ECG, electrocardiogram plays a major role in detection of heart diseases. The main aim of the processing have been developed each of which overcomes the previous technology by means of reliability. PDAs can be designed by the wireless technology, due to which remote monitoring is possible. The system thus provides remote monitoring of patients wearing a portable device with wireless connectivity which is based on different technologies such as Bluetooth and WIFI .It is highly cost efficient technology with lesser utilization of power and area. Thus a highly accurate architecture is presented.


Surface waviness and rib stitching have been investigated as part of a series of tests to determine the effects on wing drag of common surface irregularities. The tests were made in the N.A.C.A. 8-foot high-speed wind tunnel at Reynolds Numbers up to 17,000,000. The results of the tests showed that the waviness common to airplane wings will cause no serious increase in drag unless the waviness exists on the forward part of the wing, where it may cause premature transition or premature compressibility effects. Waves 3 inches wide and 0.048 inch high, for example, increased the drag 1 percent when they covered the rear 67 percent of both surfaces and 10 percent when they covered the rear 92 percent. A single wave 3 inches wide and only 0.020 inch high at the 10.5-percent-chord point on the upper surface caused transition to occur on the wave and increased the drag 6 percent. Rib stitching increased the drag 7 percent when the rib spacing was 6 inches; the drag increment was proportional to the number of ribs for wider spacings. About one-third of the increase was due to premature transition at the forward ends of the stitching.


This report describes 4 years of research by the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) on developing indicators of classroom practice that have the potential to be used in large-scale settings and that draw attention to important aspects of standards-based learning and instruction. CRESSTs method was based on the collection of teachers' assignments with student work. The assignments were then rated and results were summarized to create indicators of classroom practice. Results to date indicate an acceptable level of interrater reliability across study years. It likely would be necessary to collect as many as three or four assignments from teacher to obtain a stable estimate of quality. Additionally, this method was reliable when teachers created their own assignments, but not when teachers submitted assignments created by outside sources. The quality of classroom assignments was associated with the quality of observed instruction, as well as the quality of students' written work. Students who were exposed to teachers who created more cognitively challenging assignments and who had cleared grading criteria also made greater gains on the Stanford Test of Achievement, Ninth Edition (Stanford 9). The quality of teachers' assignments submitted at each of the study years, however, tended to be of basic quality only. Teachers' reactions to the data collection and implications for the use of this method in collaborative professional development sessions also are discussed. (Contains 5 figures, 1 table, and 73 references.) (Author/SLD)


During reservoir model building, one encounters several stages where upscaling or averaging of petrophysical data is required; core plug data have to be compared to wireline measurements and wireline measurements are averaged to the scale of building-size reservoir grid cells. Simple averaging does not, in most cases, give representative values, since the property in question is very scale-dependent. This is especially true for permeability and permeability anisotropy ( k v / k h ). For the case of a reservoir model of the Garn Formation (Middle Jurassic) in the Tyrihans Field, a simple geologically based upscaling method including the use of the SBED TM software package has been developed. Small-scale models of near well-bore geology are upscaled using single-phase flow simulation to obtain directional-dependent permeabilities for facies with different mud contents and style. The resulting k v / k h estimation curve has been implemented in the reservoir model by modelling V shale as a continuous parameter and applying the function to derive upscaled horizontal and vertical permeability grids. Upscaled permeabilities were found to closely match the well test data. This approach gives a more realistic k v / k h ratio than traditional methods involving simple averaging, or arbitrary guesses, of vertical permeability.


The past composition of the atmosphere is gradually being elucidated with increasing precision. But advances in the understanding of the ecological and evolutionary implications of atmospheric changes are not keeping pace. A graphic model is presented here to indicate the complexity of interacting forces resulting from a change in atmospheric carbon dioxide level, and it can be seen that any resultant ecological outcome will be influenced by a series of (sometimes opposing) factors. This is particularly true of the hydrological consequences of atmospheric change and hydrology will undoubtedly prove a major influence on vegetation. Changes in the levels of both atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen have had profound effects on the evolution of plant life by modifying the selective pressures favouring alternative systems of carbon assimilation. These photosynthetic strategies are also closely related to local hydrology. More ecological and physiological information is clearly needed before the biological consequences of Variations in the atmosphere of the past can be appreciated.


This thesis focuses on Muslim literature, a diverse literature that includes literary works produced in English by Muslim authors of different ethnicities and cultural heritages. Uniquely, it approaches this literature from a religious perspective and concentrates on the religious domain, which has been usually avoided by postcolonial studies examining Muslim literature. Muslim literature is usually analysed from a secular perspective that focuses on highlighting cultural diversity among Muslim authors but sheds limited light on their religious diversity. This secular approach dominates partly because of the limitation of postcolonial theory in relation to Islam, and partly because of the conflict created between Islam and literature by Muslim critics, both secular and religious. In focusing on the religious rather than the cultural domain, I limit the scope of my examination to include only contemporary Muslim writers who have the same ethnicity and similar cultural backgrounds. To be precisely, I concentrate on contemporary British Arab Muslim writers, specifically, Fadia Faqir (1956–, of Jordanian origin) and Leila Aboulela (1964–, of Sudanese and Egyptian origin). I also select Islamic feminism itself as a site of religious diversity. My main objective is to compare and contrast Islamic feminist consciousness as revealed by Aboulela and Faqir, whether explicitly or implicitly, in their fiction that they produced from the 1990s to the 2010s. My aim in comparing and contrasting the Islamic feminism of Aboulela and Faqir is to illustrate my argument that their Islamic feminism varies enormously from a religious perspective. Faqir focuses on giving her female Muslim protagonists a voice and power in order to withstand patriarchal Arab cultural and social traditions and an inherited legal system and doctrinal rules that subvert Muslim women, whereas Aboulela makes the Islamic faith a source of spiritual emancipation that strengthens her female Muslim protagonists internally. This thesis is important because it contributes to expanding existing literary criticism in relation to Muslim literature, which is achieved by exploring the feminist consciousness of Aboulela and Faqir, two contemporary British Arab Muslim authors who emphasise the centrality of Islam in their postcolonial feminist fiction. It is also achieved by using Islamic feminism as a key methodology that provides a better understanding of how Aboulela and Faqir use Islam as a framework for their feminism, what challenges they face in doing so and how they manage to overcome these challenges.


Ideology played a momentous role in modern Japanese history. Not only did the elite of imperial Japan (1890-1945) work hard to influence the people to "yield as the grasses before the wind," but historians of modern Japan later identified these efforts as one of the underlying pathologies of World War II. Available for the first time in paperback, this study examines how this ideology evolved. Carol Gluck argues that the process of formulating and communicating new national values was less consistent than is usually supposed. By immersing the reader in the talk and thought of the late Meiji period, Professor Gluck recreates the diversity of ideological discourse experienced by Japanese of the time. The result is a new interpretation of the views of politics and the nation in imperial Japan.


This dissertation provides a phenomenographic analysis of perceptions of critical thinking in Law students. The ability to develop and demonstrate critical thinking is a key element in higher education, being an important criterion for success in terms of assessment. Critical thinking is particularly significant in the context of the study of Law, as Law embraces both problem-solving in the 'technical' sense as well as the consideration and evaluation of argument, policy and jurisprudential questions. While definitions of critical thinking are problematic, they would include such notions of problem-solving and evaluation, so making legal education interestingly susceptible to such enquiry. Phenomenography as a qualitative research method is well established, (although also contested) and has been used particularly in the field of educational research. It aims to give a 'second-order' account of perceptions of phenomena and so appeared to be an appropriate methodology in this instance, where the main investigation concerns students' own interpretation of what 'critical thinking' might connote. A group of first-year students was interviewed and a set of questions used to enable their perceptions and experience of critical thinking to emerge. An account of these perceptions, categorised under five headings, was then developed. The five categories are as follows: Critical thinking as negative; Instrumental critical thinking; A sense of argument; A general sense of analysis and Critical thinking as a way of being. The findings in relation to such perceptions, reviewed in the light of the literature on critical thinking and some of the current debates surrounding practices and directions in legal education, have clear implications for informing curriculum development, changing practice and developing pedagogic theory.


Objective. Findings from previous studies of predictors of depression among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been inconsistent. The aim of our study was to identify risk factors that preceded incident depression based on a large, closely followed longitudinal cohort. Methods. Data regarding 1609 patients with SLE in the Hopkins Lupus Cohort who had no history of depression prior to cohort entry were analyzed. Demographic variables, SLE manifestations, laboratory tests, physician's global assessment, Safety of Estrogens in Lupus Erythematosus National Assessment-SLE Disease Activity Index (SELENA-SLEDAI), cumulative organ damage (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index), and onset of depression were recorded at enrollment and each quarterly visit. Rates of incident depression were calculated overall, and in subgroups defined by demographic and clinical variables. Adjusted estimates of association were derived using pooled logistic regression. Results. The incidence of depression was 29.7 episodes per 1000 person-years. In the multivariable analysis, these variables remained as independent predictors of incident depression: recent SLE diagnosis, non-Asian ethnicity, disability, cutaneous activity, longitudinal myelitis, and current prednisone use of 20 mg/day or higher. Global disease activity (SELENA-SLEDAI) was not a significant predictor after controlling for prednisone use. Conclusion. Depression in SLE is multifactorial. Higher-dose prednisone (≥ 20 mg daily) is 1 important independent risk factor. Global disease activity is not a risk factor, but cutaneous activity and certain types of neurologic activity (myelitis) are predictive of depression. The independent effect of prednisone provides clinicians with an additional incentive to avoid and reduce high-dose prednisone exposure in SLE.


