake in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO), HeLa and dendritic cells (DCs) were studied. Uptake was monitored by fluorescent confocal microscopy, flow cytometry and reporter gene expression assays. Regardless of cell type, complexes containing SC-pDNA displayed greater reporter gene expression than OC- and linear-pDNA polyplexes. In regards to CHO cells confocal image analysis revealed SC-pDNA polyplexes associated most efficiently with host cell nuclei. SC-pDNA polyplexes were smaller and nuclease resistant than its counterparts which may facilitate uptake. Endocytic mechanisms of uptake were analysed in CHO cells. This is important as knowledge of polyplex uptake pathways could be exploited for future gene delivery studies. Polyplex nuclear import was studied in regards to importin-7 (Imp7). Imp7 is key nuclear import receptor identified in previous studies, which was a preselected candidate. Gene expression studies along with qualitative and quantitative confocal microscopy analyses indicated possible exploitation of Imp7. However live cell imaging experiments showed colocalisation between DNA and nuclei fluorescence in Imp7 KD cells which suggests other routes of nuclear import may be employed. Polyplex uptake in DCs was also studied as these are key sentinels of the immune system. SC-pDNA polyplexes displayed the most efficient uptake and gene expression profiles in DCs. Gene expression and ability to induce DC phenotypic changes was dependent on dosage and DNA topology. Therefore this study stresses the importance of DNA topology which impacts on the bio-processing of non-viral gene delivery products.


The greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum – Westwood is one of the most important insect pests in crops. The spatial dynamics and population grow of the insects are affected by different biotic and abiotic factors like the host plant quality, the control by natural enemies or the presence of another kind of pest such as mildew fungus. Patterns of the population behavior in tomato crops were used to develop an age-structured, spatially explicit, individual-based model with a description of the developmental biology of the whitefly individuals. The model comprises three types of entities: 1) plant leaves, 2) pest insects, 3) parasitoid insects and the presence of the fungus Oidium neolycopersici (powdery mildew). The plants are modeled only as space units with a dynamic size to store insects. The insects' populations are modeled in an age-structured design to mimic their growth and development as in real systems. For the pest insects, the key process is the dispersal, in which the individuals decide where to move, for this purpose four different basic rules under density dependent and density independent context were tested with respect to their ability to create patterns similar to the patterns observed in nature. The parasitoid insect Encarsia formosa is also modeled in an age-structured population and its effect on the pest insect is implemented to affect the second stage of nymphs, mimicking host-feeding, and the third and fourth stage of nymphs, representing the parasitization. The mildew fungus, that affects the behavior of E. formosa is modeled as present or absent in the leaves and its effect on the behavior of the insects was tested. The results show that whitefly dispersal follows rules probably related with chemical or visual cues to orient their flights and this rules can be used to represent population growth patterns and spatial distribution. The effect of biocontrol by E.formosa is important and vary with the three dispersal rules tested, where the exponential function gives the more realistic representation of the parasitoid foraging behavior. Furthermore, the presence of mildew in the leaves affecting the parasitoid foraging activity result in an increase of dispersion of the whitefly population. As the interaction between the fungi and whiteflies is not explicitly modeled in this study the results suggest that the presence of mildew have a negative direct effect on the parasitoids foraging behavior and a positive indirect effect on the whiteflies increasing its dispersion probably because the presence of mildew makes the infected leaf a protected refuge for the whitefly. This interaction deserves more research in the field and in real experiments in order to get more details to be included later in the simulations to study a more realistic scenario. The severity or incidence of mildew in the crop related with the dynamics of whiteflies and parasitoids in real-like experiments could help to improve the knowledge about this multitrophic interactions. The main conclusion is that this research tool can be used to orient the future research on this system. Some gaps in knowledge were found that can be important to better understand the function of the systems.


Gaussian kernels with flexible variances provide a rich family of Mercer kernels for learning algorithms. We show that the union of the unit balls of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces generated by Gaussian kernels with flexible variances is a uniform Glivenko-Cantelli (uGC) class. This result confirms a conjecture concerning learnability of Gaussian kernels and verifies the uniform convergence of many learning algorithms involving Gaussians with changing variances. Rademacher averages and empirical covering numbers are used to estimate sample errors of multi-kernel regularization schemes associated with general loss functions. It is then shown that the regularization error associated with the least square loss and the Gaussian kernels can be greatly improved when flexible variances are allowed. Finally, for regularization schemes generated by Gaussian kernels with flexible variances we present explicit learning rates for regression with least square loss and classification with hinge loss.


No one can deny that "The Phenomenon of the Slow Pace of Litigation" expands to include all wings of the judicial system, Civil, Criminal, and Administrative issues. And extends deeper to affect all categories of litigants: Rich and Poor, Men and Women. To paint a dark picture of what could be called a "Crisis of Justice in Egypt".So, Egyptian legislator created special Economic Courts to solved this disputes, and to avoid its negative effects, by Law No. 120 of 2008. Which decide that this kind of litigation can be solve by judges specialized in this kind of litigation, To encourage investment, and achieve a safe environment for investment, provide maximum protection for economic activity and help develop the plans and ensure justice.The Economic Court Law entered into force in October 2008. Establishes Economic Courts in each Court of Appeal Circuit. which consists of Courts of First Instance, Courts of Appeal. These courts have a jurisdiction over criminal cases stemming from investment operations, consumer protection, commercial, banking transactions. The Economic Court system is a three-tiered system, with first instance, intermediate, and final appellate courts. And Each Trial Chamber should be composed of three presidents of courts of first instance, consists each of the Chambers of Appeal of three judges of the appellate courts to be at least one of whom is President of the Court of Appeal.So, I will discuss the steps taken by the legislature to set up Economic Courts in Egypt.


