Agent-based models (ABMS) simulate individual units within a system, such as the bacteria in a biological wastewater treatment system. This paper outlines past, current and potential future applications of ABMs to wastewater treatment. ABMs track heterogeneities within microbial populations, and this has been demonstrated to yield different predictions of bulk behaviors than the conventional, "lumped" approaches for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) completely mixed reactors systems. Current work included the application of the ABM approach to bacterial adaptation/evolution, using the model system of individual EBPR bacteria that are allowed to evolve a kinetic parameter (maximum glycogen storage) in a competitive environment. The ABM approach was successfully implemented to a simple anaerobic-aerobic system and it was found the differing initial states converged to the same optimal solution under uncertain hydraulic residence times associated with completely mixed hydraulics. In another study, an ABM was developed and applied to simulate the heterogeneity in intracellular polymer storage compounds, including polyphosphate (PP), in functional microbial populations in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process. The simulation results were compared to the experimental measurements of single-cell abundance of PP in polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs), performed using Raman microscopy. The model-predicted heterogeneity was generally consistent with observations, and it was used to investigate the relative contribution of external (different life histories) and internal (biological) mechanisms leading to heterogeneity. In the future, ABMs could be combined with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to understand incomplete mixing, more intracellular states and mechanisms can be incorporated, and additional experimental verification is needed.


The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of dust events. A longitudinal study of dust events that occurred in Taipei and Beijing from 2000 to 2002 was investigated. The events were separated into two groups. Group 1 was the dust events, which affected Beijing, and Group 2 was dust events, which affected Taipei. The separation of dust events by the position and extension of the polar continental high was determined. Composite analysis of geopotential height, 850 hPa vorticity and principal components (PC) were then carried out for these two categories. Comparisons of the East Asian main trough distributions, for high-low and negative-positive vorticity demonstrated differences between both of categories. PC analysis revealed that both geopotential height and wind field, for the first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) of Group 1 and Group 2 were also quite different and that the total variance ratio was greater than 90%. The results indicated that the position of the polar high in both cases was similar. The extension of the high that influenced Beijing however covered an area to the north of the Yellow River and that which influenced Taipei, covered an area to the south of the Yellow River. The results also indicated that the trough (PC1) and the cyclonic circulation (PC2) were stronger in Group 2 than Group 1.


Purpose: The overarching aim of this article is to divide EU countries into classes characterised by different levels of ecology in the field of air quality using factors in the form of emission levels of harmful substances into the atmosphere. The data included in the study concern the year 2017 and come from OECD STAT. Approach/Methodology/Design: The classification of EU countries was carried out using the cluster analysis method as one from data mining methods. The results confirmed the hypothesis that the European Union countries can be divided into three distinct classes according to the criterion of environmental performance in the area of air quality. Findings: In terms of the conditions considered for the international air quality test, concentration 3 was the best, namely Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark and Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta,Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Hungary. These are the countries that place the least burden on the atmosphere from harmful factors. The countries belonging to cluster 2, namely Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, the Netherlands, Ireland and Luxembourg, have also achieved high levels of harmful agents. It should be clearly indicated that the lowest level of emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere was found in cluster 1, and more precisely in France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy, the UK and Wolf. Practical Implications: It turns out that the good practices and recommendations of any sustainable development service do not achieve their purpose in comparison with other EU countries. It seems necessary to tighten the ban policy by imposing high fines on the prohibition of the use of all prohibited objects, devices which have a significant impact on the deterioration of air quality. Originality/Value: There are many reports on the market in the scope discussed above, rich literature compilations. The proposed model may contribute to further development in order to implement the proposed breakdown to reflect actual results in a way that does not seem to hide the worst performing countries.


