Few would question the primacy of economic analysis in the construction and enforcement of contemporary antitrust rules. Chicago-derived principles of price theory have slowly, but inexorably, transcended their traditional boundaries within the United States to find welcome application in Europe and elsewhere. Indeed, it has become standard for antitrust authorities around the world to frame issues of competitive concern in exclusively economic terms. Price theory would thus seem to have become the ubiquitous standard by which to inform competition policy.Yet, international antitrust harmonization has proven to be frustratingly elusive. Although the two most important jurisdictions find broad agreement on many aspects of competition policy, notable instances of EC/U.S. divergence have become apparent.Given the primacy of economic analysis, it is only natural to suppose that the transatlantic divide will narrow in parallel with advancement in society's understanding of economics. Put differently, contemporary areas of disagreement should be susceptible to resolution through the lens of economic theory and econometrics alone. Practice ostensibly mirrors this theoretical prediction, as both sides to the transatlantic rift vociferously promote the supremacy of their respective viewpoints in economic terms. The U.S. Justice Department has been especially vocal (and cutting) in its criticism of what it considers to be erroneous economic policy underlying European jurisprudence.We suggest that the direction of this debate may be misguided. Although price theory has forever revolutionized the substance and application of competition law, its contribution is not unlimited. Economic analysis is subject to serious epistemological limitations with respect to certain areas of antitrust concern, in particular with regard to the trade-off between the short- and long-run. It is noteworthy indeed that recent areas of major divergence are characterized by precisely such economic indeterminacy. Moreover, these policy disagreements are not limited to the international arena—a serious and disturbing rift has become apparent between America's two enforcement agencies.We argue, first, that there are important limitations to economic analysis and, second, that the pursuit of long-run convergence must recognize these constraints and rely on a mutual understanding of distinct socio-political cultures and traditions. Recent scholarly and public debate has been noteworthy for its exclusive focus on economics, and may for that reason have been incomplete and inefficacious. This Article explores these concerns by focusing on perhaps the most divisive area of antitrust law, refusals to deal. Such refusals cast the tension between balancing short- and long-run effects into critical relief, and render explicit the limitations of economic theory. Given that the bastion of the Chicago School, the United States, has been incapable of agreeing on a uniform approach in this area, the idea that international law can be harmonized on the basis of economics alone seems strikingly quixotic. Nevertheless, we conclude that outside of the empirically indeterminate issue of balancing the short- and long-run, economics can indeed lead policymakers to optimal and well-defined outcomes.


The latest data support the correlation of atherosclerosis and osteoporosis, indicating the parallel progression of two tissue destruction processes with increased fatal and non-fatal coronary events, as well as higher fracture risk. Vitamin D inadequacy associated with low bone mineral density increases fall and fracture risk, leads to secondary hyperparathyroidism, calcifies coronary arteries and significantly increases cardiovascular disease. Randomized clinical trial evidence related to extraskeletal vitamin D outcomes was limited and generally uninformative. A recent recommendation on vitamin D dietary requirements for bone health is 600 IU/d for ages 1-70 years and 800 IU/d for 71 years and older, corresponding to a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of at least 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/l). Further large randomized controlled trials are needed to reassess laboratory ranges for 25-hydroxyvitamin D in both diseases, in order to avoid under- and over-treatment problems, and completely clarify the relationship between atherosclerosis and osteoporosis.


In the Pyrenean Gravettian, several types of sites that vary in terms of their technical elements and/or the density of their assemblages can be interpreted as hunting camps. How can this archaeological diversity contribute to social and economic interpretations of the human groups that occupied these sites? It appears that in the context of a centralized organization of the Pyrenean territory, in which Brassempouy and Isturitz played key economic, social and spiritual roles, the concept of a hunting camp applies to several types of sites specialized in hunting related activities, and at which other activities sometimes also took place. "Simple hunting camps", which best correspond to the accepted definition, would thus have coexisted with "complex hunting camps", at which flint knapping activities were performed along with hunting and butchery activities. Finally, there are other potential hunting camps whose assemblages include artistic representations. The identification of hunting camps therefore contributes to our understanding of the occupation strategies of a territory. Their diversity, high degree of specialization and the significant difference that exists between the low density of their assemblages and the high density of those of certain large occupation sites, represents a socio-economic coherence that seems to traverse the European continent. In effect, this tendency of hunting camps toward diversification and ultra-specialization accompanies the appearance the first large habitatsanctuaries with numerous female statuettes, associated with Modern Humans, such as Brassempouy, Laussel, Les Balzi Rossi and Willendorf in Western Europe. Hunting camps thus constitute an important element in reflections on the nature of cultural identity since they corroborate the idea of a phenomenon of double-polarization of human communities between 28000 and 22000 BP, which characterizes the Gravettian: relative to the Aurignacian tradition, Gravettian occupations appear to be more oriented toward the plains and large alluvial basins. In addition, within these more densely occupied zones, certain sites themselves are more densely occupied, and it is these that are generally associated the large assemblages of female statuettes: Brassempouy, Laussel, Les Balzi Rossi, Willendorf, Dolni Vĕstonice, Pavlov, Předmosti, Kostienki, Gagarino, Avdeevo and Zaraisk.


Purpose The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between early and late postoperative motor outcomes in pediatric patients operated for intermittent exotropia. Patients and methods A prospective interventional study was performed on 50 consecutive pediatric patients with intermittent exotropia. All patients were treated with bilateral lateral rectus recession. Distance alignment was analyzed in all patients before and after surgery at week 1 and 6 months postoperatively. Successful results were defined as ocular alignment with exodeviation (tropia/phoria) equal to or less than 10Δ, or esodeviation (tropia/phoria) equal to or less than 5Δ. Results A total of 50 patients, 30 (60%) female and 20 (40%) male, were included in this study with a mean age of 5.27±2.92 (0.8–10) years. Mean preoperative angle of deviation was 33.8±5.63Δ (20–45Δ). Bilateral lateral rectus recession was performed in all patients. Regarding the late outcomes analyzed at 6 months postoperatively, it is reported that 33 (66%) patients had favorable outcomes, 12 (24%) patients were undercorrected, and five (10%) cases were overcorrected. A good late outcome had initial alignment of 4.52±7.43 PD of esotropia, whereas patients with late postoperative undercorrection had an average initial postoperative alignment of −2.36±4.18 PD. The differences in average initial alignments were statistically significant between each of the groups (P<0.01). However, the average initial postoperative alignment in the overcorrected group was 7±9.9, which was statistically nonsignificant (P=0.655). Conclusion Initial postoperative overcorrection (0–9Δ) esotropia is desirable in the treatment of patients with intermittent exotropia; however, longer duration of follow-up is required to emphasize this relationship.


The existence of governance structure such as board of commissioners and audit committee implies a better monitoring function on the financial reporting process that represent manager actions. Nevertheless, the quality of the monitoring function depends on how effective the board and the audit committee perform their duties. This study examines how the effectiveness of the board of commissioners and audit committee in a two tierboard structure influences the tax aggressiveness.This study develops a score for board and audit committee effectiveness by using a checklist which captures how the independence, activity, size, and competence characteristics are reflected in the board of commissioners and audit committe.Hypothesis testing is carried out by using a multiple regression model of 105 observations (firm-year) with the sample taken from manufacture companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange during t.Results of this study provide robust evidence that a more effective board of commissioners and audit committee will decrease tax aggressiveness.


The present work is part of a multidisciplinary research carried out within the Benecon Competence Center Demonstration Project and related to Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park area, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and included in the Biosphere Reserve network. Cilento and Vallo di Diano landscape is an organic unit generated by the complex combination of physical and natural phenomena, firmly tied each other by mutually reciprocal relationships. The research for a dialogue between man and this heterogeneous set of elements, processes and interrelations has characterized the antrophized and natural heritage that has formed the landscape of these places characterized by great water wealth, dense slopes and lush Mediterranean vegetation. The Geographical Information System platform of the territory of Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park synthesizes the integrated work of knowledge of the area and of all its forms of production either cultural or material, including through the actions of the peoples who have inhabited these sites. The GIS of Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park has been developed to create a georeferred and dynamic database that would gather and integrate the cognitive activities carried out on the area through an innovative equipment. The GIS has been dynamically structured in thematic layers always implementable that at different scale contain the results and the elaborations of survey and data acquisition. Information, cataloged according to the 'data warehouse' methodology, has been structured to make easy the access by the user and to support decision-making. The layers, integrating the information with the aforementioned data, are organized, also in reference to the various scales and main time variations. In particular, the census of the territorial resources of the territory concerned the more than two hundred watermills surveyed within the perimeter of the National Park and subsequently surveyed through 3D digital laser sensors, cataloged on the basis of cadastral data and then inserted into the GIS platform on a georeferred map as a starting point for further documentation actions. The aforementioned analysis has been developed before a subsequent step of the research on technological and environmental issues. On some watermills have been developed a surveys to check the relationship between the water system, soil quality and its uses with to define a reference framework for the use of appropriate environmental technology for water cycle optimization systems. This study concerned the 'Auso' Valley water system, in the territory of Ottati, a municipality located in the north-eastern part of Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park and has been structured in three phases. An initial phase of analysis took into account the hydraulic characteristics of the 'Auso' Valley, with particular reference to the nature of the water stream, the vegetation, geological and lithological conditions of the site, the hydrological and ecological environment. The second phase of the work concerned the check on the presence of hydraulic conditions suitable for the reactivation of the historic mills as examples of the hydro-mechanical technology used in the past. The last phase finally allowed an analysis on the quality characteristics of the waters of the 'Auso' Torrent. It has been possible to hypothesize the creation of a "filter system" with river phytodepuration techniques in order to safeguard the water course from induced pollution. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.20.3.19174