Marital names shape our ideas about marriage, about our children, and about our selves. For about a hundred years, American states required married women to take their husbands' names in order to engage in basic civic activities such as voting. While the law no longer requires women to change their names, it still shapes people's decisions about marital names in both formal and informal ways. For example, the formal legal default rule in most places is that both spouses keep their premarital names. This rule is minoritarian for women, which means it imposes a range of social costs on women who make the most conventional naming choice. But the rule is majoritarian for men, which means it does nothing to unsettle the most robust aspect of our current marital naming conventions - the fact that men almost never change their names, even to hyphenate. This fact about men's names - coupled with the fact that children almost always have their father's name, even if their mother makes an unconventional naming choice for herself - means that women are ostensibly choosing their marital names, but in fact they are choosing from a very limited decision set. That is, women effectively can have nominal continuity either with their past (their families of origin and premarital selves) or with their future (their children and possibly their spouse), but not across all three generations. The formal legal default that both spouses keep their names reinforces this bind for women. Informally, legal institutions also shape choices through desk-clerk law, that is, advice given by the government functionaries who answer public inquiries at state and local agencies. These legal actors frequently mislead people and discourage unconventional naming choices as a result of ignorance or their own views about proper practice. Because states historically reinforced a regime of patrilineal descent of names, what might seem a neutral default regime is inadequate. States should set defaults and frame choices to encourage more egalitarian decisions about whether to change names and how. States could try any number of creative solutions using existing categories for thinking about choice regimes, drawn from contract-law theory: default rules (what rule the state fills in if the parties don't speak to the contrary); menus (what range of options parties are given); and altering rules (what steps parties must take to contract around the default rule into different alternatives). Most modestly, states could adopt a forced choosing approach, requiring both spouses to state their postmarital names. More ambitiously, states might encourage hyphenation and, at the next generation, biphenation - defined as the passing of one name from each hyphenated parent - by making this the default option. States could also create what might be called framing rules, which would dictate how the state asks the question of parties in a choice regime. Framing rules encompass what information the state gives parties, what words it uses, what context surrounds the question, as well as the timing of the question. Framing rules are particularly important in contexts, such as marital names, where social conventions exert a strong influence on choices, and where desk-clerk law is likely to be erroneous or misleading.


Novak, K.L., Alarid, L.F., & Lucas, W.L. (2003). Exploring officers' acceptance of community policing: Implications for policy implementation. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31, 57-71. Community policing (CP) is generally characterized as a proactive approach to crime prevention whereby police officers and the community work together to identify and solve a range of local problems such as crime, fear of crime, and social and physical disorder with the goal of improving the safety and overall quality of life in the area. Although police administrators recognize CP as the preferred strategy for delivery of police services, few police organizations have successfully completed the transition from the traditional law enforcement (i.e., professional) approach to CP. As noted by several researchers, a major obstacle to the implementation of CP is the resistance of many line officers. Given this situation, it may be argued that, because line officers are responsible for implementing CP at the street level, their reluctance to embrace this approach is problematic. Accordingly, Novak, Alarid and Lucas (2003) argue that police organizations interested in implementing CP need to be aware of the attitudes of police officers toward CP. Specifically, they suggest that successful implementation of CP will rely, in part, on identifying police officers who are most supportive of the philosophy and practices of CP. Presumably, these officers will be able to implement CP and problem-solving practices on a smaller scale which, in turn, may encourage other officers to attempt similar measures. Based on this line of reasoning, Novak et al. investigated various factors potentially related to officers' acceptance of CP. Questionnaires were completed by 445 members (75 % of whom were patrol officers) of the Kansas City Police Department. In addition to demographic information (e.g., race, education level, length of service, rank), the questionnaire focused on three aspects of officers' beliefs and attitudes towards CP: (1) the extent to which CP can be a highly effective means of providing police service, (2) the extent to which CP is a highly effective means of providing police service, and (3) the extent to which the officer incorporates CP into his or her daily activities. The final part of the questionnaire included questions designed to measure several factors which may facilitate or inhibit CP. Factors thought to facilitate CP included the officer's prior experience in working on a problem-solving project, and the extent of his or her agreement with statements indicating that (a) he or she encourages community members to use informal methods to solve problems, (b) police should have frequent and informal contacts with neighbourhood residents, and (c) police need to use resources from other agencies in order to solve problems. Factors thought to inhibit CP included the extent of the officer's agreement with statements indicating that (a) most people do not respect the police, (b) police officers usually have reason to be distrustful of most citizens, and (c) supervisors should determine the daily activities of officers (i.e., versus officers embracing greater discretion and autonomy which, presumably, would result in their greater support for CP). Based on their review of the extant literature, Novak et al. expected that non-White officers, officers having higher education, officers with less experience, and supervisory officers would be more likely to support CP. In addition, they expected that officers who had previously worked on a CP project and who are supportive of problem solving strategies would express greater levels of acceptance of CP. Finally, because officers' perceptions about citizens may involve elements that inhibit positive attitudes towards CP, Novak et al. expected that officers who perceive that most people do not respect the police and who believe that citizens cannot be trusted would express lower levels of acceptance of CP. …