User behavior provides many cues to improve the relevance of search results through personalization. One aspect of user behavior that provides especially strong signals for delivering better relevance is an individual's history of queries and clicked documents. Previous studies have explored how short-term behavior or long-term behavior can be predictive of relevance. Ours is the first study to assess how short-term (session) behavior and long-term (historic) behavior interact, and how each may be used in isolation or in combination to optimally contribute to gains in relevance through search personalization. Our key findings include: historic behavior provides substantial benefits at the start of a search session; short-term session behavior contributes the majority of gains in an extended search session; and the combination of session and historic behavior out-performs using either alone. We also characterize how the relative contribution of each model changes throughout the duration of a session. Our findings have implications for the design of search systems that leverage user behavior to personalize the search experience.


Curvilinear networks are prevalent in nature and span many different scales, ranging from micron-scale neural structures in the brain to petameter-scale dark-matter arbors binding massive galaxy clusters. Reliably reconstructing them in an automated fashion is of great value in many different scientific domains. However, it remains an open Computer Vision problem. In this thesis we focus on automatically delineating curvilinear tree structures in images of the same object of interest taken at different time instants. Unlike virtually all of the existing methods approaching the task of tree structures delineation we process all the images at once. This is useful in the more ambiguous regions and allows to reason for the tree structure that fits best to all the acquired data. We propose two methods that utilize this principle of temporal consistency to achieve results of higher quality compared to single time instant methods. The first, simpler method starts by building an overcomplete graph representation of the final solution in all time instants while simultaneously obtaining correspondences between image features across time. We then define an objective function with a temporal consistency prior and reconstruct the structures in all images at once by solving a mathematical optimization. The role of the prior is to encourage solutions where for two consecutive time instants corresponding candidate edges are either both retained or both rejected from the final solution. The second multiple time instant method uses the same overcomplete graph principle but handles the temporal consistency in a more robust way. Instead of focusing on the very local consistency of single edges of the overcomplete graph we propose a method for describing topological relationships. This favors solutions whose connectivity is consistent over time. We show that by making the temporal consistency more global we achieve additional robustness to errors in the initial features matching step, which is shared by both the approaches. In the end, this yields superior performance. Furthermore, an added benefit of both our approaches is the ability to automatically detect places where significant changes have occurred over time, which is challenging when considering large amounts of data. We also propose a simple single time instant method for delineating tree structures. It computes a Minimum Spanning Arborescence of an initial overcomplete graph and proceeds to optimally prune spurious branches. This yields results of lower but still competitive quality compared to the mathematical optimization based methods, while keeping low computational complexity. Our methods can applied to both 2D and 3D data. We demonstrate their performance in 3D on microscopy volumes of mouse brain and rat brain. We also test them in 2D on time-lapse images of a growing runner bean and aerial images of a road network.


Brain and vascular cells form a functionally integrated signalling network that is known as the neurovascular unit (NVU). The signalling (autocrine, paracrine and juxtacrine) between different elements of this unit, especially in humans, is difficult to disentangle in vivo. Developing representative in vitro models is therefore essential to better understand the cellular interactions that govern the neurovascular environment. We here describe a novel approach to assay these cellular interactions by combining a human adult cerebral microvascular endothelial cell line (hCMEC/D3) with a fetal ganglionic eminence-derived neural stem cell (hNSC) line. These cell lines provide abundant homogeneous populations of cells to produce a consistently reproducible in vitro model of endothelial morphogenesis and the ensuing NVU. Vasculature-like structures (VLS) interspersed with patches of differentiating neural cells only occurred when hNSCs were seeded onto a differentiated endothelium. These VLS emerged within 3 days of coculture and by day 6 were stabilizing. After 7 days of coculture, neuronal differentiation of hNSCs was increased 3-fold, but had no significant effect on astrocyte or oligodendrocyte differentiation. ZO1, a marker of adherens and tight junctions, was highly expressed in both undifferentiated and differentiated endothelial cells, but the adherens junction markers CD31 and VE-cadherin were significantly reduced in coculture by approximately 20%. A basement membrane, consisting of laminin, vitronectin, and collagen I and IV, separated the VLS from neural patches. This simple assay can assist in elucidating the cellular and molecular signaling involved in the formation of VLS, as well as the enhancement of neuronal differentiation through endothelial signaling.


There has been an absence of women's accounts of their experiences in traditional psychology. There has also been an absence of psychological interest in spirituality. However, there appears to be an increased interest, particularly within feminist and social constructionist approaches. This thesis contributes the voices of nine women from Aotearoa/New Zealand as they tell themselves and their spirituality. Four narratives are identified: journey/searching; self-knowing; life trauma/choice point, and fighting for life narratives. The researcher investigates the subject positions produced in these narratives and considers the effects of these subject positions on enabling and constraining women's accounts of spirituality. The narrative approach used in the analysis is informed by Labov's narrative structure and experiential narrative approaches. A Foucauldian approach to power relations inform the reading and writing practice of the researcher.


OBJECTIVES
: To investigate infection and host immunity patterns in sheep with naturally occurring "broken-mouth" periodontitis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
: Eight periodontally healthy (HS) and eight periodontally diseased ewes (PDS) were selected. Subgingival plaque and sera were collected and examined for evidence of human periodontitis-associated pathogens. Serum IgG titers were measured by ELISA to multiple strains of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Bacteroides forsythus, Dichelobacter nodosus, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia, and Fusobacterium nucleatum as well as several purified antigens (cysteine proteases, LPS, K, and fimbriae).

RESULTS
: Neither the organism Aa nor antigens to Aa were found in any animal. Most animals were positive for Pg, Bf, and Pi, but DNA probes detected no difference between HS and PDS relative to amounts of pathogens in subgingival plaque. PDS had significantly higher serum IgG titers to all Pg strains, to 50% of Bf strains, to the Pi and Fn strains, and to fimbriae and the two cysteine proteases (p-values ranging from 0.05 to 0.001). Regression analysis demonstrated a significant association between number of teeth lost and serum IgG antibody titers to whole-cell sonicate antigens of P. gingivalis strains (p<0.01) and body weight (p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
: The presence of pathogens associated with periodontitis was reflected in differences in serum IgG titers between healthy and diseased sheep. This may have influenced animal body weight and might have systemic health and economic consequences. The data suggest that susceptible and non-susceptible sheep can be identified for periodontal research.


"Catalytic promiscuous" enzymes, which possess additional activities besides their "native" activity, albeit with a lower efficiency than the main reaction, have become a new frontier for biochemistry and have received considerable attention. Catalytic promiscuity has been suggested to contribute to enzyme evolution through the mechanism of gene duplication followed by specialization of one of the two copies for the new function. Mimicking this evolutionary shortcut could also provide a more efficient route to changing the function of proteins by directed evolution. The promiscuous phosphatase PP1 is a member of the phosphoprotein phosphatase (PPP) gene family, which is critical for the control of many cellular pathways by antagonizing the effects of protein phosphorylation mediated by kinases. The catalytic promiscuity of PP1&gamma WT and two mutants has been investigated with a set of monoanionic and dianioic phosphester substrates. PP1&gamma is an effective catalyst for the hydrolysis of both monoanionic and dianionic phosphate-ester based substrates 1-5, with second-order rate accelerations that fall within the narrow range of 1011 to 1013. While the transition states of the uncatalyzed hydrolysis reactions of these substrates differ, those for the PP1&gamma-catalyzed reactions are similar. Thus, the enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of these substrates by transition states that are controlled by the active site environment more than by the intrinsic nature of the substrates. The reason for the inability of PP1&gamma to catalyze the hydrolysis of a sulfate ester is unclear, and unexpected, since the charge and transition state of this substrate are well within the range of those of the phosphorus-based substrates that are effectively catalyzed. Inhibition experiments suggest that the PP1&gamma active site is tolerant of variations in the geometry of bound ligands. This characteristic may permit the effective catalysis even of substrates whose steric requirements may result in perturbations to the positioning of the transferring group, both in the initial enzyme-substrate complex and in the transition state. The conservative mutation of arginine 221 to lysine results in a mutant that more effectively catalyzes monoanionic substrates than the native enzyme. The surprising result in substrate preference from a single, conservative mutation lends support to the notion that mutations following gene duplication can result in an altered enzyme with different catalytic capabilities and preferences, and may, following subsequent mutations, provide a pathway for the evolution of new enzymes.


Psychopathy was one of the most common diagnoses in Finnish forensic psychiatric examinations between the 1910s and 1960s. Abnormal categories of emotions such as sensitivity, indifference and the tendency to shift among different emotions or lability, were among the principal symptoms of psychopathy. This paper describes and analyses the ways in which Finnish forensic psychiatrists between the 1900s and 1930s perceived and portrayed the emotions of individuals they considered to be psychopaths, and how abnormal categories of emotions persisted until the end of the 1960s. Psychopathic categories of emotions were defined along a spectrum ranging between the extremes of sensitivity and of coldness and included volatility, which entailed rapid mood swings. Displaying either or both extremes of emotion defined psychopathy. The unifying category of abnormal emotions disappeared when the diagnosis of psychopathy ceased to exist in 1969, when it was replaced by the diagnostic category of personality disorders.