Background: Platelet MPs are produced automatically during platelet storage. Their size is about 0.1 – 1 µm and have ability for sub- endothelium adhering, strengthen of platelet aggregation and also platelet pre- coagulation. In fact, the release of membrane particles helps to signal to the neighbor cells or to seclude target cells from apoptosis. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of time passing on platelet MPs production. Methods: In this experimental study, 12 units of PC from healthy donors were obtained. Sampling was done at 2, 3, 5 and 7 days after storage. After separating of MPs, they were prepared for flow cytometery analyses by anti- CD41a FITC and assessed their concentration through Bradford methods. Paired sample T-test and ANOVA were used to compare the results and investigate the probable significant differences of this experiment. Results: There was no significant difference in platelet MPs concentration between PC stored in day 2 and 3. (P> 0.05) On the other hand, we could claim significant differences in platelet MPs concentration between PC stored in day 3 and day 5 and also between day 5 and day 7. (P< 0.05) Conclusions: We showed that the production or releasing of platelet MPs were considerable by passing time. Also by increasing of  storage time, platelet component included more MPs which were able to signal and produce interaction with other cells in patient receiving bodies. As a result, it was possible to interfere in their immune responses, inflammatory or coagulation processes after transfusion


Space is increasingly recognized as a legitimate factor that influences many processes and conceptual frameworks, including notions of spatial coherence and spatial heterogeneity that have been demonstrated to provide substance to both theory and explanation. The potential and relevance of spatial analysis is increasingly understood by an expanding sphere of cogent disciplines that have adopted the tools of spatial analysis. This book brings together major new developments in spatial analysis techniques, including spatial statistics, econometrics, and spatial visualization, and applications to fields such as regional studies, transportation and land use, political and economic geography, population and health. Establishing connections to existing and emerging lines of research, the book also serves as a survey of the field of spatial analysis and its links with related areas.


The BL Lacertae object 3C 66A was detected in a flaring state by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and VERITAS in 2008 October. In addition to these gamma-ray observations, F-GAMMA, GASP-WEBT, PAIRITEL, MDM, ATOM, Swift, and Chandra provided radio to X-ray coverage. The available light curves show variability and, in particular, correlated flares are observed in the optical and Fermi-LAT gamma-ray band. The resulting spectral energy distribution can be well fitted using standard leptonic models with and without an external radiation field for inverse Compton scattering. It is found, however, that only the model with an external radiation field can accommodate the intra-night variability observed at optical wavelengths.


We present a complete end-to-end characterization of Gaussian pulse propagation through optical fibers and waveguides with an arbitrary dispersion profile. Our model takes into account the possible chirping of the source and it also encompasses the influence of the source linewidth. We modeled the arbitrary dispersion by taking as much of the coefficients from the Taylor series representing the fiber and waveguide propagation constant as desired. The model is used to study the impact of higher-order dispersion terms in the propagated pulse shape and rms time width. Also outlined are applications to the calculation of capacity limits in optical communications systems limited by high-order dispersion terms and to other fields such as the calculation of aberrations in temporal imaging systems and spatial diffraction.


The design space is a concept often used to encompass all possible designs for a given brief, impossible to be determined, but passive of manipulation by creative designers. The concept as such cannot prevent deterministic accounts of design activity. With the aim of overcoming determinism, this concept is reconsidered beyond the cognitive realm, as part of the social production of space. This renewed perspective is applied to study a medical imaging center project in The Netherlands. The boundaries found in this design space were not self-imposed constraints, but imperative economic, political, and cultural conditions that contradicted each other. To reveal the materiality of the design space, the project has been brought to a teaching experiment, where students analyzed the project drawings and proposed changes using a custom parametric modeling tool. Students faced similar contradictions, despite working under different conditions, supporting the claim that the design space has intrinsic contradictions even if not cognized.


Engineering is to a large degree about problem solving and communicating solutions to problems effectively. Despite this, most engineering undergraduate programmes focus largely on technical matters with little time devoted to teaching problem solving skills. This paper describes developing, delivering and assessing a novel course designed to equip students to solve open-ended, ill-defined problems. These kinds of problem are not solvable by computer or easily "outsourced" around the world. Hence graduates with skills at solving them will be well-placed to compete in future employment.

Through problem-based and self-led learning the course enabled students to develop expertise at problem definition, option evaluation, engineering communication and conceptual design. To encourage free exchange of ideas and rapid development of design solutions, informal sketching and approximate calculations were emphasised over formal drawings and precise calculations. Use of Excel as means to communicate, as much as to calculate, was highlighted.

The authors recognised that learning through failure is intrinsic to developing problem solving skill so assessment was heavily loaded towards rewarding engagement with the material rather than "correct" solutions. Moreover, early cycles though the design process attracted few marks so that students could build knowledge and ability without fear of being marked down due to poor initial attempts.

Staff found that while many students were initially flummoxed by the unfamiliar, non-prescriptive nature of the course, over time the value and purpose were recognised. End of course student feedback was exceptionally positive with many comments recognising the value of the content and style of the course.


The Fourth Factor: A Historical Perspective on Architecture and Medicine, by John Michael Currie, Washington, DC: AIA Press, 2007, 192 pages, $39.99. ISBN: 1571650180The Fourth Factor is a fascinating book with a less than obvious point to make. Its author, John Michael Currie, takes the position that, for as long as the art of medicine has existed, there has been an aspect of its practice that has subtly influenced the whole process-that of setting or place. Hippocrates of Kos, the ancient Greek physician whose oath is still taken by many graduating physicians the world over, talked of three factors constituting the art of medicine: the disease, the patient, and the physician. Currie proposes that the environment in which the healing arts are exercised is the fourth factor. While this premise is perhaps naturally understood by the architect, it dawned only slowly on me, a practicing physician, that the author is obviously right. Where (and when) one practices greatly influences the outcome of care.Currie has immersed himself in the history of medicine and seems to comprehend the procession of ideas that have influenced it. As much history book as the story of medicine's relationship to architecture, this tidy volume weaves together the story of human thought, demonstrating the influence of ideas, beliefs, and even politics on the gradual evolution of medical care and architecture as they have advanced from the earliest times. Currie suggests that those who design and work in the places where the ill are cared for should understand the foundations on which they stand.Beginning at the beginning, The Fourth Factor explores ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman practices and forms. Replete with excellent drawings and photographs, the book offers examples of structures and sites where the sick came for care. We are introduced to practitioners, builders, and buildings. Examples of temple sites, to which those stricken with disease traveled great distances for care, are amply illustrated alongside a text that explains the gradual transition from superstition to more rational care. We meet Aesculapius and Galen and see where and in what settings they practiced.Successive chapters explore the development of hospitals for the care (and isolation) of the sick and "other unfortunates." We explore care in various parts of the world and see how ideas spread, or failed to spread, from one region to another in the early Middle Ages. …


: Present paper is aimed to show thermoregulatory responses of locally adapted sheep with different coat colors, in an equatorial semiarid region. There were used four groups according to the coat color: (1) dark red animals, (2) intermediate red, (3) light red, and (4) white coated animals. Animals were measured for rectal temperature (RT), skin surface temperature (ST), respiratory rate (RR), heat loss by respiratory evaporation (RE), heat exchange by convection (HC) and radiation (HR), from 1100 to 1400 hour, after the animals had stayed in a pen exposed to the sun. Results showed that all groups maintained homeothermy. The RR was higher in the animals of groups 1 to 3, which also showed higher values for ST when compared to the white coated animals. Sensible heat exchange mechanisms were not important for heat loss and HR was a significant source of heat gain by animals from the environment. Groups 1, 2 and 3 used RR in a more intense way compared to group 4. It was concluded that Morada Nova sheep has good adaptability to the semiarid environment, regardless of the coat color.


The question whether family law within Europe has been and is converging remains controversial. The different appreciation of the convergence/divergence tendency often has to do with the examination of too short time-spans. Therefore in this article the convergence question will be approached via the search for the common core of the law on divorce throughout the last half-millennium. This search reveals a clear tendency towards the modernisation and liberalisation of divorce from the time of the Protestant Reformation up to the present day. There is, however, no evidence that this modernisation is, on a long-term basis, accompanied by a diminishing of the differences between divorce laws. Therefore, it will be argued that deriving a tendency of convergence from the ongoing process of modernisation entails a patent shortcut. Thus, it is not very probable that in the foreseeable future the harmonisation of family laws will be achieved by means of spontaneous convergence.