Virginia Tech researchers conducted a study to assist the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in determining the policies and procedures necessary for the implementation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency final guidelines for the certification and recertification of small water system operators of community (CWS) and nontransient noncommunity public (NTNC) water systems serving under 3,300 people. A 42-question survey was developed and mailed to 2011 public water systems that serve 3,300 people or less. Survey results revealed that small systems in Virginia encompassed a diverse group of waterworks and owners/operators. Significant differences were found when survey results were analyzed by the number of people served and system category. Systems serving less than 100 people tended to not have a licensed operator, not have a full time employee, not meter their customers, and not have an operations and maintenance budget. As the system size increased, the likelihood of each increased. This research was supported by a grant from the Virginia Department of Health.


When a woman receives a breast cancer diagnosis her entire life may change in the blink of an eye. But the nature of that change is governed by the smallest alterations that take place within the proteins of the tumor cells, determining what treatments she can pursue with a hope of cure and those to which her cancer is resistant. Scientists from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center announced today the discovery of a new mechanism of resistance to endocrine or anti-hormonal therapies, such as Tamoxifen and Faslodex. This research may allow oncologists to screen women for responsiveness to these treatments, and provides a much-needed clue to reversing resistance. The research, led by Robert Clarke, PhD, DSc, a professor of oncology and of physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University Medical Center, indicates that a gene previously thought to be unrelated to breast cancer may be responsible for some resistance to endocrine therapy. The gene, called human X-box binding protein-1 (XBP1), is an alternatively spliced transcription factor that participates in a stress-signaling pathway to protect cells from damage. In a paper published online in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEBJ) on July 27,2007 Clarke and his colleagues at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (part of Georgetown University Medical Center) found that over-expression of the spliced variant of the gene in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells led to reduced sensitivity to Tamoxifen and Faslodex. According to Lombardi medical oncologist Minetta Liu, MD, it is expected that all hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancers will eventually develop resistance to endocrine therapies. When this happens, doctors must switch their patients to a different class of drugs – throwing their lives into limbo once again as treatment schedules are changed and new side effects develop. "When cell lines changed from being sensitive to endocrine therapy to being resistant, we saw an increase in spliced XBP1 inside the cell. So then we took sensitive cells and added spliced XBP1, which made them resistant to the therapy," explained Clarke, who is interim director of Georgetown's Biomedical Graduate Research Organization and co-leader of the Breast Cancer Program at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Anti-hormonal therapies are some of the most effective treatments for breast cancer because estrogen, a natural female sex hormone, can drive the growth of the tumor. Tamoxifen and other anti-hormonal therapies cut off the tumor's access to estrogen, causing the tumor to stabilize and sometimes even shrink. However according to Clarke, many cancers become insensitive to these treatments over time – more than half of all recurring breast cancers lose sensitivity – because they have found a way to keep growing in the absence of estrogen. Previously, Clarke and his team found that XBP1 is co-expressed with the estrogen receptor in breast tumor cells. This may mean that the effects of XBP1 over-expression occur when the protein is bound to the estrogen receptor, suggesting for the first time that these two proteins interact in the cell. This was the first evidence that the XBP1 protein may play a role in breast cancer pathways. Through molecular profiling of the downstream effects of the spliced XBP1, Dr. Clarke and his colleagues discovered that expression of several anti-apoptotic genes responsible for programmed cell death – including BCL2 – are altered. While they have not yet determined the exact interactions that take place, the researchers believe that the overexpression of XBP1 promotes cell survival by affecting the activity of the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. "XBP1 may give us a much-needed clue for better predicting response to anti-estrogen therapies like Tamoxifen," explained Clarke. "The presence of the activated protein at high levels should predict estrogen independence and thus resistance to these therapies." In the future, Clarke also hopes to develop a new therapeutic treatment based on this discovery. He believes that the XBP1 pathway can be targeted in patients receiving treatment to ensure their tumors do not become resistant to the anti-hormonal therapies. Using this discovery, Clarke also hopes to find a way to reverse resistance to anti-hormonal therapies, making it possible for women to continue treatment with first line therapies for longer. However, Clarke said that the next step in this research will be to conduct a trial to test the predictive power of XBP1 in the clinic. About Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer CenterThe Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center and Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Lombardi is one of only 39 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington, DC, area. For more information, go to http://lombardi.georgetown.edu. About Georgetown University Medical CenterGeorgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through our partnership with MedStar Health). Our mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Health Studies, both nationally ranked, the world-renowned Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), home to 60 percent of the university's sponsored research funding. For more information contact: Becky Wexler, 202.687.5100, email@example.com


Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is statistical learning models inspired by biological neural networks. The research work presented here mainly focused on use of ANN for quantitative structure activity relationship modeling of peptides. Some peptides can work as anti-depressing agents, as they reduce the activity of Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme (ACE), which converts Angiotensin I to Angiotensin II (a vasoconstrictor). In this work, we have used LogIC50 as the property to show the activity of peptides against ACE. The networks are prepared using the principle artificial neural network using SNNS (Stuttgart Neural Network Simulator). The best obtained network for di-peptides has architecture of 24-8-3-1 and the average absolute average errors obtained are 0.34, 0.42 and 0.58 for training, validation and test set respectively.