This is a new account of the return to orthodoxy after Akhenaten's revolution. This new study, drawing on the latest research, tells the story of the decline and fall of the Pharaoh Akhenaten's religious revolution in the fourteenth century BC. Beginning at the regime's high-point in his Year 12, it traces the subsequent collapse that saw the deaths of many of the king's loved ones, his attempts to guarantee the revolution through co-rulers, and the last frenzied assault on the god Amun. The book then outlines the events of the subsequent five decades that saw the extinction of the royal line, an attempt to place a foreigner on Egypt's throne, and the accession of three army officers in turn. Among its conclusions are that the mother of Tutankhamun was none other than Nefertiti, and that the queen was joint-Pharaoh in turn with both her husband Akhenaten and her son. As such, she was herself instrumental in beginning the return to orthodoxy, undoing her erstwhile husband's life-work before her own mysterious disappearance.


The long-term suspension growth of normal, immature myeloid cells from fresh human cord blood was recently reported and required cells separated on supplemented discontinuous Percoll gradients, growth in media containing hydrocortisone and vitamins D3, and gentle, continuous agitation (13). When normal adult bone marrow (six donors) or blood from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-seropositive donors (nine donors) was used as a source of fresh human leukocytes, only short-term proliferation of myeloid cells was achieved with the same techniques. However, when leukocytes prepared from EBV seronegative normal adult peripheral blood were used, pure populations of monocytes and macrophages that replicate slowly in liquid suspension culture for greater than 5 mo were repeatedly obtained from three independent donors. These cultures consists of several morphologically distinguishable monocytic cell types, including an approximately 20% adherent macrophage population. The monocytic nature of these cultures was confirmed by cytochemical, immunological, and functional criteria. These monocytes retain a normal chromosome pattern and can be induced to differentiate to phagocytic cells by treatment with tetradecanylphorbal acetate. Eventually, the cultures terminate as nonreplicating mature macrophages. These liquid suspension cultures should be a valuable resource for morphological, biochemical, and functional studies of developing monocyte-macrophages and their interaction with other cell types in normal and various pathological situations.


This book review series presents current trends in modern biotechnology. The aim is to cover all aspects of this interdisciplinary technology where knowledge, methods and expertise are required from chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, chemical engineering and computer science. Volumes are organized topically and provide a comprehensive discussion of developments in the respective field over the past 3-5 years. The series also discusses new discoveries and applications. Special volumes are dedicated to selected topics which focus on new biotechnological products and new processes for their synthesis and purification. In general, special volumes are edited by well-known guest editors. The series editor and publisher will however always be pleased to receive suggestions and supplementary information. Manuscripts are accepted in English.


Language standards in the community are a recurrent theme of public debate and concern. They are rarely said to be rising, rather, to be falling. However, those in the classroom with the task of assisting students to learn to read and write are not the ones likely to pass judgment or attempt generalisations about standards. The writer investigated older school students' (Years 5 – 1 1 ) word knowledge in a large scale empirical study. The development of 280 students across the seven grades in spelling and word knowledge was explored and the pattern of use of lower to higher order strategies by those students in their attempts to spell words, write derivations and display syntactic knowledge . There was confirmation that older students gradually make less and less use of lower order strategies in spelling, writing derivations and in use of homonyms in syntactic frames.


To cope with their mercurial client, senior Trump administration lawyers have resorted to what this Article calls "lifeboat lawyering." This model can promote compliance with longstanding norms such as prosecutorial independence. However, lifeboat lawyering also carries special risks.

Lifeboat lawyering entails slow-walking presidential decisions and performing triage between especially damaging decisions and those that are less harmful. In some cases, such as ex-White House Counsel Don McGahn's heading off a massive disclosure of data related to the inner workings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, lifeboat lawyering can be useful. But lifeboat lawyers' triage is neither transparent nor accountable. The public has no way to judge whether the rash decisions that lifeboat lawyering prevents outweigh the many other unsound decisions in which administration lawyers acquiesce.