Parkinson's Disease is one of the most frequent human neurodegenerations. Motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease are the consequence of the destruction of nervous cells in the substantia nigra (SN). For many years it has been believed that the degeneration of nervous cells in SN in Parkinson's disease is related to an important increase in the concentration of iron. This excess of iron, which may initiate Fenton reaction, may be the cause of the oxidative stress leading to the death of nervous cells in PD. However, the mechanisms involved in iron accumulation remain unclear. Transferrin Receptor type 2 (TfR2) is a protein expressed on cell membrane end involved in the cellular iron uptake. It is not ubiquitously expressed like Transferrin Receptor type 1 but it is especially expressed in several tissues such as liver and recently, it has been discovered to be strongly involved in neuronal iron uptake in neurodegenerative disease. This suggests its potential involvement in the iron overload in the Substantia Nigra, a commonly observed phenomenon in Parkinson's Disease. The mRNA encoding for TfR2 does not contain the Iron Responsive Element (IRE) in its 3' UTR, so its regulation is surely non mediated by Iron Regulative Proteins (IRPs). Another gene/protein strongly involved in iron metabolism but not regulated by intracellular iron concentrations via IRPs is DMT1 -IRE. It is a metal transporter so it could be involved in PD iron excess. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the expression of both the previously mentioned gene/proteins in a commonly used in vitro model of PD composed of SH-SY5Y treated with MPP+ (1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium), since they are not regulated by IRPs, and to answer the question: "Is supposable a regulation microRNA-mediated?".
The expression of DMT1 –IRE and TfR2 was evaluated at both mRNA and protein level in treated cells after 0, 24 and 48 hours from treatment with MPP+. For both genes/proteins an increase in the expression was found in treated cells.
MicroRNA-221 was selected among two potential candidate microRNAs, restricted from a list of them resulted by bioinformatics prediction of microRNAs targeting the 3'UTR of TfR2. Using luciferase assay we demonstrated the real ability of microRNA 221 in TfR2 3'UTR binding.
The function of microRNA-221 was verified in the chosen PD in vitro model. A similar experimental plan was used to verify the action of microRNA-Let-7d on the regulation of DMT1 –IRE isoform in the same PD cellular model.
In this thesis is demonstrated that SH-SY5Y cells treated with MPP+ show an increase in the expression of TfR2 and DMT1 -IRE respect to control cells (after 24 and 48 hours from treatment); at the same time, a significant reduction in the expression of microRNA-221 and of microRNA-Let-7d occurs. The over-expression of microRNA-221 in treated cells causes a decrease in the expression of TfR2, while when cells are transfected with a vector containing microRNA-221 mutated in the binding site for the seed region, this microRNA loses the ability to bind the 3'UTR of TfR2 and its expression is completely restored. On the other hand, the over-expression of microRNA-Let-7d in treated cells causes a decrease in the expression of DMT1 -IRE, while cells transfected with a vector containing a mutated form of microRNA-Let-7d that loses the ability to bind the 3'UTR of TfR2, show a TfR2 expression restored and comparable with the expression in untreated cells.
These results suggest that microRNA-221 is involved in the iron metabolism fine regulation, acting specifically on TfR2 expression in the used Parkinson's Disease in vitro model and that microRNA-Let-7d is able to regulate the expression of DMT1 –IRE, a transporter that could be involved in the iron over-load in PD. Further studies could show the way forward to the therapeutic targeting of this pathway which could be directed to the down-regulation of the expression of both TfR2 and DMT1 -IRE in the dopaminergic neurons of the Substantia Nigra in PD. This findings could be important to obviate the need for the systemic ferrochelant therapy to which patients are often subjected as adjuvant treatment together with the specific therapy for Parkinson's Disease.


Shallow alluvial aquifers have been overlooked as thermal resources for low-carbon cooling in the UK. Most existing groundwater cooling systems in central London, for instance, use the deeply confined Chalk aquifer. Potential over-exploitation of the Chalk aquifer as a heat sink was one of the primary reasons why the River Terrace Gravels aquifer was investigated at the Tate Modern. Other considerations included a higher likelihood of achieving the required groundwater yields and the ability of the shallow River Terrace Gravels aquifer to dissipate heat more effectively than the deeper, confined Chalk. Where net heat rejection is large, the extent to which waste heat can escape the system is critical to the long-term sustainability of the scheme. Factors influencing heat loss include the thickness of cap rock and the ratio of surface area to thermal volume. Cost of scheme development in the River Terrace Gravels was also an important consideration and projected long-term energy savings as a result of sourcing water from a shallower aquifer, with lower pumping lifts, were considerable. Although circumstances where the River Terrace Gravels may be utilized for heating and cooling are limited owing to the restricted area underlain by these deposits, the variable saturation and potential vulnerability of basements to leakage if affected by raised groundwater levels in the vicinity of recharge wells, they may be a viable alternative to the Chalk for some locations. Continued monitoring of the operation of the Tate Modern scheme will provide further evidence of the viability of schemes using the Thames Gravels.


The authors proposed a novel Zernike moment-based generalized step edge detection method which can be used for segmenting range and intensity images. A generalized step edge detector is developed to identify different kinds of edges in range images. These edge maps are thinned and linked to provide final segmentation. A generalized edge is modeled in terms of five parameters: orientation, two slopes, one step jump at the location of the edge, and the background gray level. Two complex and two real Zernike moment-based masks are required to determine all these parameters of the edge model. Theoretical noise analysis is performed to show that these operators are quite noise tolerant. Experimental results are included to demonstrate edge-based segmentation technique.<<ETX>>


management (EBM) necessarily requires a degree of coordination across countries that share ocean ecosystems, and among national agencies and departments that have responsibilities relating to ocean health and marine resource utilization. This requires political direction, legal input, stakeholder consultation and engagement, and complex negotiations. Currently there is a common perception that within and across national jurisdictions there is excessive legislative complexity, a relatively low level of policy coherence or alignment with regards to ocean and coastal EBM, and that more aligned legislation is needed to accelerate EBM adoption. Our Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance (AORA) task group was comprised of a small, focused and interdisciplinary mix of lawyers, social scientists, and natural scientists from Canada, the USA, and the EU. We characterized, compared, and synthesized the mandates that govern marine activities and ocean stressors relative to facilitating EBM in national and international waters of the North Atlantic, and identified formal mandates across jurisdictions and, where possible, policy and other non-regulatory mandates. We found that irrespective of the detailed requirements of legislation or policy across AORA jurisdictions, or the efficacy of their actual implementation, most of the major ocean pressures and uses posing threats to ocean sustainability have some form of coverage by national or regional legislation. The coverage is, in fact, rather comprehensive. Still, numerous impediments to effective EBM implementation arise, potentially relating to the lack of integration between agencies and departments, a lack of adequate policy alignment, and a variety of other socio-political factors. We note with concern that if challenges regarding EBM implementation exist in the North Atlantic, we can expect that in less developed regions where financial and governance capacity may be lower, that implementation of EBM could be even more challenging.


More than fourteen million people in South Africa - that is, almost a third of the population - practise communal land tenure. Communal land tenure is embedded in a range of social relationships where land rights are inclusive rather than exclusive, being shared and derived from accepted membership of a social unit. This is mainly found in the rural areas and previous homelands, which are characterised by lack of secure land rights and inadequate access to land, severe over-population and widespread poverty. In sub-Saharan Africa communal land tenure is often associated with environmental degradation and unproductive farming activities. It is a hotly debated issue whether communal land tenure practices are the main cause of these negative results or whether other factors have contributed to the present situation. Furthermore, a serious problem in South Africa is the dissension between local governments and traditional leaders in these areas, which exacerbates the lack of basic infrastructure, impedes planning and undermines management structures.


Large R&D organizations of firms operating in rapidly changing environments invest sizeable amounts to acquire knowledge through interactions with universities. The impact of these interactions on R&D organizations has received little attention in the literature. In this paper we propose a framework for evaluating the firm's investment in universities and in internal university interaction programs. The framework is comprised of three elements: objectives, relevant collectivity and structure. Objectives for the interaction are linked to the specific objectives of the R&D organisation. Individuals in the firm engaged in activities leading to the acquisition, assimilation and commercial exploitation which can potentially benefit from the new knowledge define the collectivity of interest. Structure is specified in terms of five components: network of relationships, technological guideposts, coordination arrangements, distribution of power, and shared beliefs and norms. Use of the framework is illustrated with four examples.


This report examines and compares the greenhouse gas emissions of alternative first-generation and second-generation biofuel production pathways. The emissions balance analysed include greenhouse gas emissions from cultivation, land use change, processing and transport of biofuels. The biofuel production pathways reviewed are: -Biodiesel from palm oil in Indonesia, -Biodiesel from jatropha in South Africa and Mexico, -Bioethanol from sugar cane in South Africa, Mexico and Indonesia, -Bioethanol from wood in South Africa and Mexico, -Fischer-Tropsch diesel from wood in South Africa and Mexico Most calculations are undertaken using a tool developed by the BioGrace project funded by the European Union. For land use change emissions, three default values based on results from the partial equilibrium Global Biomass Optimisation Model (GLOBIOM) are used. An allocation of greenhouse gas emissions to the biofuel and its co-products is done by using the energy allocation method. The results show that wherever a land use change default value for non-wood feedstocks is used, this value dominates by far all other emission sources. Default land use change emissions for pathways using wood as feedstock are minor (short rotation coppice) or negative (wood from existing forests). However, woody feedstocks require second-generation conversion technologies. The least emission intensive first-generation pathways are bioethanol from sugar cane in Mexico and Indonesia due to the high productivity of sugar cane and the simple conversion process. Due to the limited country-specific database, a differentiation between countries or regions could not clearly be made. Differentiation can rather be done for the importance of particular factors such as feedstock productivity in conjunction with fertiliser use, allocation of co-products or the energy demand of specific conversion technologies.