Wormhole solutions in a generalized hybrid metric-Palatini matter theory, given by a gravitational Lagrangian $f\left(R,\cal{R}\right)$, where $R$ is the metric Ricci scalar, and $\mathcal{R}$ is a Palatini scalar curvature defined in terms of an independent connection, and a matter Lagrangian, are found. The solutions are worked in the scalar-tensor representation of the theory, where the Palatini field is traded for two scalars, $\varphi$ and $\psi$, and the gravitational term $R$ is maintained. The main interest in the solutions found is that the matter field obeys the null energy condition (NEC) everywhere, including the throat and up to infinity, so that there is no need for exotic matter. The wormhole geometry with its flaring out at the throat is supported by the higher-order curvature terms, or equivalently, by the two fundamental scalar fields, which either way can be interpreted as a gravitational fluid. Thus, in this theory, in building a wormhole, it is possible to exchange the exoticity of matter by the exoticity of the gravitational sector. The specific wormhole displayed, built to obey the matter NEC from the throat to infinity, has three regions, namely, an interior region containing the throat, a thin shell of matter, and a vacuum Schwarzschild anti-de Sitter (AdS) exterior. For hybrid metric-Palatini matter theories this wormhole solution is the first where the NEC for the matter is verified for the entire spacetime keeping the solution under asymptotic control. The existence of this type of solutions is in line with the idea that traversable wormholes bore by additional fundamental gravitational fields, here disguised as scalar fields, can be found without exotic matter. Concomitantly, the somewhat concocted architecture needed to assemble a complete wormhole solution for the whole spacetime may imply that in this class of theories such solutions are scarce.


To simplify the time consuming authoring task of template generation, we have developed a new buggyrule and template-template based tutorial dialogue system which has not only simplified the authoring but has markedly improved the system performance. The template-template architecture comprises two schemes; extraction rules are used to expand the classical templates into a variety of template patterns by introducing rule-based symbols in some of transitional nodes of the template automata while the buggy rules introduced are capable of identifying and hence generating bugs from learners' erroneous responses automatically. Many different templates can now be integrated into, or equivalently extracted from, a single template-template so that a considerable reduction is achieved in both space and time complexity of the overall system performance. The new template-template automaton is expected to play an important role in many other applications including intelligent tutoring systems of both text-based or speech-based dialogue systems, voice-enabling call center or voice portal systems or in fact any systems focused on enhanced as well as advanced human computer interfaces, implementing more natural human computer interactions between the system and humans.


"Some people talk about play as if it were a relief from serious learning or even worse: a waste of time. But for children, play is exceedingly serious...and important! In fact, play is a way for children to learn who they are, how the world works, solve problems, and to express feelings. Yes, play is the real work of childhood, and for young people today, many children's museums offer play experiences that other settings are not able to give them. In a children's museum art studio, young children can draw or create from a wide variety of materials. They don't need to try to make something that looks exactly like something they see in the world. Drawing gives them a way to express their own feelings and thoughts. It's not important that they "get it right." It's important that they do it their own way. Children can try on costumes... and different "roles," which give them safe ways of exploring and acting out their concerns and deeper inner needs. When children build and make things, they can feel more in control not only of the outside world but their inner selves as well. So much of children's lives (when they sleep, what they eat, etc.) are naturally controlled by adults. When they play with blocks, they are making decisions about the form that the blocks will take, and what, if anything, their "building" represents. They're creating from their own ideas! Besides that, when children have some things they're in charge of, they're more likely to feel comfortable about letting adults be in charge of other things in their lives. Children's museums are often filled with climbers and other things, which challenge children's physical abilities. Even by watching a toddler "toddling," you can see how much energy -- and fascination – goes into being able to walk. Preschoolers work on learning how to move through their world, get around, hop or skip or run fast. They need to develop confidence in their growing bodies and what they can do. Many children's museums include a place for water-play. Children love the feel of water. It is an activity that does not ask for right answers, just to be enjoyed. Peek-a-boo boxes, rice tables, colorful shapes and shadows also encourage children to appreciate and understand their world. What nourishes our imagination? Probably more than anything else, loving adults who encourage children's own choices of imaginative play. Parents in children's museums are often found playing alongside their children. Sometimes we adults forget that childhood isn't just something we "get through." It's a big journey, and one that we all take. Hopefully, we adults will never forget how much we have "learned" from early childhood on about others and ourselves."


ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. Acer grandidentatum, relative water content, woody ornamental plants, relative growth rate, net assimilation rate ABSTRACT. Ecological traits such as an extensive range of natural distribution and tolerance to varying soil conditions, suggest that bigtooth maples (Acer grandidentatum Nutt.) could be popular landscape trees. But information on the tolerance of bigtooth maples to environmental stresses, such as drought, is virtually nonexistent. We studied physi- ological, growth and developmental traits of bigtooth maple plants from 15 trees native to Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. Plants were grown in pots in a greenhouse and maintained as well-irrigated controls or exposed to drought and irrigated in cycles based on evapotranspiration. The ratio of variable to maximal fl uorescence (Fv/Fm) was not different between drought-stressed and control plants, but the low Fv/Fm in plants designated as LM2 from the Lost Maples State Natural Area in Vanderpool, Tex., suggests these plants were relatively ineffi cient in capturing energy at PSII. Plants from another tree (LM5) originating from Lost Maples State Natural Area maintained similar predawn water potentials between drought-stressed and control plants after fi ve cycles of drought. Plants from Dripping Springs State Park in Las Cruces, N.M., and those from LM2 had a strong, signifi cant linear relationship between transpira- tion and stomatal conductance. Drought-stressed plants from Dripping Springs State Park, two plant sources from the Guadalupe Mountains in Salt Flat, Tex., designated as GM3 and GM4, and plants from trees designated as LM1 and LM2, had high relative growth rates and net assimilation rates. Drought-stressed plants from three of the four Guadalupe Mountain sources (GM1, GM3, GM4) had among the longest and thickest stems. Drought reduced shoot and root dry weight (DW). Although bigtooth maples showed several provenance differences in drought adaptation mechanisms, the lack of an irrigation effect on biomass allocation parameters such as root to shoot DW ratio and leaf area ratio implies that altered biomass allocation patterns may not be a common drought adaptation mechanism in bigtooth maples. Plants from selected provenances from the Guadalupe Mountains and Lost Maples State Natural Area in Texas, and to a lesser extent, provenances from Dripping Springs State Park in New Mexico might hold promise for selecting bigtooth maples for arid environments.


This study examines the effects of straw management and winter flooding on soil N dynamics and crop N uptake in California rice (Oryza sativa L.) systems. Experiments were established in two locations in northern California with main plot treatments being winter flooding or no flooding; and four straw management practices (burn, remove, incorporate, and roll) as subplot treatments. Fertilizer was applied to the plots at the recommended levels for each site, but within each plot a zero N microplot was established. Total straw inputs before winter flooding averaged 7000 kg ha 21 for the incorporate and roll treatments, 4200 kg ha 21 for the remove, and 1600 kg ha 21 for the burn treatment (straw N ranged from 11 to 66 kg ha 21 ). Before flooding the field for planting, there was 9% less straw in winter flooded plots compared to nonflooded plots. Straw incorporation resulted in more rapid straw decomposition compared to other treatments where the straw was not incorporated. Furthermore, potentially mineralizable N and soil extractable N was higher in the winter flooded treatments and where rice straw was retained. Crop response varied between sites but our results suggest that N fertilizer recommendations could potentially be reduced by 20 kg ha 21 if straw is incorporated and winter flooded.


We study the impact of migrant children on their parents' occupation choice and wage income using a dataset from a household survey conducted in 2011. We find that the heads of migrant households with school-age children earn significantly less than those who left them at their place of hukou registration. This result holds when we control for personal characteristics, migration duration, origin location, and family structure. Households migrating with school-age children have a higher probability of doing so within the prefecture/province of their hukou registration and are less likely to target coastal regions. After controlling for migration scope and destination location, the presence of children does not influence wages of migrant household heads. We also find that the presence of children below the age of six has no impact on the income of migrant household heads. Our results suggest that the hukou system still impedes labor mobility.


Evaluation is a central step when it comes to developing, optimizing, and deploying recommender systems. The PERSPECTIVES 2021 workshop at the 15th ACM Conference on Recommender Systems brought together academia and industry to critically reflect on the evaluation of recommender systems. The primary goal of the workshop was to capture the current state of evaluation from different, and maybe even diverging or contradictory perspectives. Date: 25 and 30 September 2021. Website: https://perspectives-ws.github.io/2021/.


While palliative care for people with Parkinson's disease (PD) has been widely considered, access for such patients has been slow to develop (Richfield et al, 2013).Hence, we set out to explore the experiences, needs and end-of-life issues from the perspective of people with PD, carers and health and social care professionals. In total, 205 in-depth interviews were undertaken: 54 people with PD (32 male and 22 female), 26 active carers (male 9 and 17 female), 15 former carers (4 male and 11 female) and 111 interviews with professionals.Our findings confirm palliative care needs remain unmet early in the disease process and require a stronger multi-disciplinary team-based approach. Patients and carers have suspicions that palliative care is just "terminal care". Professionals had different views on the meaning of palliative care. Most agreed it was care of the 'whole' person, addressing physical and emotional needs throughout their condition, while some saw it as mostly end-of-life care. Many were hesitant about introducing palliative options to patients with PD because of its negative associations. People with PD, carers and some professionals have negative perceptions of palliative care. Professionals held various views on its definition, and were unclear about the timing and methods of its introduction in the PD disease trajectory. There is a need for professionals to examine their perceptions of palliative care and to consider promoting it to patients at an earlier stage, when it could make a positive difference to them.