Moreover, lifeboat lawyers such as McGahn may overestimate their value in office and underestimate the salutary effects of a resignation that highlights the administration's flaws. Admittedly, these risks are present in virtually every administration, and much lawyering in the Trump administration is far more conventional. However, this administration has featured more agonizing dilemmas than its predecessors.

The Article illustrates the promise and perils of lifeboat lawyering with an analysis of Don McGahn's role in releasing a congressional report on the 2016 application of the Department of Justice (DOJ) for a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to investigate former Trump consultant Carter Page's Russia ties. Release of this FISA material was unprecedented. Moreover, the McGahn letter was insufficiently precise about the congressional report's distortions of DOJ's FISA request. Yet McGahn's approach also contained language that could have alerted attentive readers to the problems with the congressional report. That double effect reflects both lifeboat lawyering's value and its dangers.


Objective: To investigate the effect of low dose amlodipine v/s nifedipine on serum cholesterol profile of rabbits receiving standard diet. Methods: Fourty Newzealand rabbits were selected for the study. Their cholesterol profile was estimated at the beginning of the study. Rabbits were grouped into 4 groups receiving standard diet (control group), standard diet + vehicle propylene glycol, standard diet + nifedipine dissolved in propylene glycol and standard diet + amlodipine dissolved in propylene glycol. Along with standard diet they were treated with respective drugs for ten weeks. At the end of ten weeks serum cholesterol profile was estimated. Results: The cholesterol profile was estimated at the beginning and at the end of ten weeks. Total cholesterol in the amlodipine group decreased from 97±4.06 mg/dl to 90±4.2 mg/dl and HDL-Cholesterol increased from 32.01±4.40 mg/dl to 37±4.60 mg/dl after 10 week treatment but these changes were not significant. LDL cholesterol decreased significantly in rabbits with low dose of amlodipine from 55.42±3.32 mg/dl to 32.40±3.22 mg/dl and. In the nifedipine group there was a slight increase in total cholesterol from 102.49±5.16 mg/dl to 106±5.39 mg/dl, HDL cholesterol from 34.10±2.80 to 35.16±2.82 mg/dl and LDL cholesterol also increased from 56.20±2.20 mg/dl to 59.00±2.20 mg/dl after 10 week treatment. Conclusion: The study shows amlodipine produces favorable alterations in serum cholesterol profile.


BACKGROUND
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is more progressive in trisomy 21 patients. However, pulmonary arteriopathic lesions in these patients have not been fully characterized histopathologically.Methods and Results:A retrospective review of a lung biopsy registry identified 282 patients: 188 patients with trisomy 21 (Group D) and 94 without (Group N). The mean age at lung biopsy was 3 and 7 months (P<0.0001). Pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) and pulmonary vascular resistance were similar between the 2 groups. There were no significant differences in the proportion of patients with irreversible intimal lesions or the index of pulmonary vascular disease (IPVD; a measure of the degree of pulmonary arteriopathy progression) between the 2 groups. In addition, after propensity score matching for patient background (n=43 in each group), there were no significant differences in IPVD (P=0.29) or the ratio of irreversible intimal changes between the D and N groups (P=0.39). Multivariate analysis identified age (P<0.0001) and PAP (P=0.03) as the only risk factors for progression of pulmonary arteriopathy.

CONCLUSIONS
Histopathologically, early progression of pulmonary arteriopathy in patients with trisomy 21 was not proved compared with patients without trisomy 21. Although we cannot exclude the possibility of bias in the Group D and N patients who were slated for lung biopsy, factors other than pulmonary arteriopathy may affect the marked progression of clinical PH in trisomy 21 patients.


This case study examines how upper secondary schools in a municipality in the northern parts of Sweden structure their special pedagogy with students who have ADHD and dyslexia, students' and parents' experiences of this, and what regulates the schools management in this particular aspect. The results show that all the schools have special pedagogues and other support staff employed, though in varied extent. Furthermore, the resources are distributed differently from school to school. The focus, however, is always around communication between the concerned parties. Unfortunately, their good efforts to reach all students have not been successful. Not every special needs student have received the support they are entitled to. Students, as well as parents, have pointed out the shortages that they have experienced in communication, support and information about what rights they have, both as special needs students and as just students in a Swedish upper secondary school. Many of our informants have pointed out the teachers' ignorance as one reason for the disappointment regarding the support from the schools.