Ribosomes are important cellular components that maintain cellular homeostasis through overall protein synthesis. The nucleolus is a prominent subnuclear structure that contains ribosomal DNA (rDNA) encoding ribosomal RNA (rRNA), an essential component of ribosomes. Despite the significant role of the rDNA-rRNA-ribosome axis in cellular homeostasis, the stability of rDNA in the context of the DNA damage response has not been fully investigated. In the present study, the number and morphological changes of nucleolin, a marker of the nucleolus, were examined following ionizing radiation (IR) in order to investigate the impact of DNA damage on nucleolar stability. An increase in the number of nucleoli per cell was found in HCT116 and U2OS cells following IR. Interestingly, the IR-dependent increase in nucleolar fragmentation was enhanced by p53 deficiency. In addition, the morphological analysis revealed several distinct types of nucleolar fragmentation following IR. The pattern of nucleolar morphology differed between HCT116 and U2OS cells, and the p53 deficiency altered the pattern of nucleolar morphology. Finally, a significant decrease in rRNA synthesis was observed in HCT116 p53−/− cells following IR, suggesting that severe nucleolar fragmentation downregulates rRNA transcription. The findings of the present study suggest that p53 plays a key role in protecting the transcriptional activity of rDNA in response to DNA damage.


America is presently fighting a war on terror and a war on sex offenders. In each, the government openly detains hundreds of individuals not for what they have done, but for what they might do. Some warn that this greatest restriction on liberty may expand to other types of people. This Article examines the risk of such expansion by putting our current wars in historical perspective. The two main conclusions are: (1) some categories of people detained in prior periods are not being detained today; and (2) the risk of expansion is real but lower than previously suggested.


This thesis describes the functional analysis of the Arabidopsis AHL15 gene. We showed that AHL15 and plays major roles in directing plant cell totipotency. Furthermore, our data show that AHL15 has a role in opening of chromatin, leading to endomitosis and polyploidy in embryonic cells and that AHL15 overexpression can lead to polyploid SEs and plants, probable by endomitotic events caused by incomplete chromatin condensation during cell division. More detailed analyses revealed that AHL15 is not specifically involved in the embryogenesis program, but that, surprisingly, the protein rather is involved in post embryonic development. Our analyses in Arabidopsis and tobacco showed that AHL15act as suppressors of developmental phase changes. In Arabidopsis, reduced AHL15 expression coincided with a faster progression from the vegetative to the reproductive phase. By contrast, AHL15 overexpression delayed the vegetative to reproductive phase change in both Arabidopsis and tobacco, causing some axillary meristems to be maintained in the vegetative phase, thereby allowing polycarpic development in these monocarpic annuals. By using RNA sequencing analysis, an extensive reprogramming of the transcriptome detected after AHL15 activation. Rapid decondensation of heterochromatin was observed after AHL15 activation, indicating that the global reprogramming of the transcriptome by AHL15 might at least in part be caused by extensive modulation of the chromatin configuration.


Environmental assessment (EA) of the impacts of development is required under the 1985 European Directive 85/337/EEC, which is implemented in Britain primarily through the 1988 Town and Country Planning (Assessmentof Environmental Effects) Regulations. Ecology provides analytical procedures for studying relationships between organisms and their environment and therefore has an obvious role in EA. The status of ecology within the British EA process was investigated by analysing 179 environmental statements (ESs) produced between 1988 and 1993. In many cases, the ecological information provided was so limited in quantity, or of such poor quality, that it was not possible to assess the ecological implications of proposed schemes. Many ESs failed to provide the data necessary to predict ecological impacts. Potential ecological impacts were reported in 93% of statements, but only 9% made any attempt to quantify them. Of those ESs which made references to ecological effects, only 45% based their findings on new ecological survey information. Consultation with statutory consultees for nature conservation was reported in 48% of ESs. Although 78% of ESs mentioned mitigation measures, only 23% described them in detail. A major shortcoming was the universal failure to make any commitment to monitoring of development impacts. In addition to the lack of formal requirements for monitoring, the lack of guidance for ecologists and developers involved in EA is concluded to be a major factor behind some of the shortcomings summarized in this paper.


The cockroach is an insect of tropical origin whose presence in urban space draws our attention to the fact that the city is not only an artificial and controlled universe but also a porous one because of the interstices through which the animals slip. This article analyzes the role of animals in cities, and more particularly of the cockroach, in the city dweller's imagination and in the construction of an aesthetic experience of urban life. Imagination, metaphor, and domestication are the clues to understanding a sharp, active thought of the lived environment. One will thus approach the place of aesthetics in representations of cities between nature and artifice.


This article attempts to analyze and evaluate thought of Ahamad Kasravi in relation to the discourse and phenomenon we know as modernity. Kasaravi's thought can be considered as an attempt at adaptation of modernity in the Iranian socio-political discourses of the earlier part of the 20th century that still has some relevance to our age. By drawing on the German critical thought, this article first tries to suggest a theoretical framework for an understanding of modernity.
In Critical Theory, the notion of "subjectivity" refers to the autonomous, self-consciousness and self-determining individual agent as one of the "pillars" of modern world. The idea of "universality," referring to the inner and outer "nature," on the other hand, is discussed as a counterpart to subjectivity, which in a dialectical fashion constitutes the other "pillar" of modernity wherein a synthesis of subjectivity and universality may be thought of as possible solution to dilemmas of modernity. One the most recent attempts to reconcile subjectivity and universality in the socio-political sphere is that of Jurgen Habermas who wishes to transform the foundation of modern world from mere subjectivity to "intersubjectivity".
A very brief discussion of this attempt is presented in this paper. In this essay it is argued that Kasravi's thought was very much tilted toward the notion of "disembodied" positivistic subjectivity that was withdrawn from nature, and hostile to the Dionysian elements in the Persian culture. However, the discourse of Hossein Kazemzadeh Iranshahr is discussed briefly first because it anticipated that of Kasravi and influenced the latter's work. Iranshahr posited a complete separation between the intellect and spirit on the one hand, and the "body" and matter on the other, that was wholly adopted by Kasravi. As a result of Kasarvi's lopsided emphasis on disembodied subjectivity his thought arrived at a notion of extremist rationality that allowed little space for the development of other aspects of the modern world or the creation of intersubjectivity necessary for the emergence of rights of citizenship for Iranians in a civil society.


The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) installed on the International Space Station has multiple event trigger modes for measuring high-energy particles and gamma rays. The observations of the low-energy cosmic-ray (CR) electrons (electrons + positrons) in an energy region from 1 GeV to 10 GeV have been successfully performed by a low-energy shower trigger mode working in the geomagnetic polar regions. The continuous measurements of the low-energy CR electrons may provide a crucial key to the understanding of the solar modulation of the galactic cosmic rays. Here we have analyzed the low-energy CR electrons measured by CALET over the past three years to investigate the solar modulation of the CR electrons. We have obtained the continuous variation of the low-energy electron flux increasing as time passes, which have been expected from a recent weakening solar cycle. We have also confirmed that there are additional small fluctuations in the flux, that has a potential to be explained by the effects of the interplanetary coronal mass ejections or the co-rotating interaction region of the solar wind.


Deed from George Bigford to Edward B. Leigh acknowledging the sale of land for $1 paid by Leigh to Bigford in exchange for "that tract or parcel of Land lying in the County of Kerr and State of Texas, described as...120 1/2 acres known as Survey No. 1946." This deed releases Bigford of all of his rights, title, and interest to the land being bought by Leigh.


Conditions are derived under which there is local nonparametric identification of values of structural functions and of their derivatives in potentially nonlinear nonseparable models. The attack on this problem is via conditional quantile functions and exploits local quantile independence conditions. The identification conditions include local analogues of the order and rank conditions familiar in the analysis of linear simultaeous equations models. The derivatives whose identification is sought are derivatives of structural equations at a point defined by values of covariates and quantiles of the distributions of the stochastic drivers of the system. These objects convey information about the distribution of the exogenous impact of changes in variables potentially endogenous in the data generating process. The identification conditions point directly to analogue estimators of derivatives of structural functions which are functionals of quantile regression function estimators.


In May and June of 1968 a dramatic wave of strikes paralyzed France, making industrial relations reform a key item on the government agenda. French trade unions seemed due for a golden age of growth and importance. Today, however, trade unions are weaker in France than in any other advanced capitalist country. How did such exceptional militancy give way to equally remarkable quiescence? To answer this question, Chris Howell examines the reform projects of successive French governments toward trade unions and industrial relations during the postwar era, focusing in particular on the efforts of post-1968 conservative and socialist governments. Howell explains the genesis and fate of these reform efforts by analyzing constraints imposed on the French state by changing economic circumstances and by the organizational weakness of labor. His approach, which links economic, political, and institutional analysis, is broadly that of Regulation Theory. His explicitly comparative goal is to develop a framework for understanding the challenges facing labor movements throughout the advanced capitalist world in light of the exhaustion of the postwar pattern of economic growth, the weakening of the nation-state as an economic actor, and accelerating economic integration, particularly in Europe.