Private diaries constitute a unique set of materials within climate change research in that they provide information both on past climate variability and on the ways that people live within, and interact with, climate. The fact that the observations within diaries are affected as much by personal experience as by physical conditions can render the derivation of robust climatic data problematic, and a number of techniques have been developed to generate quantitative or semiquantitative information from them. These include frequency counts of binary meteorological phenomena such as days with/without precipitation, content analysis techniques, proxies such as grain harvest dates, and statistical techniques that assume of some degree of continuity between the reconstruction period and the present day. The latter approaches can provide the most robust data, but can preclude direct comparison between past and present climates. Some studies attempt to increase reliability through comparison with other contemporaneous reconstructions, but this can create a potential for circular reasoning. As ethnographies, the methodological issues are less challenging. Most were highly personal documents and not intended for publication; diaries can therefore represent 'pure' ethnographies, representing an unbiased account of individuals' interactions with the 'weather world' and, in some cases, the ways that weather informed the character they presented to the world. Diaries can therefore exemplify individuals' highly personal engagement with weather and climate, reflective of a myriad of a number of social, cultural, political, and scientific narratives. Their use in climate research can therefore provide important contributions to current debates. WIREs Clim Change 2015, 6:599–611. doi: 10.1002/wcc.365


We apply the multiple-scales formalism to derive a complete set of equations for a finite medium with periodic linear and nonlinear Kerr optical coefficients. The equations for a single-frequency field reveal three new, nonlinear terms that are related to the difference in the Kerr nonlinearity in two-component media. The nonlinear evolution of coupled forward and backward fields in a multilayered film is numerically simulated by a spectral method. We examine the linear stability of the steady-state solution for an infinite medium and extend previous discussions of modulational instabilities to the new set of equations. We find that the inhomogeneous coefficient can selectively suppress modulational instability in the longitudinal or transverse direction.


Given the ongoing importance of nature in the city, better grappling with the gendering and queering of urban political ecology offers important insights that collectively provides important political possibilities. The cross-currents of feminist political ecology, queer ecology, queer urbanism and more general contributions to feminist urban geography create critical opportunities to expand UPE's horizons toward more egalitarian and praxis-centered prospects. These intellectual threads in conversation with the broader Marxist roots of UPE, and other second-generation variants, including what I have previously called abolition ecology, combine to at once show the ongoing promises of heterodox UPE and at the same time contribute more broadly beyond the realm of UPE.


Water deficits during pollination increase the frequency of zygotic abortion in maize (Zea mays L.). Recent work suggests that reproductive failure occurs because assimilate supply in water-deficient plants is not sufficient to maintain growth of all newly formed zygotes. We tested this possibility by altering the vegetative source to reproductive sink ratio in the inbred line A188 prior to imposing a water deficit at pollination. Relative assimilate supply was modified by growing plants in 20-L pots containing 22 kg of amended soil in three environments: (i) the field, (ii) the field under 55% shade, or (iii) a growth chamber. Sink size was modified genetically using a chromosome interchange (reciprocal translocation) mutant (T3-7c) that is near-isogenic to the wild type (A188WT) but sets only 50% of the fertilized ovaries. Six treatment-genotype combinations produced a seven-fold range in photosynthesis per kernel and a four-fold range in reserve sugars per kernel at silk emergence. Water was withheld on the first day silks emerged and plants were hand pollinated 4 to 7 d later when leaf photosynthesis was <2 μmol m −2 s −1 and silk water potential (Ψ w ) reached −1.1 MPa. Upon rehydration 2 d after pollination (DAP), leaf Ψ w and photosynthesis rapidly recovered to control values. The water deficit decreased kernel number per ear 40 to 70% compared to the controls. Plants with a high source/sink ratio (e.g., T3-7c, field) were just as sensitive to low Ψ w at pollination as plants with a low source/ sink ratio (e.g., A188WT, growth chamber). These results indicate that assimilate supply per kernel alone does not determine the sensitivity of kernel set to low Ψ w at pollination


There are differing views in the literature regarding the feeding strategy of the barn owl (Tyto alba, Strigiformes). Whereas some authors conclude that the barn owl is a selective predator, selecting to prey on certain species, oth- ers maintain that it is an opportunist. We studied the diet composition of barn owls from agricultural fields in northern Israel, using pellet analysis. Over 4,000 prey items were identified, comprising a total of at least 27 species. We found that during 1997–2001 there was a significant change in the barn owl's diet: it switched its main prey species from the Levant vole (Microtus guent theri) to two other Myomorpha species, the house mouse (Mus musculus) and Tristram's jird (Meriones tristrami), probably as a result of changes in the field abundance of the main prey items. Hence, although our barn owls select one prey species at a certain period of time, they exhibit an opportunistic feature in their ability to easily switch between prey items in their diet.