The dissection of the heterogeneous genetics of the Alzheimer diseases (ADs) is currently more advanced than in any other common disease. Not only are 3 uncommon autosomal dominant mutation loci identified, but universally inherited susceptibility polymorphisms associated with risk and age of onset distributions for familial and "sporadic" AD are also confirmed. The utility of testing for mutations of the amyloid precursor protein and the presenilin 1 and presenilin 2 genes conforms to strategies in common use for rare mutations. The selection of patients with very early-onset AD, especially those with family histories of the disease, will increase the possibility of diagnosis. All testing should be performed using recommended counseling procedures. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) susceptibility polymorphisms are genetic risk factors but do not allow prediction of the age of onset of AD for cognitively normal individuals. Recent large, collaborative studies have found that when ApoE genotyping is used sequentially in diagnosis following criteria-based evaluations, the specificity of early diagnosis is significantly increased. For patients clinically diagnosed with AD who carried an ApoE epsilon 4 allele, the positive predictive value was 94% and 97% in 2 multicenter collaborative series. The utility of ApoE genotyping is reviewed and recommendations for early use in diagnosis are explained. There are ethical, social, actuarial, and legal problems currently associated with genetic testing and these concerns are also discussed.


The work presented here stems from a four-year, National Science Foundation-funded project, designed to investigate the use of humanitarian service learning in education including a specific focus on international service learning and the work of Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB). As part of this work, our research team has conducted interviews or focus groups with a total of 42 students, 12 faculty, and 12 professional volunteers or mentors involved in EWB. One of the recurring themes that has emerged from these interviews is that, in most cases, the work that goes into creating and maintaining service learning opportunities receives little institutional support, both from a faculty and student perspective.


Roughly speaking, Enron has done for reflection on corporate governance what AIDS did for research on the immune system. So far, however, virtually all of this reflection on and subsequent reform of governance has come from those with a stake in the success of modern capitalism. This paper identifies a number of governance challenges for critics of capitalism, and in particular for those who urge corporations to voluntarily adopt missions of broader social responsibility and equal treatment for all stakeholder groups. I argue that by generally neglecting the governance relation between shareholders and senior managers, stakeholder theorists have underestimated the way in which shareholder-focused governance can be in the interests of all stakeholder groups. The enemy, if you will, is not capitalists (shareholders), but greedy, corrupt or incompetent managers. A second set of governance challenges for stakeholder theorists concerns their largely untested proposals for governance reforms that would require managers to act in the interests of all stakeholders and not just shareholders; in other words to treat shareholders as just another stakeholder group. I suggest that in such a governance regime it may be almost impossible to hold managers accountable to anyone – just as it was when state-owned enterprises were given "multi-stakeholder" mandates in the 1960s and 1970s.


Recent experiments revealed large-scale differences in the transcription programs of related species, yet little is known about the genetic basis underlying the evolution of gene expression and its contribution to phenotypic diversity. Here we describe a large-scale modulation of the yeast transcription program that is connected to the emergence of the capacity for rapid anaerobic growth. Genes coding for mitochondrial and cytoplasmic ribosomal proteins display a strongly correlated expression pattern in Candida albicans, but this correlation is lost in the fermentative yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We provide evidence that this change in gene expression is connected to the loss of a specific cis-regulatory element from dozens of genes following the apparent whole-genome duplication event. Our results shed new light on the genetic mechanisms underlying the large-scale evolution of transcriptional networks.