OF DISSERTATION MEETING AT THE THRESHOLD: SLAVERY'S INFLUENCE ON HOSPITALITY AND BLACK PERSONHOOD IN LATE-ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN LITERATURE In my dissertation, I argue that both white and black authors of the late-1850s and early-1860s used scenes of race-centered hospitality in their narratives to combat the pervasive stereotypes of black inferiority that flourished under the influence of chattel slavery. The wide-spread scenes of hospitality in antebellum literature—including shared meals, entertaining overnight guests, and business meetings in personal homes—are too inextricably bound to contemporary discussions of blackness and whiteness to be ignored. In arguing for the humanizing effects of playing host or guest as a black person, my project joins the work of literary scholars from William L. Andrews to Keith Michael Green who argue for broader and more complex approaches to writers' strategies for recognizing the full personhood of African Americans in the mid-nineteenth century. In the last fifteen to twenty years, hospitality theory has reshaped social science research, particularly around issues of race, immigration, and citizenship. In literary studies, scholars are only now beginning to mine the ways that theorists from diverse backgrounds—including continental philosophers such as Derrida and Levinas, womanist philosopher and theologian N. Lynne Westerfield, and post-colonial writers and scholars such as Tahar Ben Jelloun—can expand the reading of nineteenth century literature by examining the discourse and practice of hospitality. When host and guest meet at the threshold they must acknowledge the full personhood of the other; the relationship of hospitality is dependent on beginning in a state of equilibrium grounded in mutual respect. In this project I argue that because of the acknowledgement of mutual humanness required in acts of hospitality, hospitality functions as a humanizing narrative across the spectrum of antebellum black experience: slave and free, male and female, uneducated and highly educated. In chapter one, "Unmasking Southern Hospitality: Discursive Passing in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Dred," I examine Stowe's use of a black fugitive slave host who behaves like a southern gentleman to undermine the ethos of southern honor culture and to disrupt the ideology that supports chattel slavery. In chapter two, "Transformative Hospitality and Interracial Education in Webb's The Garies and Their Friends," I examine how the racecentered scenes of hospitality in Frank J. Webb's 1857 novel The Garies and Their Friends creates educational opportunities where northern racist ideology can be uncovered and rejected by white men and women living close to, but still outside, the free black community of Philadelphia. In the final chapter, "Slavery's Subversion of Hospitality in Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," I examine how Linda Brent's engagement in acts of hospitality (both as guest and host) bring to light the warping influence of chattel slavery on hospitality in Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. In conclusion, my project reframes the practices of antebellum hospitality as yet another form of nonviolent everyday resistance to racist ideology rampant in both the North and the South. This project furthers the ways that American literature scholars understand active resistance to racial oppression in the nineteenth century, putting hospitality on an equal footing with other subversive practices, such as learning to read or racial passing.


This paper studies the role played by politics in shaping the Italian railway network, and its impact on long-run growth patterns. Examining a large state-planned railway expansion that took place during the second half of the 19th century in a recently unified country, we first study how both national and local political processes shaped the planned railway construction. Exploiting close elections, we show that a state-funded railway line is more likely to be planned for construction where the local representative is aligned with the government. Furthermore, the actual path followed by the railways was shaped by local pork-barreling, with towns supporting winning candidates more likely to see a railway crossing their territory. Finally, we explore the long-run effects of the network expansion on economic development. Employing population and economic censuses for the entire 20th century, we show that politics at a critical juncture played a key role in explaining the long-run evolution of local economies.


This paper looks at Anita Desai's novel Fire on the Mountain and Lee Yew Leong's short story "Honey, I'm Off To Be A Jellyfish Now" in a comparative manner using the framework of materialist postcolonial ecofeminism. I argue that the "other" in the form of women and animals are centred in both the novel and short story, although both women and animals are removed and distanced from society. These writers, through their stories, rework issues of violence, women and animals that are otherwise usually presented from a male point of view. The woman becomes the mediator through which animals can be read. In turn, the identity politics and relationships between men and women are mediated through the figure of the animal. I show that the position of ambivalence is important when discussing the protagonists in both the stories. Within the culture/nature binary, these women neither belong to the cultural sphere nor the natural sphere. They straddle the binary in-between, thus showing their ambivalence to both the culture/nature constructs. There is no romantic or celebratory linking of the woman to nature or animals that puts them in inferiorised positions. Within this framework, the question of violence—towards both women and animals—is key.


High trait self-control is generally depicted as favorable. We investigated whether this holds for social perception. Using vignettes, we tested whether a person with high self-control is 1) preferred as a partner for all or only certain social situations, 2) perceived as less likeable than a person with low self-control, 3) liked more if the person is female and the behavior thus fits the sex-stereotype, and 4) perceived differently from a person with low self-control with respect to a wide range of adjectives used to describe personality. Competing theories are presented for each area. Results indicate that although high self-control is associated with a wide range of socially desirable traits, choice of partners 1) depends on the type of situation in which the interaction will occur, 2) depends on the similarity between the respondent and the partner, 3) does not depend on a stereotype match, and 4) does not depend or depends only to a small degree on the partner's high self-control. The perception of individuals with high self-control is thus variable and situationally contingent, and more than a single theory is needed to explain it.


The number of bilateral and plurilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) in East Asia has increased rapidly after the 2000s behind the world trend of RTAs. Many studies tackled the challenge of figuring out the impact of FTAs in this region by applying various methodologies. The first half of this paper reviews empirical studies of ex-post evaluation of FTAs in East Asia. A look at earlier studies on the impact of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (hereafter AFTA), the first regional FTA in this region revealed that few studies found robust trade creation effects of AFTA in the 1990s. However, since the 2000s, several studies using detailed trade and tariff data on products or sectors indicate that tariff elimination under AFTA promoted regional trade among ASEAN countries. Recent studies also show tariff elimination is not necessarily the most important measure to promote trade in goods in the case of AFTA. Liberalisation measures--such as reduction of non-tariff measures, trade facilitation and coordination of rules of origin, and improvement of FTA usability--are more important measures to facilitate trade between members other than tariff elimination. Likewise, with regard to bilateral FTAs in East Asia, some ex-post evaluation studies show that these FTAs positively impact trade at some extent. These studies show that the positive impacts are brought not only by tariff elimination under the FTAs but also by other liberalisation measures. The latter half of this paper discusses a basic empirical analysis on the impact of five ASEAN+1 FTAs which have not yet been sufficiently investigated because of shortage of data. We found that trade creation effects of ASEAN-China FTA (ACFTA) and ASEAN-Korea FTA (AKFTA) appear in industrial supplies and capital goods between members. Also, trade in consumption goods is facilitated under ACFTA. On the other hand, the impact of ASEAN-Japan FTA (AJCEP) is not revealed in many cases. These results suggest that these regional FTAs potentiate the positive impact on trade when production and sales networks among members have already been developed. At the same time, the newer FTAs whose members are the same as precedent FTAs should set tariff elimination and other liberalisation measures at more liberalised level than precedent FTAs. From the perspective of effectiveness, the newer regional FTA in this region, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, needs to have a higher level of liberalisation and more inexpensive procedures for members to utilize said FTA than the existing ASEAN+1 FTAs in this region.


To assess the diagnostic value of fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) in patients with abnormal chest radiographs suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) but with negative sputum smears for acid fast bacilli (AFB), a retrospective study was made of all such cases referred to the Pulmonary Diseases Service at Hamad Medical Corporation between July 1997 and June 2000. It included patients unable to produce any sputum sample. From 193 FOB procedures, active pulmonary tuberculosis was diagnosed in 58 patients (30 %). The diagnosis was confirmed either by finding acid fast bacilli in a smear or by culture of bronchial washings or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), or by demonstrating caseating granulomata on transbronchial or endobronchial biopsy. In 19 of58 (33%) positive cases, the diagnosis was rapidly established by demonstrating AFB in smears of bronchial aspirate or by positive histopathology. It is concluded that FOB is still the gold-standard procedure in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in those patients in whom the diagnosis cannot be established by sputum examination, thus allowing early diagnosis in a significant proportion of them. The results are in agreement with similar studies.


A. C. Grayling's latest book claims that the modern mind emerged from a series of events which took place, and ideas which materialised, in the 17th century. The Age of Genius argues that the forces of democracy, secularism, enlightenment and science triumphed at this time over divine-right monarchy, religious faith, ignorance and tradition. This is a familiar thesis; it is essentially a reiteration of the core Whiggish idea of unidirectional progress, which has been successfully unpicked by decades of historians revealing contestation and an absence of preordained conclusions. Grayling's claim, in The Age of Genius, is that Whiggish historians had it right all along. He argues that religion is the enemy of reason, but that a handful of great, male thinkers unshackled the mind from its theocratic chains and thereby freed people to use their reason, understand the world, and develop a modern and scientific world view. This book contains a number of fascinating examples and descriptions, but fails to engage with historiographical developments, cherrypicks evidence from a small pool of authors, and makes numerous generalisations. The result is a simple repackaging of a well-worn and increasingly threadbare narrative.


Barycentric coordinates are very popular for interpolating data values on polyhedral domains. It has been recently shown that expressing them as complex functions has various advantages when interpolating two-dimensional data in the plane, and in particular for holomorphic maps. We extend and generalize these results by investigating the complex representation of real-valued barycentric coordinates, when applied to planar domains. We show how the construction for generating real-valued barycentric coordinates from a given weight function can be applied to generating complex-valued coordinates, thus deriving complex expressions for the classical barycentric coordinates: Wachspress, mean value, and discrete harmonic. Furthermore, we show that a complex barycentric map admits the intuitive interpretation as a complex-weighted combination of edge-to-edge similarity transformations, allowing the design of " home-made " barycentric maps with desirable properties. Thus, using the tools of complex analysis, we provide a methodology for analyzing existing barycentric mappings, as well as designing new ones.