With a GDP growth rate of 16% 2009, jumping from 7 billion dollars in 1984 to $95 billion 2009 (Qatar statistic authority and world bank 2010), ranking second in per capita income of $121000 for 2009 climbing from 20000$ 1984 (world bank 2010), economic freedom world rank 39th of 170 countries, the second in the region 17 countries (2010 IEF), holding some of the world biggest industrial manufacturing in diversified sectors like: oil refinery, liquid natural gas, aluminum, urea, weather cooling systems… Attracting Foreign Investment facilities: independent judiciary, transparent governance ranking the 28th out from 179 countries and stating a legal authorized business take only 6 day compared with world average of 35days (2010 IEF), The GCC member state of Qatar realize an important increase of its economy integration into the global markets, what let the state get hold more confidence of many international partners, and help Qatar to win the bid against USA of 2022 cup organization! But for which level the indicators of Qatar economy can match more the emerging markets requirements set by world economic known institution? This study tends to apply, key selected macroeconomic descriptive framework based on indicators and ratios taken from the international comparison program ICP, into the Qatar economic data to test its responding level. We base also on the literature review that defines and measures the emerging markets economics. This research' findings give a high percentage for the conforming of the Qatar economy indicators to the measurement and standards of emerging markets defined by WTO, WB, IMF and compared by many other world economic high institutions, and open the door to expand the research for new economic classification for world countries, the last one on the issue was done 2005. It may also help clarify some steps in taking decision in developing future strategies for the like-minded countries of the region.


This study had two main objectives: Firstly, to investigate the relationship between existential meaning-in-life and racial prejudice amongst students at Stellenbosch University; secondly to investigate how quantifiable aspects of existential meaning-inlife relate to each other to determine existential meaning-in-life in a clear, quantifiable way. The study was conducted on an ad hoc-sample of 149 students from Stellenbosch University. Relevant existential theories were reviewed in order to extract quantifiable aspects of existential meaning-in-life. The following Scales were used to measure these aspects: The Self-Transcendence Scale of the Temperament and Character Inventory; the Conformity Scale; the Self-Reflectivity subscale of the Self-Consciousness Scale; the Interpersonal Reactivity Index; the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values; and the Purpose in Life Test. A principal components analysis revealed that conformity did not relate adequately to the other variables. The following underlying dimensions of existential meaning-in-life emerged: Self-Absolution, Life Appreciation and Existential Self-Transcendence. These dimensions were entered into multiple regression analyses to predict the respective subscales of the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (COBRAS), which was used to measure racial prejudice. Regression analyses showed Self-Absolution to predict scores on Subscale A of the COBRAS, Life Appreciation predicted scores on Subscale B, and all the dimensions predicted scores on Subscale C. Gender differences in the relationship between predictor variables and outcome variables emerged. It was found that this relationship was considerably weaker in women, if not absent: Only Self-Absolution was found to predict scores on Subscale C, while none of the underlying dimensions could predict scores on any of the other subscales. Gender differences on other variables also emerged, suggesting that the underlying dimensions of existential meaning-in-life may differ between genders. The results of this study, as well as its limitations are discussed, as are recommendations for further study.


BACKGROUND
Despite controllable nature of atrial fibrillation in most patients, it increases the risk of atrial thrombosis leading to ischemic stroke. The researchers assessed the underlying risk factors for brain stroke and also major bleeding in patients with ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation.

METHODS
Among 900 patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of ischemic brain stroke between 2013 and 2014, 100 patients had atrial fibrillation that included into this cross-sectional study. The risk of stroke and major bleeding was assessed using CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED risk scores, respectively; but new stroke was not considered.

RESULTS
Of 900 patients with evidences of ischemic stroke, 100 had atrial fibrillation with an overall prevalence of 11.1%. Mean CHA2DS2-VASc score was 4.35 ± 1.76 that the total score was ≥ 2 points in 93% of subjects showing necessity to anticoagulation therapy in 93% of the patients before recent stroke. Mean HAS-BLED score was 2.83 ± 1.30 that was ≥ 3 in 61% indicating risk of bleeding in 61% of all patients. 31% of the patients had previous history of atrial fibrillation, but only less than half of them (51%) were under treatment with warfarin, and also the measured INR was lower than the therapeutic range in 95.5% of individuals on warfarin therapy. In-hospital mortality was reported in 9% of all study subjects. The main determinants of early mortality included history of stroke, renal failure, presence of coronary artery disease, acetylsalicylic acid use, and Clopidogrel use. The analysis using the ROC curve showed that both CHA2DS2-VASc score (AUC = 0.788) and HAS-BLED score (AUC = 0.960) could strongly predict in-hospital mortality.

CONCLUSION
The patients with atrial fibrillation hospitalized with ischemic stroke showed an important absolute risk of further stroke and early mortality. Despite substantiated advantages of warfarin prophylaxis, its limited application is still very common.


Francis Bacon's position on the existence of void and its nature has been mostly studied with regard to his views on the atom. This approach is undoubtedly right, but it disregards further topics related to Bacon's account of void, namely the world system and the transmutation of bodies. Consequently, a more comprehensive study of Bacon's view on vacuum seems desirable where all the contexts are taken into account. To address this desideratum, the present paper examines Bacon's different views on vacuum drawing attention to the various contexts of the discussion. It also gives an evaluation of the arguments put forward in support of his positions. The first section presents a reconstruction of Bacon's consecutive positions and the reasons for his changes of mind. The second section lists the experimental facts traditionally cited in debates about vacuum and Bacon's interpretation of these. The final section evaluates the role that these experimental facts played in Bacon's arguments. As a result, it is shown that Bacon fits entirely into the general pattern of the early seventeenth century. Empirical arguments by themselves had little value for solving the question of the void; it was also necessary to have a formerly established theory.


Today's electricity and transport systems face a number of challenges related to reliability, security and environmental sustainability. New technologies may provide a means by which to overcome some of these challenges, yet many such technologies are confronted with substantial technical or commercial hurdles. This report explores one promising technology, "Vehicle-to-Grid" (V2G) power generation, whereby parked Electric-Drive Vehicles (EDVs) are used to provide electricity to the grid. EDVs comprise battery-electric (BEV), hybrid-electric (HEV) and fuel cell-electric (FCEV) vehicles. V2G power generation may be attractive because, on one hand, vehicles are parked on average 96% of their lifetime (and thus available for other uses) and, on the other, the power capacity of the global automobile fleet greatly exceeds installed conventional electricity generation capacity.

We examine the potential of V2G power generation, firstly, from the EDV's owner perspective and, secondly, in the energy market place. Our results confirm that EDVs have some potential market value, considering our assumptions that are based on the CAISO Californian power market. To complement and extend the previous analysis, we compared the full economic costs of EDVs providing V2G power generation and mobility services with conventional solutions: power generated by gas turbine or coal-fired power plants; and mobility provided by conventional gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Our analysis indicates that although conventional systems generally remain competitive under today's market conditions, the complementary use of EDVs for energy and mobility may be competitive in specific power markets and under certain conditions. We explore the conditions under which V2G systems could be more competitive with a sensitivity analysis of the potential impact of technology and resource costs and infrastructure requirements. In addition, we analyse the impact of a climate policy on the competitiveness of alternatives. These results suggest that only carbon taxes up to $650/tonne of Carbon would have significant impacts on the ranking position of V2G technologies, although we explored only a limited set of scenarios and thus results should be envisaged with caution


Technological advances have benefited our world in immeasurable ways, but there is an ominous flip side: our technology can be turned against us. And just over the horizon is a tidal wave of scientific progress that will leave our heads spinning—from implantable medical devices to drones and 3-D printers, all of which can be hacked, with disastrous consequences.

With explosive insights based on a career in law enforcement and counterterrorism, leading authority on global security Marc Goodman takes readers on a vivid journey through the darkest recesses of the Internet. He explores how bad actors are primed to hijack the technologies of tomorrow. Provocative, thrilling, and ultimately empowering, Future Crimes will serve as an urgent call to action that shows how we can take back control of our own devices and harness technology's tremendous power for the betterment of humanity—before it's too late.


Second RAF paralogue ( BRAF ) is a proto-oncogene that encodes a serine/threonine kinase that transduces regulatory signals through the Rat Sarcoma (RAS)/RAF/ mitogen-activated protein kinase extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. This pathway is hyperactivated in approximately 30% of human cancers.1 Activating mutations in the RAS oncogenes occur in 15%–30% of cancers.2 Kirsten murine sarcoma virus oncogene ( KRAS ) is an important and frequently mutated member of this group of oncogenes. Gain-of-function BRAF mutations results in aberrant activation of ERK signalling that is involved in several cancers such as thyroid papillary carcinoma, melanoma and colon carcinoma mainly but also as demonstrated in animal models in ovarian, skin, lung cancers and glioblastoma multiforme.3 ,4

There are three related RAF genes in mammals: first RAF paralogue ( ARAF ), BRAF and human homologue of v-RAF ( CRAF ) ( RAF-1 ). The BRAF gene, located at 7q34, contains 18 exons and encodes a serine–threonine kinase in the RAS/RAF/MAPK signalling pathway.5 All the main RAF proteins share three highly conserved regions: CR1, CR2 and CR3; however, BRAF has a number of structural differences from the other RAF proteins (ARAF and CRAF). CR1 contains the RAS binding domain and the cysteine-rich domain.6–10 CR2 is rich in serine and threonine and contains regulatory phosphorylation sites. CR3 contains the P-loop and the important kinase …


A number of experiments have addressed how increases in nitrogen availability increase the productivity and decrease the diversity of plant communities. We lack, however, a rigorous mechanistic understanding of how changes in abundance of particular species combine to produce changes in community productivity and diversity. Single experiments cannot provide insight into this issue because each species occurs only once per experiment, and each experiment is conducted in only one location; thus, it is impossible from single experiments to determine whether responses of particular species are consistent across environments or dependent on the particular environmental context in which the experiment was conducted. To address this issue, we assembled a dataset of 20 herbaceous species that were each represented in at least 6 different fertilization experiments and tested whether responses were general across experiments. Of the 20 species, one consistently increased in relative abundance and five consistently decreased across replicate experiments. A partially-overlapping group of 8 species displayed responses to nitrogen that varied predictably among experiments as a function of geographic location, neighboring species, or a handful of other community characteristics (ANPP, precipitation, species richness, relative abundance of focal species in control plots, and community composition). Thus, despite modest replication and a limited number of predictor variables, we were able to identify consistent patterns in response of 10 out of 20 species across multiple experiments. We conclude that the responses of individual species to nitrogen addition are often predictable, but that in most cases these responses are functions of the abiotic or biotic environment. Thus, a rigorous understanding of how plant species respond to nitrogen addition will have to consider not only the traits of individual plant species, but also aspects of the communities in which those plants live.