The prudential regulation of banking is now undertaken by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) within the Bank of England. Previously, such regulation was undertaken by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). It will be the role of the FSA as the previous regulator in the UK that will be considered. This article will examine the lack of understanding on the part of the FSA about the risk to which banks were subject. Insights into the approach and effectiveness of the FSA can be found in an examination of the reports of various parliamentary committees and the evidence of senior officials, employees and management called to give evidence. These committees have investigated various banking collapses and important issues relating to the carrying on of banking business. The reports and evidence of such committees are a reliable and detailed source of information. These reports are evaluated throughout. It will be suggested that the economic position of such banks does have an effect upon their regulation. Analogous reports in the US will be compared and contrasted with the findings in the UK. Changes in regulation, and its enforcement, after the setting up of the PRA will be considered.


Specific neuronal populations in the amygdala control different behavioral and physiological components of the fear response. The medial part of the central amygdala is involved in behavioral and physiological conditioned fear responses. Are the different types of fear responses reflected in different associations between behavioral and physiological components? Viviani et al. detected separate neuronal populations with distinct projections to brain stem nuclei in the rat that steer freezing versus cardiovascular function. The neuronal populations in the medial central amygdala also exhibited distinct electrophysiological characteristics and responded differently to oxytocin agonists. In a contextual fear conditioning paradigm, oxytocin selectively affected freezing, but not heart rate variability, which may explain reduced freezing and increased maternal aggression when rats defend their offspring. D. Viviani, A. Charlet, E. van den Burg, C. Robinet, N. Hurni, M. Abatis, F. Magara, R. Stoop, Oxytocin selectively gates fear responses through distinct outputs from the central amygdala. Science 333, 104–107 (2011). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Language is the most important means of communication. Moreover, advertisement is one form of communication that develops, at the same time, the advance of technology. The development of technology allows people to communicate each other in many ways, whether it is in oral or written ways. Advertisements can be found on television, radio, newspaper, etc. Advertisements that can be found in Jakarta Post are kinds of text. Therefore, it constitutes a discourse.

This study is aimed at analyzing reference as one among five types of cohesion. According to the background, this research is conducted to answer the following research problem, they are what the types and the functions of references found in the advertisements published in the Jakarta Post. This research gives both a valuable finding to the field of discourse studies, especially about references and a valuable input for the advertisers in their attempt to create more qualified advertisement that can invite the audience to read and understand it easily. However, the results of the study is expected to give more factual information to the researcher about the utilization of reference.

This study uses descriptive qualitative as the research design because the data are in the form of words or sentences from the advertisements published in the Jakarta Post. After the data have been collected, they are presented, analyzed by using Halliday and Hasan theory, and concluded based on their categories which are in accordance with the number of articles used as the data sources.

The results of this study show that the types of reference used in the advertisement published in Jakarta Post are personal reference, demonstrative reference, and comparative reference. Personal references consist of personal pronoun and possessive determiner. They usually use the pronoun "it, its, they, their" to show the product and service. They also use the pronoun "you" to represent to the reader. At last, the researcher concludes that authors have their own way in presenting their idea.

Based on the results of the study, the researcher suggests to the advertisers, readers, and consumers be more attention to the use of reference, especially in personal reference because the researcher has found it is almost used in the advertisements articles that show more difficult than another types of reference, whether they use anaphoric reference or cataphoric reference in order to find the interpretation of the item. The future researchers are suggested that they conduct similar theme of a study with more complete data and discussion.


Many studies have explored the seventh-day Sabbath in the Pentateuch from historical-critical, theological, and historical perspectives. However, systematic contextual exegesis and close reading of the pentateuchal Sabbath texts have been neglected. This dissertation investigates literary features of these passages in their respective contexts and develops an integrated Sabbath theology from the viewpoint of the Pentateuch as a whole. In chapter 1, an overview of literature on the biblical Sabbath introduces the topic and describes the methodology of the study. Chapters 2 to 5 explore specific contextual, stylistic, and linguistic elements of the pentateuchal Sabbath pericopes, which contribute to expression of their theological concepts. Chapter 2 analyzes the creation Sabbath (Gen 2:1-3). Chapter 3 investigates other narrative passages involving the Sabbath (Exod 16:1-36 and Num 15:32-36). Chapter 4 examines Sabbath laws (Exod 20:8-11; 23:12; 34:21; Deut 5:12-15). Chapter 5 focuses on the Sabbath in the context of the sanctuary (Exod 31:12-17; 35:2-3; Lev 23:3; 24:5-9; Num 28:9, 10). In chapter 6, a summary of the various literary features of the Sabbath texts and their interrelatedness leads to synthesis of theological aspects of the Sabbath. Chapter 7 presents the overall results of the study. The Sabbath encapsulates and reveals God's presence in the world, regardless of its nature and condition. The Sabbath was introduced by divine cessation from work in order for holiness to enter the world for the benefit of all humanity. Holiness is the essence of the divine-human relationship, which enables human beings to fully become what they were created to be: the image of the Creator. In its rhythmic recurrence, the Sabbath signifies the Creator's constant presence in the world and his care for it. Since the Fall into sin, the Sabbath liberates people from oppressive regimes of man-made gods; it places them in proper relationships with each other; it relieves their attitude toward work in a society exhausted and stressed by hard labor; and it testifies to the sacred design in time and space whereby they can recognize and emulate the Maker of all. Thus the Sabbath is an important part of God's program for restoring imago Dei in fallen human beings.