Four significant challenges in embedded system dependability are: embedded-specific security approaches, unifying security with safety, dealing with composable emergent properties, and enabling domain experts to use advanced dependability techniques. Embedded systems permeate our everyday lives, including applications as diverse as cars, consumer electronics, thermostats, and industrial process controls. We have a surprising amount of reliance upon these systems, and we take their dependability almost for granted. Given extreme cost constraints, tremendous deployment scales, and the wide range of application domains, it is amazing that things more or less work well today. But, as application complexity increases, more applications become safety critical, and more embedded systems are attached to the Internet, we cannot expect business as usual with design approaches to maintain the level of dependability we want and need from such systems. In my opinion the biggest challenges facing embedded systems lie in the areas of creating more suitable security techniques, finding a more unified approach to safety+security, dealing with composable emergent properties, and deploying dependability techniques to small product development teams. Deeply embedded system security has significantly different constraints and requirements than enterprise and personal computing security. Embedded control systems often have severe resource constraints, limited development budgets, and stringent real time performance requirements. But an even more pressing security problem in many embedded systems is that the effects of a malicious fault can cause physical damage to people and the environment. It is less difficult to reverse or adequately insure against most malicious financial transactions than it is to reverse the release of toxins into the environment or "roll back" a multivehicle collision. Additionally, most embedded systems to date have been designed with near-zero security once an attacker has access to the internal control network. IT-based techniques for addressing that situation are unlikely to suffice due to matters of cost, real time dynamics, and lack of complete physical isolation from attackers. Inevitably, embedded system safety and security will have to merge into a unified discipline, or at least a tightlycoordinated set of sub-disciplines. It is questionable to build safety cases for most everyday systems upon a faulty presumption of perfect security. At the same time, security techniques will need to take into account the safety implications of vulnerabilities and system outages. One element of a safety and security unification strategy might be to look at security faults as an attack on the assumptions of the safety case (e.g., an attacker negates the random independence assumption of fault arrival rates). Due to the limitations and realities of embedded system development, workable dependability approaches will likely include some notion of cost-effective resilience in the face of inevitable faults, as well as a way to balance the tension among the often conflicting goals of safety, security, performance, and reliability. The good news will be that there are opportunities to exploit domain characteristics such as physical process inertia in ways not practical in desktop and enterprise computing. A long-standing problem has been increasing the composability of emergent system properties. It is desirable to have building blocks that can be composed arbitrarily without surprises, and by the same token have an ability to decompose a system architecture so that predictable building blocks can be identified in a way that minimizes crosscoupled quality attributes. Much progress has been made on this in the area of real time systems, but much remains to be done in other areas such as safety and security. An additional challenge will be ensuring the composability of massively deployed distributed systems so that, for example, a city full of smart thermostats doesn't display emergent aggregate behavior that takes down the power grid. Finally, the serious challenges posed by creating a dependable system are made more difficult when the development teams are typically composed of a handful of domain experts who may have no formal computer training beyond an introductory programming course. The traditional way to deploy advanced knowledge is via synthesis and analysis tools, and this has been done with astonishing success in IC design. More recently, model-based design has been helping embedded system designers in some domains perform code synthesis from relatively high level system behavioral descriptions. But will be a long time before tools can provide us with push-button automation that addresses the myriad aspects of embedded system dependability.


According the Oxford English Dictionary, metafiction is 'fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions…and narrative techniques.' In short, metafiction announces itself as a textual artifact and examines the very nature of fiction. Metafiction has been defined as such, but I seek the effect of the text upon the act of reading and the reader: into what space is the reader initiated when the boundaries between author-text-reader become dismantled or confused? What does the act of reading become, beyond a mere analytic exercise? I am searching for the beauty of metafiction: is there a specific aesthetic quality to metafiction? How does the importance of reading change with the recognition of a text as metafiction? Furthermore, I seek to critique the acquired definition of metafiction: do all texts have an unspoken metafictional quality to them? This thesis is an exploration of these questions, driven by the examination of fictional and theoretical texts in conjunction with my own work.


This is the fourth in a series of articles in College and University describing an attrition prediction and intervention project at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa. The project was first described in the 83(2) issue (Miller 2007). The statistical model for predicting attrition was presented in the 83(3) issue (Miller and Herreid 2008). The methods and approaches for intervening with students at highest risk of attrition were presented in the 84(3) (Miller and Tyree 2009). In this article, the researchers will describe the updated version of the prediction model. The original model was developed from a sample of about 900 First Time in College (FTIC) students enrolling at USF in the summer or fall of 2006. Due to refined practices in survey administration and data collection, the subsequent model was developed with data from about 2,700 FTIC students, generating a model in which the researchers had more confidence. It is common for colleges and universities to develop programs and activities for the purpose of enhancing student persistence ... ...but, commonly, such efforts are broadly applied, such as assistance programs directed at all freshmen. Some efforts are somewhat more narrowly applied, such as programs for first generation students or those on academic probation or who otherwise exhibit a single risk factor for attrition. However, even those programs typically provide assistance or support to a wide collection of students. Such widely applied programs may be sound for educational reasons; but, as persistence enhancement initiatives, they are often wasteful because they include many participants who would have remained enrolled at the institution without any treatment. Such programs cannot take advantage of the fact that multiple characteristics often predict attrition. The project described is intended to identify individual students who are at risk based upon a variety of factors. Given the size of the data set, it actually considers several dozen variables from survey data and from institutional data. When individual students are found to be at risk, and there is confidence in the basis for the discovery, appropriate personnel can contact them and begin the process of developing plans to enhance the chance of persistence by the individual student (Glynn, Sauer, and Miller 2005). The efficiency and cost effectiveness of this approach, especially at large institutions, is appealing to involved administrators and managers. This project also has appeal to practitioners because the model relies entirely on pre-matriculation characteristics of entering new students. That allows for a timely response to the students identified as at risk and gives the institution an opportunity to craft a legitimate early intervention program that can start even before the individual student gives any signal of disconnecting or disengaging from the university, perhaps even before the student has given thought to dropping out. In this article, we will describe the process of developing the predictive model and then present the specific elements of the model. We will also describe the process of developing interventions on behalf of individual students found to be at risk. Finally, we will discuss the implications for differences between the first model and the later one, and we will present aspects of future research that we will undertake. METHODOLOGY Data for the study were obtained from university databases and the College Student Expectations Questionnaire (CSXQ) (Gonyea 2003; Kuh and Pace 1998), which was administered to incoming FTIC freshmen in the fall of 2007. Participants in the study were 4,212 new FTic students who enrolled at the main campus of the University in the fall of 2007 and also new FTic students in the summer 2007 term who returned for the fall. Of these students, 57 percent were women and 37 percent were minority. More than 95 percent of the new FTic students were from Florida. …


Covering the period from the publication of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" to "Winnie-the-Pooh", Humphrey Carpenter examines the lives and writings of Lewis Carroll, Kenneth Grahame, George Macdonald, Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, A.A. Milne and others whose works make up the Golden Age of children's literature. Both a collective biography and a work of criticism, "Secret Gardens" forces us to reconsider childhood classics in a new light. '"Secret Gardens" permits us to see in a fresh light the interaction between cultural history and literature, and to realize that...it wasn't mere misfits who withdrew into the writing of children's books, but rather the sort of misfits who reflected the prevailing dissatisfactions of the age' - "New York Times Book Review".


Background The yeaZ gene product forms part of the conserved network YjeE/YeaZ/YgjD essential for the survival of many Gram-negative eubacteria. Among other as yet unidentified roles, YeaZ functions as a resuscitation promoting factor required for survival and resuscitation of cells in a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. Methodology/Principal Findings In order to investigate in detail the structure/function relationship of this family of proteins we have performed X-ray crystallographic studies of Vibrio parahaemolyticus YeaZ. The YeaZ structure showed that it has a classic actin-like nucleotide-binding fold. Comparisons of this crystal structure to that of available homologues from E. coli, T. maritima and S. typhimurium revealed two distinctly different modes of dimer formation. In one form, prevalent in the absence of nucleotide, the putative nucleotide-binding site is incomplete, lacking a binding pocket for a nucleotide base. In the second form, residues from the second subunit complete the nucleotide-binding site. This suggests that the two dimer architectures observed in the crystal structures correspond to a free and a nucleotide-bound form of YeaZ. A multiple sequence alignment of YeaZ proteins from different bacteria allowed us to identify a large conserved hydrophobic patch on the protein surface that becomes exposed upon nucleotide-driven dimer re-arrangement. We hypothesize that the transition between two dimer architectures represents the transition between the 'on' and 'off' states of YeaZ. The effect of this transition is to alternately expose and bury a docking site for the partner protein YgjD. Conclusions/Significance This paper provides the first structural insight into the putative mechanism of nucleotide regulation of YeaZ through dimer reorganization. Our analysis suggests that nucleotide binding to YeaZ may act as a regulator or switch that changes YeaZ shape, allowing it to switch partners between YjeE and YgjD.


Executive Summary Research on patterns of electoral revolution in post-Soviet countries strongly suggests that Afghanistan may be ripe for revolution in or before 2014, when elections are scheduled to choose President Hamid Karzai's successor. These conditions include a sociopolitical context oriented more toward personal relationships than policy issues, a strongly presidentialist constitution, and an unpopular incumbent facing a lame duck syndrome. The American pullout scheduled for that same time will likely exacerbate the lame duck syndrome and magnify the risk. While the Taliban is one possible beneficiary, it is only one of several.