In his first book, Stride Toward Freedom (1958), Martin Luther King, Jr. reflected on the future struggle of African Americans after their successful Montgomery bus boycott. Among the "forces of good," King saw the indispensable assistance of the federal government, cautioning critics and sympathizers that though government action was "not the whole answer," it was an "important partial answer."1 King was addressing one of the most common criticisms of black activism for civil rights. White conservative Protestants, in the South and North, insisted that race relations would worsen because agitation would only stoke the fears and hatreds of whites and that government action on behalf of blacks was only a form of coercion. King rejected this reasoning by noting that "morals cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated." He argued that it was true, for example, that laws could never make employers love their black employees, but they could prevent them from refusing to hire blacks because of their skin color. King conceded that society ultimately must depend on "religion and education to alter the errors of the heart and mind," but he emphatically argued that "it is an immoral act to compel a man to accept injustice until another man's heart is straight."2 He added that the law was a form of education in that it instructed citizens about what society regarded as right and appropriate. King asserted that in any case the "habits if not the hearts of people have been and are being altered every day by federal action" and that it would be wrong to undervalue the efficacy and force of law in altering human behavior and social patterns.


Well after the process of codification had begun elsewhere in nineteenth-century Europe, ancient Roman law remained in use in Germany, expounded by brilliant scholars and applied in both urban and rural courts. The survival of this flourishing Roman legal culture into the industrial era is a familiar fact, but until now little effort has been made to explain it outside the province of specialized legal history. James Whitman seeks to remedy this neglect by exploring the broad political and cultural significance of German Roman law, emphasizing the hope on the part of German Roman lawyers that they could in some measure revive the Roman social order in their own society. Discussing the background of Romantic era law in the law of the Reformation, Whitman makes the great German tradition of legal scholarship more accessible to all those interested in German history. Drawing on treatises already known to legal historians as well as on previously unexploited records of legal practice, Whitman traces the traditions that allowed nineteenth-century German lawyers like Savigny to present themselves as uniquely "impartial" and "unpolitical." This book will be of particular interest to students of the many German thinkers who were trained as Roman lawyers, among them Marx and Weber. Originally published in 1990. 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.


September 2001 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the San Francisco Treaty, formally ending the Second World War. In signing this treaty, Japan fundamentally transformed its position on the world stage. It established itself in the vanguard of the burgeoning cold war bulwark against the Soviet Union and its communist satellites, and wed itself to the United States through economic, political, and security ties that persist today. The half century since the establishment of the San Francisco system has seen highs and lows in the relations between the two countries, continuing even into the current war on terrorism. This new book evaluates the changing relationship between the two great powers, providing in-depth analysis on a variety of topics. It scrutinizes the historical context, providing the reader with predictive tools for understanding events as they unfold. Instead of looking at the U.S.-Japan relationship one issue at a time, this book examines specific trends and then analyzes how these trends affect the relationship as a whole. This innovative approach allows the reader to view several perspectives simultaneously, and it compels the contributors to assemble clear causal arguments that detail what each factor can and cannot explain. The result is a cogent and convincing appraisal of the status and future of U.S.-Japan relations after fifty years of peaceful coexistence.


Dens are a focal point in the life history and ecology of gray wolves (Canis lupus), and their location can influence access to key resources, productivity, survivorship, and vulnerability to hunting, trapping, and control efforts. We analyzed the selection of den sites and the phenology of their use inside the Yukon-Charley River National Preserve from 1993 to 2017 to enhance our understanding of this resource. At the landscape scale, we found that wolves in east-central Alaska selected den sites that were lower in elevation, snow free earlier in the spring, exposed to greater solar radiation, and closer to water. Den sites were also associated with areas that had burned less recently and had lower terrain ruggedness at the 1 km scale. These results supported our hypothesis that wolves would den relatively close to essential resources (water and prey) and in areas that are drier (melt earlier) in the spring. At the home range scale, wolves also selected den sites at lower elevations and showed a strong selection for the center of their home range. Furthermore, the average distance between active den sites was 37.3 km, which is slightly greater than the average radius (32.5 km) of a home range of a pack. Our results support our hypothesis that dynamic social factors modulate the selection of environmental factors for den site location. Wolves den away from other packs to reduce competition and exposure to intraspecific conflict. High-quality denning habitat does not currently appear to be a limiting factor for this population. Females, on average, entered their dens on 10 May, stayed inside the den for eight days, and remained less than 1 km from the den for an additional six days after emerging. We found that wolves denning at higher elevations entered their dens later than those at lower elevations, which also supported one of our hypotheses. Lastly, we documented limited evidence of earlier denning over time. Long-term monitoring projects, such as ours, are critical in identifying these types of trends.


Sodium oxybate (SO; Xyrem®) has been approved in most countries for treatment of narcolepsy and cataplexy. In this study, we present a single-center experience of a series of 18 patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy (18/18 DQB1*0602 positive, 17/17 with low/absent cerebrospinal fluid hypocretin) in whom SO was prescribed. After 26 ± 13 months, 13/18 patients were still on SO at a mean dosage of 6.1 ± 1.2 g (in 8 of them in combination with stimulants). The following significant effects were observed: improved subjective sleepiness (12/13), cataplexy (13/13; median number of attacks from 20 to 1/month), hallucinations (8/10) and sleep paralysis (8/8); increase in mean sleep latency on the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (from 5.5 to 17.4 min) and sleep/rest efficiency on actigraphy (from 61 to 76%); decrease in Epworth Sleepiness Scale score (from 18 to 14), sleep onset REM periods on the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (from 3.6 to 2.4) and errors in the Steer-Clear Test (from 11 to 2%). Five patients discontinued SO because of insufficient compliance (n = 2), lack of efficiency (n = 1) and side effects (n = 1). These data confirm and expand previous reports on the good effects and tolerability of SO as a treatment for narcolepsy with cataplexy.


Barking deer ( Muntiacus muntjak Zimmermann) is a solitary and forest dwelling ruminant. A study was carried out to know status and distribution of barking deers found in the forested mountains of Hemja VDC, Kaski District. The study was done by direct observation method with indirect counting of fecal pellets while walking systematically in total 11 line transects covering 6.64 km in length and a total of 20 quadrates with 20×20m 2 - 40×40m 2 randomly laid down in three different sites of the study area. A total of 12 individuals (5 adult males, 4 adult females, 2 sub-adult females and 1 infant), 178 pellet groups, 13 latrines and one hunting spot were recorded inside three different blocks of the study area. The results showed clumped and uneven distribution of this deer. It prefers middle range of the mountain (1100-1300m) with dense canopy cover, proper water sources and less human disturbances. Key words: barking deer; distribution pattern DOI: 10.3126/njst.v11i0.4149 Nepal Journal of Science and Technology 11 (2010) 223-228


This paper studies discounting in mortgage markets. Using transaction-level data on Canadian mortgages, we document that over time there's been an increase in the average discount, along with substantial dispersion. The standard explanation for dispersion in credit markets is that lenders engage in risk-based pricing. Our setting is unique since contracts are guaranteed by government-backed insurance, meaning risk cannot be the main driver of dispersion. We find that mortgage rates depend on individual, contractual, and shopping market characteristics. There is also an important amount of unobserved heterogeneity in rates, which could be attributed to search costs.


Jararhagin is a high-molecular-mass (52 kDa) haemorrhagic metalloproteinase from Bothrops jararaca venom and a member of the metalloproteinase/disintegrin/cysteine-rich protein family. The disintegrin domain of jararhagin has been implicated in the inhibition of platelet responses to collagen by a mechanism that is not entirely known. The present investigation demonstrates that both active and 1,10-phenanthroline-inactivated jararhagin inhibit platelet aggregation by collagen with an IC50 of 40 and 140 nM respectively. The apparently higher inhibitory effect of the active enzyme clearly indicates that, in addition to the disintegrin region, the metalloproteinase domain of jararhagin also participates in this inhibition. As collagen interacts with platelets via alpha 2 beta 1-integrin, we investigated the effects of jararhagin on this integrin using selected function-blocking monoclonal antibodies against both of its subunits. Flow cytometry of platelets treated with native jararhagin and immunoprecipitation of platelet surface glycoproteins from lysates after jararhagin treatment showed an apparently selective reduction of alpha 2 beta 1-integrin immunoreactivity with both anti-alpha 2 and anti-beta 1 monoclonal antibodies. The loss of immunoreactivity was not due to integrin internalization, since it also took place in cytochalasin D-treated platelets. Here we show that jararhagin cleaved isolated alpha 2 beta 1-integrin resulting in the generation of a 115 kDa beta 1 fragment. We therefore propose that the inhibition by jararhagin of platelet response to collagen is mediated through the binding of jararhagin to platelet alpha 2-subunit via the disintegrin domain, followed by proteolysis of the beta 1-subunit with loss of the integrin structure (conformation) necessary for the binding of macromolecular ligands.