Emotional stimuli capture our attention. The preferential processing of emotional information is an adaptive mechanism that when relevant to our goal highlights potentially important aspects in the environment. However, when emotional information is task-irrelevant, their presence in the environment can trigger involuntary shifts in attention that cause detriments to performance. One challenge to investigating emotional distraction in the lab is how to objectively investigate the allocation of attention between different elements on the same stimulus display (e.g. between the task and the distractors). One neural measure that overcomes this issue is the Steady-State-Visual-Evoked-Potential (SSVEP). An SSVEP is the neural response of the visual cortex to a flickering stimulus and can be used as a measure of attentional resource allocation (Norcia, Appelbaum, Ales, Cottereau, & Rossion, 2015). In the past, emotional distraction has been studied using spatially separated tasks and distractors. The current thesis presents two experiments using SSVEPs to investigate emotional distraction in a superimposed design. Experiment 1 aimed to conceptually replicate Hindi Attar and colleagues (2010) who developed an SSVEP emotional distraction paradigm to examine attentional resource allocation between background task-irrelevant emotional distractors and a foreground dot-motion task. Participants viewed a stimulus display of moving, flickering dots, while positive or neutrally valanced distractors (or unidentifiable scrambles) were presented in the background of the task. SSVEPs were reduced in the presence of positive intact compared to neutral intact distractors suggesting that the presentation of task-irrelevant emotional stimuli in the same spatial location as a foreground task initiates an involuntary shift of attention away from the task. Unexpectedly, in both Experiments 1 and 2 valence differences were found in SSVEPs between positive and neutral scrambled images; this suggests that there are some perceptual differences between the stimulus sets (e.g. colour) contributing to the drop in SSVEP found for positive intact images. Importantly, in the SSVEP analysis significant valence x image type interactions were found, demonstrating that the drop for positive images was stronger for intact than scrambled image conditions, suggesting that a significant amount of the drop in SSVEP was driven by a difference in valence between the intact distractors. Behavioural results also suggest evidence for emotional distraction through reduced hit rate in the presence of positive intact images compared to neutral intact images in Experiment 1, and reduced detection sensitivity and response criterion for positive intact images in Experiment 2. Overall, the current thesis demonstrates support for the hypothesis that emotional information is more distracting than neutral information and provides a valuable starting point for the examination of emotion attention interactions when the task and distractors share the same location. Future studies could use SSVEPs to examine neural processing differences between emotional and neutral scrambled images.


The sensitivity of copper,zinc (CuZn)- and manganese (Mn)-superoxide dismutase (SOD) to exogenous estradiol benzoate (EB) was investigated in Wistar rats during postnatal brain development. Enzyme activities were measured in samples prepared from brains of rats of both sexes and various ages between 0 and 75 days, treated sc with 0.5 micro g EB/100 g body weight in 0.1 ml olive oil/100 g body weight, 48 and 24 h before sacrifice. In females, EB treatment stimulated MnSOD activity on days 0 (66.1%), 8 (72.7%) and 15 (81.7%). In males, the stimulatory effect of EB on MnSOD activity on day 0 (113.6%) disappeared on day 8 and on days 15 and 45 it became inhibitory (40.3 and 30.5%, respectively). EB had no effect on the other age groups. The stimulatory effect of EB on CuZnSOD activity in newborn females (51.8%) changed to an inhibitory effect on day 8 (38.4%) and disappeared by day 45 when inhibition was detected again (48.7%). In males, the inhibitory effect on this enzyme was observed on days 0 (45.0%) and 15 (28.9%), and then disappeared until day 60 when a stimulatory effect was observed (38.4%). EB treatment had no effect on the other age groups. The sensitivity of MnSOD to estradiol differed significantly between sexes during the neonatal and prepubertal period, whereas it followed a similar pattern thereafter. The sensitivity of CuZnSOD to estradiol differed significantly between sexes during most of the study period. Regression analysis showed that the sensitivity of MnSOD to this estrogen tended to decrease similarly in both sexes, whereas the sensitivity of CuZnSOD showed a significantly different opposite tendency in female and male rats. These are the first reports indicating hormonal modulation of antioxidant enzyme activities related to the developmental process.


The direct discharge of palm oil mill effluent (POME) wastewater causes serious environmental hazards due to its high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand. This paper proposes a new approach for integrated technology of ultrasonic-membrane for a POME treatment. The paper evaluated the economic viability based on the changes of the new design of ultrasonic-membrane anaerobic system when a POME introduces this approach. Six steady states were attained as a part of a kinetic study that considered concentration ranges of 13,800–22,600 mg/L for mixed liquor suspended solids and 10,400–17,350 mg/L for mixed liquor volatile suspended solids. Kinetic equations from Monod, Contois and Chen and Hashimoto were employed to describe the kinetics of POME treatment at organic loading rates ranging from 1 to 15 kg COD/m3/d. throughout the experiment, the removal efficiency of COD was from 92.8 to 98.3% with hydraulic retention time from 500.8 to 8.6 days. The growth yield coefficient, Y, was found to be 0.73 gVSS/g COD the specific microorganism decay rate was 0.28 day–1 and the methane gas yield production rate was between 0.27 and 0.62 L/g COD/d.