OBJECTIVE: High-risk Internet behaviors, including viewing sexually explicit content, provocative social networking profiles, and entertaining online sexual solicitations, were examined in a sample of maltreated and nonmaltreated adolescent girls aged 14 to 17 years. The impact of Internet behaviors on subsequent offline meetings was observed over 12 to 16 months. This study tested 2 main hypotheses: (1) maltreatment would be a unique contributor to high-risk Internet behaviors and (2) high-quality parenting would dampen adolescents' propensity to engage in high-risk Internet behaviors and to participate in offline meetings. METHODS: Online and offline behaviors and parenting quality were gleaned from 251 adolescent girls, 130 of whom experienced substantiated maltreatment and 121 of whom were demographically matched comparison girls. Parents reported on adolescent behaviors and on the level of Internet monitoring in the home. Social networking profiles were objectively coded for provocative self-presentations. Offline meetings with persons first met online were assessed 12 to 16 months later. RESULTS: Thirty percent of adolescents reported having offline meetings. Maltreatment, adolescent behavioral problems, and low cognitive ability were uniquely associated with high-risk Internet behaviors. Exposure to sexual content, creating high-risk social networking profiles, and receiving online sexual solicitations were independent predictors of subsequent offline meetings. High-quality parenting and parental monitoring moderated the associations between adolescent risk factors and Internet behaviors, whereas use of parental control software did not. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment modalities for maltreated adolescents should be enhanced to include Internet safety literacy. Adolescents and parents should be aware of how online self-presentations and other Internet behaviors can increase vulnerability for Internet-initiated victimization.


The diversity of languages and the variation in cultures throughout the world make the process of second language learning and intercultural communication difficult. Apologies as inseparable parts of Iranian's interpersonal relationship create ambiguities for the parties as they are extended with different functions. Interpretation of these elements gets more troublesome when they are used with phatic function owing to the fact that unlike ordinary apologies, they are used when no offence has occurred and by extending them the interlocutors solely intend to open, prolong or end a conversation. Despite their importance, these types of apology have been neglected by the previous Persian speech act studies. Thus in this paper we aim at identifying apologies which have phatic function in a number of Iranian movies. Therefore we initially realize the forms (strategies) of the apologies and also find the indicators of phatic functions which distinguish them from ordinary apologies.


Objectives Oral cancer includes a wide range of malignant neoplasms and is one of the ten main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge of adults about the symptoms and risk factors of oral cancer in Zanjan city. Methods This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on 345 adults presenting to a teaching hospital in Zanjan in 2014. The data were collected using a questionnaire, which comprised of four main sections regarding symptoms and risk factors of cancer. The data were analysed using independent t-test and ANOVA. Results The mean score of knowledge of adults was 4.88 about the risk factors and 2.86 about the symptoms of cancer out of 12. No significant differences were noted in this regard between males and females or different age groups (P > 0.05). Level of knowledge was significantly correlated with the level of education (P < 0.05). Conclusion The score of knowledge of adults in Zanjan about the symptoms and risk factors of cancer was lower than the average required value in the community. It is absolutely necessary to enhance the public knowledge about oral cancer via the media.


Broadband noise due to surf that propagates kilometers out to sea with little transmission loss has been observed for many years, but rarely directly measured and characterized. In October of 1994 a coastal research experiment, DUCK94, was conducted off the coast of Duck, North Carolina. Neptune Sciences, Inc., under Naval Research Laboratory sponsorship, participated in that experiment with the objectives of obtaining ambient noise data at offshore positions for investigations of nearshore acoustic noise generated by waves and surf. Measurements were taken, using modified Navy standard sonobuoys, primarily during high surf events (wave heights of 1.7 to 2.4 Hmo,m). Preliminary analysis of the data indicates a broadband noise maxima between 400 and 600 Hz. In order to characterize ambient noise due to surf for modeling purposes, source level densities for heavy surf are currently being developed using the measured AN data and a finite element parabolic equation transmission loss model.


Fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete (FRSCC) is a high-performance building material that combines positive aspects of fresh properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) with improved characteristics of hardened concrete as a result of fiber addition. Considering these properties, the application ranges of both FRSCC and SCC can be covered. To produce SCC, either the constituent materials or the corresponding mix proportions may notably differ from the conventional concrete (CC). These modifications besides enhance the concrete fresh properties affect the hardened properties of the concrete including creep and shrinkage. Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all the assumed hypotheses about conventional concrete are also valid for SCC structures. In the present paper, a numerical and experimental study about creep and shrinkage behavior of FRSCC and SCC is performed. Two new creep and shrinkage prediction models based on the comprehensive analysis on the available models of both CC and SCC are proposed for FRSCC and SCC structures. In order to evaluate the predictability of the proposed models, an experimental program was carried out. For this purpose, four SCC mixes plain SCC, steel, polypropylene, and hybrid FRSCC are considered in the test program. Several specimens were loaded and deformation in non-loaded specimens was also measured to assess shrinkage. All specimens were kept under constant stress during at least 364 days in a climatic chamber with temperature and relative humidity of 22oC and 50%, respectively. Results showed that the new models were able to predict deformations with good accuracy, although providing deformations slight overestimated.


We present the results of a multiwavelength campaign for Mrk 501 performed in 1996 March with ASCA, EGRET, Whipple, and optical telescopes. The X-ray flux observed with ASCA was 5 times higher than the quiescent level and gradually decreased by a factor of 2 during the observation in 1996 March. In the X-ray band, a spectral break was observed around 2 keV. We report here for the first time the detection of high-energy γ-ray flux from Mrk 501 with EGRET with 3.5 σ significance (E>100 MeV). Higher flux was also observed in 1996 April-May, with 4.0 σ significance for E>100 MeV and 5.2 σ significance for E>500 MeV. The γ-ray spectrum was measured to be flatter than most of the γ-ray blazars. We find that the multiband spectrum in 1996 is consistent with that calculated from a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model in which X-rays are produced via synchrotron emission and γ-rays are produced via inverse Compton scattering of synchrotron photons in a homogeneous region. The flux of TeV γ-rays is consistent with the predictions of the model if the decrease of the Compton scattering cross section in the Klein-Nishina regime is considered. In the context of this model, we investigate the values of the magnetic field strength and the beaming factor allowed by the observational results. We compare the 1996 March multiwavelength spectrum with that in the flare state in 1997 April. Between these two epochs, the TeV flux increase is well correlated with that observed in keV range. The keV and TeV amplitudes during the 1997 April flare are accurately reproduced by a one-zone SSC model, assuming that the population of synchrotron photons in 1996 are scattered by newly injected relativistic electrons having maximum energies of γmax~6×106. However, the TeV spectrum observed during the 1996 March campaign is flatter than predicted by our models. We find that this cannot be explained by either higher order Comptonization or the contribution of the "seed" IR photons from the host galaxy for the first-order external radiation Comptonization, but we cannot exclude possible effects of the IR photons that may arise in the parsec-size tori postulated to exist in active galactic nuclei.


No sporting event has had its past and present, its highs and lows so intricately entwined with those of a country like the Tour has with France. The Tour de France is the biggest annual sporting event in the world, and at the same time it transcends sport. The Tour de France comes to the people. It passes their houses, it turns right in their village squares, it thunders through their suburban streets and into the hearts of their towns and cities. It is a unique event in that people don't so much go to see the Tour, as it comes to see them. A Race for Madmen traces how the Tour de France has developed and examines tactics, bike technology and rider preparation too. It profiles some of the men who have won the Tour de France, and others who have been key players, looking closely at their lives and motivation. Subsidiary competitions, such as the King of the Mountains prize, are featured, as well as Tour lore and traditions. The book examines the Tour's extraordinary history, and how a bike race, a simple sporting contest captured the imagination of a country, then a continent and then the world, while at the same time it has stayed uniquely French, even though a Frenchman hasn't won it for over 20 years.


What does Brexit actually mean for the UK and what are the wider implications for Europe? Was the UK 'leave' vote actually symptomatic of broader issues within Europe such as population mobility and the rise of non-traditional parties? Written by leading international authors, this timely atlas explores Europe's society, culture, economy, politics and environment using state of the art mapping techniques With maps covering over 80 topics ranging from life expectancy, greenhouse gas emissions, GDP to Eurovision voting, The Human Atlas of Europe addresses fundamental questions around social cohesion and sustainable growth as Europe negotiates the UK's exit while continuing through the economic crisis. This concise, accessible atlas is packed with exciting features, including: •short introductions to each topic •maps using the very latest data •infographics bringing this all to life •summaries of key information including league tables •core statistics on Europe Taken as a whole, the atlas shows how geographical and state boundaries only tell a partial story and that we still live in a far more cohesive Europe than we realise.