"Al-Iqd al-Farid" ("The Unique Necklace"), translated now for the first time into English, is one of the classics of Arabic literature. Compiled in several volumes by an Andalusian scholar and poet named Ibn 'Abd Rabbih (246-328 H./860-940 C.E.), it remains a mine of information about various elements of Arab culture and letters during the four centuries before his death. Essentially it is a book of adab, a term understood in modern times to specifically mean literature but in earlier times its meaning included all that a well-informed person had to know in order to pass in society as a cultured and refined individual. This meaning later evolved and included belles letters in the form of elegant prose and verse that was as much entertaining as it was morally educational such as poetry, pleasant anecdotes, proverbs, historical accounts, general knowledge, wise maxims, and even practical philosophy.Ibn 'Abd Rabbih's imagination and organization saved his encyclopedic compendium from easily being a chaotic jumble of materials by conceiving of it as a necklace composed of twenty-five 'books', each of which carried the name of a jewel. Each of the twenty-five 'books' was organized around a major theme and had an introduction written by Ibn 'Abd Rabbih, followed by his relevant adab selections of verse and prose on the theme of the 'book'. He drew on a vast repertoire of sources including the Bible, the Qur'an, and the "Hadith", and the works of al-Jahiz, Ibn Qutayba, al-Mubarrad, Abu 'Ubayda ibn al-Muthanna and several others, and the diwans of many Arab poets, including his own poetry which is why "The Unique Necklace" is a standard text for those interested in classical Arabic literature. Volume I of this translation of "Al-Iqd al-Farid" (Garnet Publishing, 2006) contained four of its twenty-five 'books'. The present volume, Volume II, contains two more.


Novel polymer distributed feedback (DFB) gratings are fabricated based on photopolymerization to reduce lasing threshold of polymer lasers. A photopolymer formulation sensitive to 355-nm ultraviolet (UV) light is proposed for the fabrication of polymer gratings and it can be used to form polymer films by spin-coating process. A very low surface-relief depth ranging from 12.5 to about 1.0 nm has been demonstrated with a refractive-index modulation of about 0.012. The experimental results indicate that such polymer gratings have promising potentials for the fabrication of low-order DFB organic semiconductor lasers.


What role can awe play in the practice of environmental education as our lives become increasingly urbanized? This paper looks at the historic emergence of land experience in environmental education and thinking as a means for examining its potential role in an urban academic setting. Many early environmental scholars proposed that the mind is spread out in surrounding ecologies, and it was an idea that fostered curriculum initiatives like land experience, interdisciplinarity, and critical histories. Using archival documents and seminal environmental thought from two academic environmental programs, I consider the potential of renewing the awe-inspiring experience of land education as the context for historic and critical interdisciplinary thought on the urban places where most of us live.


Abstract On the slopes of the embankment of the Al-Khod groundwater recharge–flood protection dam (Oman), a band of scrub vegetation community emerged after torrential rains and temporary filling of the dam reservoir. Species composition differs markedly on both sides of the embankment, with many exotics found on the reservoir side and more typical gravel-desert species on the outside. Hydro-ecologically, the vegetation is interpreted as the footprint of a temporary storage of water, which is a small-sized groundwater mound within the permeable shoulder of the levee. The levee, as an anthropogenic landform, induces a U-turn (gravitational slumping–lateral seepage–transpirational moisture ascent) topology of seepage. The Lembke method of successive variations of steady states is used in modelling the water table dynamics. In the early stage of the mound decay, outflow through a seepage face of the shoulder is modelled by the Barenblatt slumping parabola of the phreatic-zone part of the flow domain, which is perfectly matched with the Youngs exact solution for a purely horizontal flow through a porous wedge. At the stitching cross-section, the flow rates and saturated depths in the two zones coincide. The late stage of mound evolution is characterized by transpiration by the plant roots projected onto a shrinking free surface, with the Barenblatt and Youngs solutions conjugated but without the outcrop of the saturated mound on the levee slope. Ordinary differential equations for the sliding or descending locus of the intersection of the parabola and the triangle hypotenuse are integrated in a closed form or by the Runge-Kutta method. The dwindling saturated volume and the rate of drainage are obtained. They can be used in assessments of the hydro-ecological sustainability of slope-rooted shrubs (vegetation survival between rare rainfall episodes). Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor A. Porporato


In June of 2009, stem vascular necrosis, interveinal necrosis of upper leaves, wilting of flowers, and necrotic spots on the pods were observed on garden pea (Pisum sativum L. 'Rajnai törpe') in northeast Hungary. A mechanical transmissible plant virus designated Ps091 was isolated from leaves of severely affected plants. Pathological investigations demonstrated that Ps091 had a host range very similar to that of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). It caused necrotic local lesions on Chenopodium spp. and induced systemic yellowing and necrosis on the upper leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana, N. clevelandii, and N. glutinosa by mechanical inoculation. Typical symptoms of TSWV infection appeared on the top leaves of pepper (Capsicum annuum L. 'Albaregia') and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum 'Kecskeméti 3') inoculated with Ps091. For molecular identification, total nucleic acids were extracted from Ps091-infected tobacco with a standard phenol-chloroform extraction method (2), and reverse transcription-PCR was conducted with TSWV N-gene specific, own designed primers (TSWV-S for: 5'-CCCAGCATTATGGCAAGCC-3', TSWV-S rev: 5'-TGATCTGGTCGAGGTTTTCCGCTAGCCC-3'). A tobacco plant infected with a reference pepper isolate, TSWV-Ca1 (1), and a healthy tobacco plant served as positive and negative controls, respectively. An approximately 300-bp DNA fragment was amplified from tobacco infected with Ps091 and TSWV-Ca1. The Ps091 amplicon was cloned, sequenced in both directions, and the sequence was deposited in GenBank (Accession No. HQ615692). Blast search analysis showed that TSWV-Ps091 had the highest identity (99%) with TSWV-P170RB strain (GenBank Accession No. DQ431238) in the cognate region. Since the latter isolate is a resistance breaking (RB) strain on pepper, pathogenicity of Ps091 on TSWV resistant pepper and tomato lines was studied. Mechanically inoculated pepper (C. annuum × C. chinense TSR F4 line) and tomato (S. lycopersicum 'Stevens') genotypes carrying the Tsw and Sw5 resistance genes, respectively, reacted with necrotic local lesions, but no systemic infections were detected by applying bioassays to N. clevelandii. These results demonstrate that Ps091 does not belong to the RB strains of TSWV. Back inoculations to pea ('Rajnai törpe') resulted in necrotic local spots as well as systemic stem and top necrosis, proving the causal relationship between TSWV-Ps091 and the pea disease observed in the field. Although TSWV has been known to cause epidemy in solanaceous crops and tobacco, to our knowledge, this is the first report of its natural occurrence on a legume plant, particularly on pea in Hungary. Because of the extreme severity of the disease caused on pea and high infection pressure, TSWV is a new threat to pea production in this country, where pea is a very important crop. References: (1) P. Salamon et al. Page 23 in: Plant Protection Days. Budapest, February, 2010. (2) J. L. White and J. M. Kaper. J. Virol. Methods 23:83, 1989.


Fine particles are a crucial air pollutant in terms of their impact on the ambient environment, citizens' health and traffic visibility. In this study, temporal and spatial variations in PM2.5 were analyzed in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenyang in China from June 2013 till May 2017 using hourly data collected from the U.S. Embassy and Consulate monitoring system. The distributions of the annual, seasonal, monthly and diurnal concentration were illustrated by the attainment rate and the severity rate, as well as the length of time. After that, the coefficient of divergence (COD) was adopted to study the spatial heterogeneity among five typical megacities. Additionally, the relationship between PM2.5 and meteorology was calculated by Pearson's correlation and stepwise multiple linear regression. The results show that annual PM2.5 concentrations were overall downward trends in all areas. Clear seasonal variations were identified, with the least pollution in summer and the most in winter. The hourly distribution was dramatically different, while the average concentration during the daytime was higher than at night except in Shanghai, and the weekends had higher pollution than the weekdays except in Chengdu. Also, the monthly attainment rate displayed an inverted-U distribution; oppositely, the severity rate revealed a U-shaped distribution. With the increasing pollution levels, the duration of the PM2.5 pollution was observed to be continuously declining in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing but fluctuating in the other two cities. Furthermore, COD values indicated that there was an obvious spatial heterogeneity between Beijing–Chengdu–Shenyang and Shanghai–Guangzhou. As for meteorology, the pressure had a significantly positive impact on the PM2.5 concentration, while the temperature and rainfall had a negative influence. These results show the pollution levels of PM2.5 in different cities at distinct times and confirm the important role of meteorological conditions in air quality. The findings also provide forecast models of PM2.5 for the five cities.


Abstract. One of the most important concerns of remote sensing research has been the quantification of forest structure variables. This issue has been investigated using different remotely sensed data including optical, radar and lidar data. Moreover, the utility of multisensor data has been examined for this task. Radar images are being considered as one of the available tools for forest studies; however, some constrains of this data such as speckle noise and the high sensitivity of this data to topography prevent it from being widely utilized for forest structure mapping. A possible solution is to integrate radar data with optical data to improve the accuracy of the biophysical parameter estimations; however, the results of the common fusion method does not show significant improvement if the efficacy of one of the datasets is much lower than the other one. In this study multi-date ALOS/PALSAR data with HH and HV polarizations were used along with SPOT-5 textural indices derived from the grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), and the subtract and sum histogram (SADH), calculated in different orientations and window sizes for retrieval of a Pinus radiata plantation at plot-level in NSW, Australia. In order to overcome the deficiency of the common fusion method, a new fusion method called ratio fusion is examined for fusion of radar and optical data. The results showed that the estimation of biophysical parameters including mean height, mean DBH, stand volume, basal area and stocking using SPOT-5 textural indices was more accurate than that derived using the backscatter data derived from multi-date ALOS/PALSAR images. Also, the accuracy of estimation of these forest structure parameters increases when the ratio of the SPOT-5 textural indices to the radar backscatter is used for this task.