From a cutting-edge cultural commentator, a bold and brilliant challenge to cherished notions of the Internet as the great leveler of our age The Internet has been hailed as an unprecedented democratizing force, a place where everyone can be heard and all can participate equally. But how true is this claim? In a seminal dismantling of techno-utopian visions, The People's Platform argues that for all that we "tweet" and "like" and "share," the Internet in fact reflects and amplifies real-world inequities at least as much as it ameliorates them. Online, just as off-line, attention and influence largely accrue to those who already have plenty of both. What we have seen so far, Astra Taylor says, has been not a revolution but a rearrangement. Although Silicon Valley tycoons have eclipsed Hollywood moguls, a handful of giants like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook remain the gatekeepers. And the worst habits of the old media model-the pressure to seek easy celebrity, to be quick and sensational above all-have proliferated online, where "aggregating" the work of others is the surest way to attract eyeballs and ad revenue. When culture is "free," creative work has diminishing value and advertising fuels the system. The new order looks suspiciously like the old one. We can do better, Taylor insists. The online world does offer a unique opportunity, but a democratic culture that supports diverse voices and work of lasting value will not spring up from technology alone. If we want the Internet to truly be a people's platform, we will have to make it so.


The performance of the Alpha Sprayed Polyurethane Foam (SPF) roofing system is perceived as not an economical option when compared to a 20-year modified roofing system. The Dallas Independent School District (DISD) is replacing the existing Alpha SPF roof systems with new roof systems rather than recoating the existing systems at a cost that is 100% more than the recoating costs. The DISD is in a heavy hail area, and the proven hail resistance of the Alpha SPF roof system is an additional benefit for DISD who is self-insured. The Casa View Elementary School roof system was installed with a Neogard Permathane roof system in 1987. This roof was hail tested with ten drops from 17 feet 9 inches of 1-3/4-inch steel ball (9 out of 10 passed) and three drops from 17 feet 9 inches with a 3-inch diameter steel ball (1 out of 3 passed). The analysis of the passing and failing core samples show that the thickness of the top and base Alpha SPF coating is one of the major differences in a roof passing or failing the FM-SH hail test. The current potential cost savings of purchasing a 61,000 square feet Alpha SPF roof versus modified bitumen roof is approximately $610,000 for DISD. The past hail tests on Alpha SPF roof systems show high customer satisfaction (9.8 out of 10) and an over 40-year service life after a $6.00/SF recoat.


This report is based on a study, implemented in Kasulu and Kibondo districts in Kigoma Region, Tanzania, to assess the impact of a health attendants' pilot training strategy on reproductive and child health (RCH) services. The strategy was developed and implemented by the RCH-Unit of Ministry of Health (MOH) with technical assistance from Intrah/PRIME and was implemented with financial support from USAID. The training strategy, covering a period of four months (July to October, 1998), used a combination of on-the-job-training (OJT) and traditional central and distance-based learning (DBL). The training was divided into four modules. Modules 1 and 3 were centrally based while Modules 2 and 4 used OJT and DBL in which the HAs remained at the facilities where they worked. The DBL was backed by supportive supervision from facility in-change staff as onsite supervisors, district-based supervisors and trainers and regional trainers. It also utilized two key leaning aids (developed as part of this strategy): a handbook and solar-powered cassette player with audiotapes. Each trainee was given a solar/battery-powered cassette player and six audiotapes containing course content. The study utilized three different intervention designs to assess three different levels of impact. The study used pre-and post-test assessments of knowledge and skills to determine whether learning occurred among trainees as a result of the training. A non-equivalent control group design was used to compare whether the training significantly influenced provision of reproductive and child health services in trainee facilities over facilities whether providers had not been trained. The study requested feedback from various players on the HA training strategy. This assessment addressed attributes such as appropriateness, acceptance, achievement of the project's objectives, how the project was comprehended/perceived and the reliability of this training approach. The HA training led to acquisition of knowledge as indicated by a significant change in the mean score of Module 1 pre-test (32.8) compared to post-test mean score (71.4)(P<.05). A similar trend was found in module 3 in which the mean pre-test score (70.5) was significantly lower than the post-test mean score (87.1)(P<.05). The skills assessment demonstrated a substantial gain in two skills: antenatal clinic client assessment and conducting growth monitoring. However, counseling services, care for mothers and neonates during the postpartum period and care during and monitoring progress in labor did not improve. As a result, the investigators conducted that HAs gained adequate skills in some areas while continued learning is essential in others, possibly through further OJT by the RCH trained CO/ACO at the HA work site. Comparison sites are also in need of improved training to improve their RH/FP skills. The data collection period for the service statistics assessment was divided into three blocks: prior to training (March-June 1998), during training (July-October 1998). The intervention group comprised 29 health facilities while the comparison group contained 25 facilities. For the comparison group, data were collected only for the periods before and after training. Six study instruments (five questionnaire and one data collection sheet) were used as data collection tools. From the RCH-Unit through the regional, district and facility levels, the training approach was considered to be suitable, especially for the targeted (HA) cadre. It was agreed that this target group required a training approach that emphasized practice oriented learning methods instead of a traditional didactic approach. To meet these needs, the project provided two key learning aids: the handbook and cassette tapes. The handbook was considered to be appropriate for three reasons: the handbook satisfactorily covered the training content, it was well illustrated, and it utilized language appropriate to the target audience. The cassette tapes were considered to be suitable learning aids because they were audible and contained appropriate and adequate content. However, audibility reportedly decreased sharply as battery power diminished. Nevertheless, feedback also highlighted area for improvement. Respondents pointed out that the approach was expensive. District planning boards that are responsible for financing training in the post health sector reform (HSR) era may not be able to afford to replicate the training. As a result, they may revert to the traditional central training approach. Respondents also reported that the use of solar powered cassette players were found to be vulnerable to frequent breakdown and other minor mishaps, As a result of these failings, a recommendation was made that ordinary battery-powered cassette players be adopted for future training. A recommendation was also made to review and edit the handbook was easy to understand and the illustrations were clear, they reported that there was room for improvement in these areas as well. The sustainability of this training strategy depends on the availability of sufficient funding to carry out all of the project's elements, especially learning at the work site. The feasibility of replicating this successful intervention remains to be demonstrated.The HA training strategy set out to achieve certain objectives: develop a curriculum and two complimentary learning aids; select and prepare trainers, and both on and offsite supervisors; update facility in charge staff on RCH; and train a selected number of HAs. It was also planned as a pilot study for testing all of the components and documenting the strengths and weaknesses of the approach. In addition, the training was geared at empowered both the DHMT members and staff at the intervention facilities. This evaluation conducted that the HA training strategy achieved these objective.