Background To reduce colorectal cancer (CRC) screening disparities, it is important to understand correlates of different types of cancer worry among ethnically diverse individuals. Objectives The current study examined the prevalence of three types of cancer worry (i.e., general cancer worry, CRC-specific worry, and worry about CRC test results) as well as sociodemographic and health-related predictors for each type of cancer worry. Methods Participants were aged 50–75, at average CRC risk, nonadherent to CRC screening guidelines, and enrolled in a randomized controlled trial to increase CRC screening. Participants completed a baseline questionnaire assessing sociodemographics, health beliefs, healthcare experiences, and three cancer worry measures. Associations between study variables were examined with separate univariate and multivariable logistic regression models. Results Responses from a total of 416 participants were used. Of these, 47% reported experiencing moderate-to-high levels of general cancer worry. Predictors of general cancer worry were salience and coherence (aOR = 1.1, 95% CI [1.0, 1.3]), perceived susceptibility (aOR = 1.2, 95% CI [1.1, 1.3), and social influence (aOR = 1.1, 95% CI [1.0, 0.1]). Fewer (23%) reported moderate-to-high levels of CRC-specific worry or CRC test worry (35%). Predictors of CRC worry were perceived susceptibility (aOR = 1.4, 95% CI [1.3, 1.6]) and social influence (aOR = 1.1, 95% CI [1.0, 1.2]); predictors of CRC test result worry were perceived susceptibility (aOR = 1.2, 95% CI [1.1, 1.3) and marital status (aOR = 2.0, 95% CI [1.1, 3.7] for married/partnered vs. single and aOR = 2.3, 95% CI [1.3, 4.1] for divorced/widowed vs. single). Discussion Perceived susceptibility consistently predicted the three types of cancer worry, whereas other predictors varied between cancer worry types and in magnitude of association. The three types of cancer worry were generally predicted by health beliefs, suggesting potential malleability. Future research should include multiple measures of cancer worry and clear definitions of how cancer worry is measured.


This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of validated numerics, an emerging new field that combines the strengths of scientific computing and pure mathematics. In numerous fields ranging from pharmaceutics and engineering to weather prediction and robotics, fast and precise computations are essential. Based on the theory of set-valued analysis, a new suite of numerical methods is developed, producing efficient and reliable solvers for numerous problems in nonlinear analysis. Validated numerics yields rigorous computations that can find all possible solutions to a problem while taking into account all possible sources of error--fast, and with guaranteed accuracy.Validated Numerics offers a self-contained primer on the subject, guiding readers from the basics to more advanced concepts and techniques. This book is an essential resource for those entering this fast-developing field, and it is also the ideal textbook for graduate students and advanced undergraduates needing an accessible introduction to the subject. Validated Numerics features many examples, exercises, and computer labs using MATLAB/C++, as well as detailed appendixes and an extensive bibliography for further reading.Provides a comprehensive, self-contained introduction to validated numerics Requires no advanced mathematics or programming skills Features many examples, exercises, and computer labs Includes code snippets that illustrate implementation Suitable as a textbook for graduate students and advanced undergraduates


3-Chloro-4-fluoroaniline 1 on reaction with potassium thiocyanate in glacial acetic acid yielded corresponding thiocyanate derivative 2, which upon oxidative cyclization with bromine in acetic acid yielded 2-amino-5-chloro-6-fluoro[2,1-b][1,3]benzothiazole 3. Compound 3 on reaction with various aromatic aldehydes yielded corresponding aryleneimines 4a-j, which upon reaction with piperazine in the presence of triethylamine gave the title compounds 5a-j. Thus synthesized compounds were characterized compounds by UV, IR, NMR and MASS spectral data. The title compounds were then evaluated for antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory activities


Abstract. Efficient and responsible management of water resources relies on accurate streamflow records. However, many watersheds are ungaged, limiting the ability to assess and understand local hydrology. Several tools have been developed to alleviate this data scarcity, but few provide continuous daily streamflow records at individual streamgages within an entire region. Building on the history of hydrologic mapping, ordinary kriging was extended to predict daily streamflow time series on a regional basis. Pooling parameters to estimate a single, time-invariant characterization of spatial semivariance structure is shown to produce accurate reproduction of streamflow. This approach is contrasted with a time-varying series of variograms, representing the temporal evolution and behavior of the spatial semivariance structure. Furthermore, the ordinary kriging approach is shown to produce more accurate time series than more common, single-index hydrologic transfers. A comparison between topological kriging and ordinary kriging is less definitive, showing the ordinary kriging approach to be significantly inferior in terms of Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiencies while maintaining significantly superior performance measured by root mean squared errors. Given the similarity of performance and the computational efficiency of ordinary kriging, it is concluded that ordinary kriging is useful for first-order approximation of daily streamflow time series in ungaged watersheds.


Patients with schizophrenia die on average 25 years earlier than the general population, and this gap appears to be increasing. Most of the excess mortality is due to premature cardiovascular deaths rather than suicide. Many psychotropic agents are orexigenic and can increase weight and promote dyslipidaemia. Traditional cardiac risk factors are undertreated among patients with schizophrenia, and they are less likely to receive cardiac revascularisation than those without a mental illness. Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic medication effective for treatment of refractory schizophrenia, but is associated with the risk of myocarditis and cardiomyopathy. Established protocols in Australia screen for myocarditis for patients who are initiating clozapine therapy and for long term monitoring for cardiomyopathy with echocardiography. Coordinated care between tertiary providers, general practitioners and primary health care professionals should monitor the physical health of people with psychosis or schizophrenia at least annually and treatment should be offered accordingly.


Nation-state efforts to account for the shift in the global communication environment, such as "public diplomacy 2.0," appear to reflect inter-related transformations – how information and communication technologies (ICTs) change the instruments of statecraft and, importantly, how communication interventions serve as strategically significant foreign policy objectives in their own right. This paper examines two cases of foreign policy rhetoric that reveal ways in which the social and political role of ICTs is articulated as part of international influence objectives: the case of "public diplomacy 2.0" programs in the United States and Venezuela's Telesur international broadcasting effort. These provide evidence of the increasing centrality of ICTs to policy concerns and demonstrate how policy makers translate contextualized ideas of communication effects and mediated politics into practical formulations.


Spirillum lunatum has been shown to possess a life cycle in which there is an alternation between a vegetative and a microcyst stage. Microcyst formation may occur from the spiral vegetative cell by: (1) fusion of two entwined organisms to form one or more microcysts ; (2) the production of a protuberance a t some point along the organism into which the entire organism is gradually absorbed; (3) the gradual shortening and rounding of the organism to form an oval to spherical body. Microcyst formation begins, in a typical broth culture, a t c. 24 hr. after inoculation and the majority of the organisms are in the microcyst stage after a 4-day incubation period. When microcysts from an old culture are inoculated into fresh media, they germinate to form the spiral vegetative organism. Germination occurs by either unipolar or bipolar emergence of the germ tube.


On 1 January 2015, the population of France was 66.3 million (of which 64.2 million in metropolitan France), an increase of 0.45% with respect to the previous year. Fertility increased slightly, to 2.0 children per woman. Women had children at a mean age of 30.2 years, and men at 33.1 years. Nearly six in ten children were born outside marriage. Net migration remained quite stable. Among residence permits issued to migrants in 2013, half were granted for family reasons, slightly less than a quarter for educational purposes, 10% for humanitarian reasons, and 7% for work-related reasons. The number of marriages (among opposite-sex couples) continued to decrease slightly. Marriage was opened to same-sex couples on 17 May 2013. Between that date and the end of 2014, 17,000 same-sex marriages were registered. The seasonality of marriages remained fairly stable, while the annual peak in civil partnerships (PACS) previously observed in the second quarter shifted to the end of the year. Mean age at marriage continued to increase, reaching 34.6 years for women and 37.2 years for men in 2013. According to provisional estimates, the number of deaths in 2014 totalled 559,300. Women's life expectancy was 84.7 years and that of men was 79.2 years, a gap of 5.5 years that has been narrowing over time.


In the Budapest Business School College of Finance and Accountancy 989 students attended the compulsory course unit Statistics I. in the Spring semester of 2011/2012 in full-time courses on bachelor level. During the semester two tests – a midterm and a final test, 50 points each – had to be written. The results, the points obtained in the two written tests, the total points and the factors influencing the results are investigated in this paper. In our opinion the accomplishment of the course on an acceptable level depends on several factors. The studies before the college provide very important information, since the completion of high school studies on a better level significantly influences the results at the college. We investigate how the performance is affected by the fact whether the students graduated at grammaror technical school, which subjects of the schoolleaving exam were taken into account and how many points were reached when they applied for admission to the college. It was also a question for us whether knowledge of languages and its level influences the level of completion of the Statistics course or not.


Objective: A food allergy is an abnormal immunological reaction against dietary protein. An increase in the prevalence of food allergy has been reported recently. Although the diagnostic steps such as history, physical examination and laboratory tests are used, the gold standard method for the diagnosis is oral food challenge. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical, laboratory findings and test results in children with confirmed food allergy. Materials and Methods: Th is retrospective study included 234 patients with suspected food allergy who admitted to our Allergy Clinic between January 2009 and August 2011. Food specific IgE, skin prick test and food challenge tests were evaluated. Th e sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of food specific IgE levels were calculated for the prediction of food allegy. Results: One hundred forty seven patients were male and the mean age was 3.7 ± 2.7 years. A total of 356 food provocation tests were performed due to the history of suspected food allergy and/or food specific IgE and skin prick test positivity. A total of 44 oral provocation test results were positive in 32 patients. Cow's milk allergy (56.8%) was found to be the most frequent identified food allergy followed by egg (29.5%) and nut allergies (9%). Th e performance of food specific IgE levels to distinguish food allergies that were determined by oral provocation tests were calculated by ROC analysis. The statistical cut-off value to predict the cow's milk allergy was found as ≥ 2.15 kU/l (p< 0.05). The negative predictive value of specific IgE cut-off level for cow's milk was found as 89.6% in our study. Coclusion: Although the oral provocation test is considered as the gold standard for the diagnosis, the detection of food specific IgE cut-off levels with good predictive values will strengthen the diagnostic studies.