The objective of
this study was to evaluate and compare the preference of chocolate milk
products sweetened with sucrose and stevia by pre- and post-menopausal women
and to examine their concerns about bone health. Women panelists were divided
into two groups according to age: pre- menopausal (from 18 to 47 years old) and
post-menopausal (over 48 years old) and answered the frequency of white and
chocolate milk consumption during a week and their concerns about bone health. For
preference, five kinds of chocolate milk were used: 1) Non Sucrose Added [NSA]
with stevia and NutraFlora?, 2) NSA with stevia, 3) with sucrose and
stevia, 4) with sucrose, stevia, and NutraFlora?, and 5) control
with sucrose. The results showed that both groups (pre- and post- menopausal
women) prefer chocolate milk to white milk. Pre-menopausal women prefer the
chocolate milk with NSA stevia and NutraFlora?, while
post-menopausal women prefer the chocolate milk NSA with stevia without
NutraFlora?. For comparisons between chocolate milk with sucrose and
stevia vs. chocolate milk with sucrose and stevia and NutraFlora? and chocolate milk with sucrose vs. chocolate milk with sucrose and stevia,
there were no visible differences between pre- and post-menopausal women. Both
groups were concerned about bone health, fiber, and calories, and their
concerns about which influenced their milk choices. Pre-menopausal women showed
a greater positive impact on milk choice when being informed the amount of
fibers in the sample than post-menopausal women. Therefore, this study suggests
that milk sweetened with stevia needs to be produced as calcium resources
without increasing calories.


The OCAD University Visual Analytics Laboratory (VAL) has developed a taxonomy of end users, software systems, data types, tasks and interactivity within the domain of smart city transportation planning. This paper contributes to the taxonomy by creating Compara, an intuitive, interactive and searchable index that visualizes the attributes of software from a wide-range of applications and technologies. The taxonomy began as a spreadsheet that we transformed into a custom interactive data visualization that could help users find and understand existing tools and their attributes.
The taxonomy and interactive index are a component of the iCity project which brings together academic, government, and industrial partners in order to improve the quality of life for urban residents and visitors through the development and integration of advanced IT infrastructure for the purpose of managing transit and transportation. The taxonomy and resulting tools discussed in this paper have expanded to include resources for urban planning which also impact transit and transportation.
One of the primary uses of the taxonomy is to help various iCity project teams and stakeholders locate software that may be useful to their design and development process, as well as to understand the end-users of this technology. The taxonomy may be used to develop a city management dashboard for city planners and analysts, or equally, to design a city-services facing mobile service application.


Well-dispersed hollow CeVO4 microspheres with tunable hollowness and porosity have been synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method using L-aspartic acid (L-Asp) as the capping agent. The products were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and DRS. The XRD results showed that the as-prepared samples were tetragonal phase CeVO4 with high crystallinity. SEM and TEM observations indicated that the hierarchical hollow microspheres with different hollowness were constructed from nanoparticles, cubes or nanoflakes. N2 adsorption–desorption measurements revealed that the BET specific surface area of the typical CeVO4 hollow microspheres was up to 106.54 m2 g−1. During the synthesis, the amount of L-Asp and the reaction time were found to play important roles in determining the growth process and final morphologies of the CeVO4 products. Time-dependent experiments clearly revealed that the CeVO4 hierarchical hollow microspheres were governed by the self-assembly and Ostwald ripening process. Rhodamine B (RhB) was used as the dye pollutant for evaluating the photocatalytic properties of the products under UV radiation. The CeVO4 hierarchical hollow microspheres exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity and good stability even after five repeated cycles of use, indicating that the CeVO4 hierarchical hollow microspheres can be good candidates for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.


Are classrooms preparing students with the literacy skills they need for school, work, and life? When students don't meet expectations, educators tend to seek answers in innovative programs or research-based practices that promise success. The practices teachers use, however, are neither selected nor enacted in a vacuum. To fully understand what is happening in a classroom, one needs to consider not only the instructional practices teachers use but also the context in which teachers select and enact these practices and the effect these practices have on our students. The impetus for this study came from a broader desire to dig deeper into practices that create successful writing communities in secondary classrooms. A teacher's discourses about writing and about her students plays a crucial role in the development of student practices in a classroom community of practice. This study used discourse analysis and interactional ethnography to focus on teachers' talk and classroom interactions about writing in a large, suburban middle school. The researcher found clear connections between a teachers' discourses and the practices that are integral to the classroom writing communities. This study has implications not only for teachers but also for administrators, professional development leaders, or teacher educators. Change in a classroom is not simply a matter of mandating certain programs or practices. A teacher's experiences, beliefs, and values must be addressed in reflective practice, professional development, and teacher preparation because teacher discourses shape student practices.


It is a commonplace observation that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Thus, an elderly lady of leisure can spend an entire day in writing and dispatching a postcard to her niece at Bognor Regis. An hour will be spent in finding the postcard, another in hunting for spectacles, half-an-hour in a search for the address, an hour and a quarter in composition, and twenty minutes in deciding whether or not to take an umbrella when going to the pillar-box in the next street. The total effort which would occupy a busy man for three minutes all told may in this fashion leave another person prostrate after a day of doubt, anxiety and toil.


Field experiment was conducted at Kerman Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Centre (Iran) during 2008-2009 to evaluate the effect of bio-fertilizer, phosphorus and foliar application of micronutrients on dry matter accumulation, yield, and phosphorus and zinc concentration of maize (Zea mays L.). A split plot experiment based on randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) with four replications was followed in the study. The micronutrients foliar application in two levels (foliar application and non foliar application) were the main plots, and four levels of phosphate (T1: 0 (no fertilizer), T2: 100 kg ha-1 P2O5, T3: 100g bio-phosphate, T4: 100g bio-phosphate with 50 kg ha-1 P2O5) as the sub plots. Results showed that micronutrients foliar application and biological and chemical phosphorus fertilizers had a significant influence on dry matter accumulation. The maximum dry matter accumulation was obtained by applying 50 kg/ha P2O5 plus bio-fertilizer. Grain yield, 1000-seed weight and protein content of grain were significantly affected by micronutrients and phosphorus fertilizers treatments. Micronutrients foliar application and phosphorus fertilizers interaction had no significantly effect on grain yield, 1000-seed weight and grain protein content. Grain phosphorus and zinc concentration where significantly increased by application of micronutrients and phosphorus fertilizers.


The claim of the Court of Justice in the Tobacco Advertising case that the Community institutions lack a general competence to regulate the internal market does not withstand critical examination. The Tobacco Advertising case contained both competence restricting and competence enhancing elements. The principal competence restricting elements were (a) that obstacles to trade could be addressed by removal of the obstacles, but not by a ban on the subject matter of the trade; (b) that harmonisation could only be justified by distortions of competition if those distortions were appreciable; (c) that in principle all provisions of a contested internal market measure must contribute to the internal market aims of the measure in question. The principal competence enhancing element was the proposition that a measure which makes some contribution to the internal market may be adopted as an internal market measure even if its main aim is public health protection; despite the fact that harmonisation of public health requirements is in principle ruled out by the Treaty. A further competence enhancing element was that the Court adopted an impressionistic approach to assessment of the requirement that distortions of competition must be appreciable if they were to justify harmonisation, leaving open the possibility that this requirement might be relaxed or sidestepped by the lawmaking institutions. The competence restricting elements of the Tobacco Advertising case have been contradicted or eroded by subsequent case law, such as the British American Tobacco case, and the Swedish Match case. After the latter case, obstacles to trade can be addressed by simply banning the trade. After the British American Tobacco case, it seems that hypothetical obstacles to trade, resulting from disparities between national labelling rules, can be addressed by eliminating the disparities in question, even if this makes no contribution to cross border trade in the products in question. In the Leitner case, the Court confirms that its approach to the requirement adopted in Tobacco Advertising, that distortions of competition must be appreciable in order to justify harmonisation, will be an impressionistic one. And in Rundfunk the Court considers that as long as a measure makes a contribution to the internal market, it is legitimate for that measure to regulate situations which have no link at all with freedom of movement - something of a retreat from the Tobacco Advertising case, but in line with case law dating from the 1960s which gives wide reading to competence to coordinate national social security rules in order to provide freedom of movement for workers. More broadly, it is noted that Community competence has not in practice been confined to removing obstacles to trade and distortions of competition, but extended to harmonising national rules which facilitate freedom of movement and to removing differences between national rules which create uncertainty for those contemplating cross border transactions. This aspect of Community competence to regulate the internal market is potentially far reaching, and could lead to the use of such measures as instruments of general governance. This does not seem consistent with a scheme of attributed competences, nor with a system in which decisions are to be taken "as closely as possible to the citizen," in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.