We present a 160 Gb/s optical packet switching architecture that performs label detection and packet wavelength con- version using photonic components integrated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide boards. For label detection, we report the fabrication of a 4-channel tunable, second-order microring resonator demultiplexer using the SOI nanowire waveguide platform. For all-optical wavelength conversion we report the integration and packaging of a cascaded SOI delay interferometer (DI) structure using SOI rib waveguides. Both components were assembled with an optical flip-flop to enable 160 Gb/s optical packet switching. The power penalty after the wavelength conversion process was ~4.5 dB with error performance well above the FEC limit. This work is part of the European ICT-BOOM project which aims at building a Tb/s photonic router using hybrid and heterogeneous integration on SOI substrates. The preliminary results reported here is the initial step before the final project demonstrator.


The article aims to define the connection between the characteristics of the urban/ regional environment and competitiveness of industrial firms. The article introduces the diamond theory of M. Porter, so as to examine this connection through a primary empirical study realised in 168 industrial firms (> 30 employees) in four cities of Southeastern Europe, Bari (Italy), Varna (Bulgaria) and Volos, Larissa (Greece). By using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis, the study awards the importance of some particular factors of the four cities environment, such as agglomeration factors and access to markets, also qualitative and labour factors, which along with the firms we study, may contribute to their competitiveness.


The objective of the study is to assess the influence of oral health in the daily routine of both institutionalized and non-institutionalized elders living in the city of Recife-PE, as well as to come to conclusions concerning the relevance level of oral health in both groups. In order to assess the perception of oral health, it was used the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI). The GOHAI levels, concerning the perception, were categorized in: low (≤ 50), average (51 to 60) and high (57 to 60). Oral health conditions were represented by the DMFT index (with cavity, lost and repaired teeth). It was observed that the percentage of elderly with a GOHAI not higher than 50 (low perception of oral health) was rather higher in the non-institutionalized group than in the institutionalized (92.2% x 64.9%). The average DMFT and the number of lost teeth were higher in the institutionalized group (96.01% x 87.87%). The perception of oral health was lower for more than half of the examined elderly population, but there being a meaningful difference between the two groups concerning the GOHAI, with lower levels for the non-institutionalized group. The result of the perception of oral health was compatible with the high number of decayed and lost teeth.


Ever since the first observations of sunspots in the early seventeenth century, stellar rotation has been a major topic in astronomy and astrophysics. Jean-Louis Tassoul synthesizes a large number of theoretical investigations on rotating stars. Drawing upon his own research, Professor Tassoul also carefully critiques various competing ideas. In the first three chapters, the author provides a short historical sketch of stellar rotation, the main observational data on the Sun and other stars on which the subsequent theory is based, and the basic Newtonian hydrodynamics used to study rotating stars. Following a discussion of some general mechanical properties of stars in a state of permanent rotation, he reviews the main techniques for determining the structure of a rotating star and its stability with respect to infinitesimal disturbances. Since the actual distribution of angular momentum within stars is still unknown, Professor Tassoul considers various models of angular momentum as well as of meridional circulation. He devotes the rest of his study to the problems concerning various groups of stars and stages in stellar evolution.Originally published in 1979.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.