This article evaluates the suitability of the ECOSSE model to estimate soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes from short rotation coppice willow (SRC‐Willow), short rotation forestry (SRF‐Scots Pine) and Miscanthus after land‐use change from conventional systems (grassland and arable). We simulate heterotrophic respiration (Rh), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) fluxes at four paired sites in the UK and compare them to estimates of Rh derived from the ecosystem respiration estimated from eddy covariance (EC) and Rh estimated from chamber (IRGA) measurements, as well as direct measurements of N2O and CH4 fluxes. Significant association between modelled and EC‐derived Rh was found under Miscanthus, with correlation coefficient (r) ranging between 0.54 and 0.70. Association between IRGA‐derived Rh and modelled outputs was statistically significant at the Aberystwyth site (r = 0.64), but not significant at the Lincolnshire site (r = 0.29). At all SRC‐Willow sites, significant association was found between modelled and measurement‐derived Rh (0.44 ≤ r ≤ 0.77); significant error was found only for the EC‐derived Rh at the Lincolnshire site. Significant association and no significant error were also found for SRF‐Scots Pine and perennial grass. For the arable fields, the modelled CO2 correlated well just with the IRGA‐derived Rh at one site (r = 0.75). No bias in the model was found at any site, regardless of the measurement type used for the model evaluation. Across all land uses, fluxes of CH4 and N2O were shown to represent a small proportion of the total GHG balance; these fluxes have been modelled adequately on a monthly time‐step. This study provides confidence in using ECOSSE for predicting the impacts of future land use on GHG balance, at site level as well as at national level.


Spatial and temporal variations in channel morphology, velocity and shear stress, bedload transport rate, and bedload and bed material size distribution were measured over five summer weeks in the braided Lyngsdalselva in Arctic Norway. Velocities and shear stresses reflected streamwise convergence and divergence of flow, and in turn influenced bedload transport rates although these depended also on the availability at the surface of appropriate-sized sediment. Large and small particles had almost equal mobility, so transport rate increased rapidly with shear stress as coarse sediment began to move and in so doing exposed finer particles. Size-selective transport is nevertheless indicated by down-reach and down-bar fining. The spatial patterns of shear stress and bedload transport rate within one divided-single-divided channel cycle changed with discharge, as did the resulting channel changes. In high meltwater flows, with a peak transport rate of 0.3 kg m -1 s-1, erosion was localised at two zones of flow convergence and tended to maintain the non-uniform channel geometry. During a higher rainflood, with transport rates up to 3 kg m-1 s-1, a downstream fall in shear stress in the main distributary led to medial deposition and consequent lateral erosion, creating a wider, shallower, more uniform channel. Grain size distributions of bedload at high and low shear stresses match fairly well those of floodplain gravels and falling stage flood deposits respectively.


The oxygen isotope ratio of dissolved inorganic phosphate (δ18Op) represents a novel and potentially powerful stable isotope tracer for biogeochemical research. Analysis of δ18Op may offer new insights into the relative importance of different sources of phosphorus within natural ecosystems. Due to the isotope fractionations that occur alongside metabolism of phosphorus-containing compounds, δ18Op could also be used to better understand the intracellular and extracellular reaction mechanisms that control phosphorus cycling.  In this thesis, new methods were developed and tested for the extraction of dissolved inorganic phosphate (Pi) from freshwaters and its isolation from other oxygen-containing compounds, including nitrate, sulfate and dissolved organic matter. Excluding contaminant sources of oxygen during δ18Op analysis is a critical analytical challenge that has constrained δ18Op research in freshwaters to date. These new methods were evaluated against existing protocols for analysis of δ18Op. While the protocol developed in this thesis exhibited greater accuracy and precision for freshwater matrices compared to the traditional approach reported by McLaughlin et al. (2004), further development work is required to increase the accuracy of this protocol compared to that reported by Gooddy et al. (2016). Through the application of δ18Op within two exemplar freshwater ecosystems in this thesis, the in-stream fate of Pi derived from the effluent of a wastewater treatment plant and from groundwater discharge was examined. Within both ecosystems, δ18Op revealed the occurrence of metabolic processes that influenced the in-stream fate of P yet were masked in the hydrochemical data. In addition, the data reported here increase the worldwide groundwater δ18Op dataset nearly threefold. These groundwater data highlight the important potential differences in δ18Op due to bedrock geology, alongside the potential to use δ18Op to better understand the importance of groundwater-derived P following discharge to surface water ecosystems. -Gooddy, D.C., D.J. Lapworth, S.A. Bennett, T.H.E. Heaton, P.J. Williams & B.W.J. Surridge. 2016. A multi-stable isotope framework to understand eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems. Water Research. 88 , 623 -McLaughlin, K., S. Silva, C. Kendall, H. Stuart-Williams & A. Paytan. 2004. A precise method for the analysis of δ18O of dissolved inorganic phosphate in seawater. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods. 2 , 202


Sustained hyperglycemia induces insulin resistance, but the mechanism is still incompletely understood. Glucosamine (GlcN) has been extensively used to model the role of the hexosamine synthesis pathway (HSP) in glucose-induced insulin resistance. 3T3-L1 adipocytes were preincubated for 18 h in media +/- 0.6 nmol/l insulin containing either low glucose (5 mmol/l), low glucose plus GlcN (0.1-2.5 mmol/l), or high glucose (25 mmol/l). Basal and acute insulin-stimulated (100 nmol/l) glucose transport was measured after re-equilibration in serum and insulin-free media. Preincubation with high glucose or GlcN (1-2.5 mmol/l) inhibited basal and acute insulin-stimulated glucose transport only if insulin was present during preincubation. However, only preincubation with GlcN plus insulin inhibited insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation. GLUT4 and GLUT1 protein expression were not affected. GlcN (2.5 mmol/l) increased cellular UDP-N-acetylhexosamines (UDP-HexNAc) by 400 and 900% without or with insulin, respectively. High glucose plus insulin increased UDP-HexNAc by 30%. GlcN depleted UDP-hexoses, whereas high glucose plus insulin increased them. Preincubation with 0.5 mmol/l GlcN plus insulin maximally increased UDP-HexNAc without affecting insulin-stimulated or basal glucose transport. GlcN plus insulin (but not high glucose plus insulin) caused marked GlcN dose-dependent accumulation of GlcN-6-phosphate, which correlated with insulin resistance of glucose transport (r = 0.935). GlcN plus insulin (but not high glucose plus insulin) decreased ATP (10-30%) and UTP (>50%). GTP was not measured, but GDP increased. Neither high glucose plus insulin nor GlcN plus insulin prevented acute insulin stimulation (approximately 20-fold) of insulin receptor substrate 1-associated phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3 kinase. We have come to the following conclusions. 1) Chronic exposure to high glucose or GlcN in the presence of low insulin caused insulin resistance of glucose transport by different mechanisms. 2) GlcN inhibited GLUT4 translocation, whereas high glucose impaired GLUT4 "intrinsic activity" or membrane intercalation. 3) Both agents may act distally to PI-3 kinase. 4) GlcN has metabolic effects not shared by high glucose. GlcN may not model HSP appropriately, at least in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.


A compact magnetooptical disk having 500 times the capacity of a 13.34-cm (5.25-in.) floppy disk has been developed for use in coded data storage applications. Low error rates are attained by the use of advanced highly sensitive polarization detection optics and high-quality recording media. Progress in these fields has been based on noise analysis of readout signals. The disk drive can write and erase data by sectors and can also play current write-once-type optical disks. This disk/disk drive unit promises to lead to enhanced storage capacity and to support the current drive to enhance office automation and other information systems.


A number of observers contend that the new literature on happiness, the product of the work of psychologists and economists, poses a significant challenge to traditional economics. Economics generally assumes that peoples' choices advance their well-being. By contrast, current happiness literature suggests that people often make poor choices that undermine their subjective well-being. Therefore, more wealth and income are not sufficient to make people better off. This view, if uniformly adopted, may lead to paternalistic intervention in the market for corporate governance.In view of the new happiness literature, corporate law scholar James McConvill argues that shareholder empowerment should be seen as an end in itself because it enhances the empowered shareholder's access to happiness-inducing participation. His recent article supplies a novel approach to analyzing corporate governance. Participatory experience is substituted for utility maximization as the relevant investor objective. McConvill disputes prevailing conceptions of rational choice analysis for shareholders and argues that the perceived logic which encapsulates rational choice theory fails to appreciate the non-financial benefits (shareholder happiness) that can be derived from increasing shareholder power. McConvill's fresh look requires an explanation and a critique. This brief article is the second of a series of articles that offer critical analysis vitiating McConvill's Panglossian conclusions.


Millets are hardy crops adapted to marginal lands in hot, drought-prone arid and semiarid environments. Among the small millets, barn- yard (Echinochloa spp.), kodo (Paspalum scro- biculatum L.), and little (Panicum sumatrense Roth ex Roem. and Schult.) millets are the most underresearched crops in terms of use- ful genetic and genomic resources available to breeders for genetic enhancement in these crops. A core collection is an important strategy to enhance use of diverse germplasm with agro- nomically beneficial traits in applied breeding. The entire germplasm collections of barnyard (736 accessions), kodo (656 accessions), and little (460 accessions) millets at ICRISAT were evaluated for 20 to 21 morphoagronomic traits in two to three rainy seasons at Patancheru, India. Quantitative traits data were subjected to residual (or restricted) maximum likelihood analysis and the best linear unbiased predictors were obtained. Qualitative traits data and stan- dardized data on quantitative traits were used to determine Gower distance matrix, which was subjected to hierarchical cluster analysis follow- ing Ward method at R 2 0.75 to form distinct clus- ters. About 10% or a minimum of one accession from each cluster were selected to form core collections, which consisted of 89 accessions in barnyard, 75 in kodo, and 56 in little millets. Comparisons of means, variances, frequency distribution, diversity indices, and correlations indicated that the variation in the entire collec- tion has been preserved in the core collections, which can be evaluated multilocationally to identify trait-specific diverse germplasm for use in genetic improvement of these crops.