Between 1972 and 2007, altogether 17 major terror attacks or acts of sabotage were carried out against Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). None of them resulted in an uncontrolled radioactive release. In order to reduce the security risk to NPPs due to terrorists in the future, preemptive measures are necessary to identify their motivation, incentives, and operational and logistical capabilities to implement a successful attack. Physical security has always been a priority for NPP operators, but since 9/11 the global nuclear community has made additional major cooperative efforts to develop a spectrum of measures aimed at countering future security threats to NPPs. An Integrated Modular Security System (IMSS) with modular security layers is proposed for new NPPs.


The agrarian transition is considered as one of the most important drivers of socioeconomic transformation that has occurred over the past three centuries. While abundant, the related scientific literature exhibits significant lacunae with regard to the links between social change, ecological dynamics and environmental politics. Intended as a contribution to a better understanding and theorization of the agrarian transition, this project combines physical measurements, aimed at characterizing the state and dynamics of the ecological milieu, with surveys on local livelihood change, environmental knowledge, discourses and practices in contrasted localities of the Laotian uplands. On these grounds, a comparative analysis of local trajectories of agrarian transition is undertaken.


This paper presents a designed and implemented Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) based on Arduino and IEEE 802.15.4/Zigbee standards. This network consists of four end nodes; each one is connected to an individual type of sensors (lighting, temperature, motion, and distance) to form a safety network for building offices, factories, homes…etc. Also there is a fifth node in this network to collect the information from each node and send it to the base station which is a computer to be process the data and take the appropriate decision according to the program established by the user. Results confirmed that the network performs its functions with high efficiency and gave accurate readings of the surrounding circumstances. Stable reading of temperature and lighting had been achieved in the implemented network. Also, the motion and distance sensors gave good results depending on the presence of objects close to the more people moving near. In addition, the network is characterized by high flexibility and ease of programing that can be used to give various applications such as warning of fire by setting a threshold level of temperature to enable an alarm when exceeding such level. It can also be used to prevent thefts by detecting movements of the human body with distance sensor. In addition, other uses can be implemented such as controlling heating and lighting devices in homes and other buildings.


Occipital dysplasia was found in association with cervical spinal cord abnormalities in two dogs. One dog presented for tetraparesis and cervical hyperesthesia, the other for historical cervical hyperesthesia and mild paraparesis. In dog 1, a midline cervical spinal cord defect consistent with a communicating syrinx was found. In the other dog, a presumptive syringo/hydromyelia of the cervical spinal cord was found on magnetic resonance imaging. While occipital dysplasia alone is not thought to cause any clinical abnormalities, the dogs of this report suggest that intramedullary central nervous system abnormalities may be present concurrently with occipital dysplasia and should be considered as a possible cause of the clinical signs. The relationship between occipital dysplasia and syringo/hydromyelia in these dogs remains unclear, however, similar associated abnormalities are occasionally found in humans with Chiari malformation.


There is a rising concern about energy consumption in buildings and its possible adverse impacts on the environment. This situation has made the existing building owners and designers to integrate Energy Efficiency (EE) design features into their refurbishment projects. However, the complexities of the refurbishment projects and design team attributes have been argued to be the main factors that determine the EE design performance in the refurbishment projects. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to produce a framework of energy efficient design for refurbishment projects. The research objectives are (1) to identify the extent to which energy efficiency design performance measure incorporated in refurbishment projects, (2) to determine the complexity of refurbishment projects (3) to determine the design team attributes of refurbishment projects (4) to establish the extent to which design team attributes mediate the effects of project complexity on the energy efficiency design performance of refurbishment projects. The respondents for this research are Architects, Electrical Engineers, and Mechanical Engineers. The data collection started with a pilot research on twenty-three (23) respondents and followed by online final questionnaire survey that involved 510 respondents. The response rate of the online final questionnaire survey was 29.8 percent. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted to validate and refine the data collected. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Relative Importance Index (RII) analysis was used in the data analysis for both descriptive and inferential statistics. The overall relationships of the conceptual framework were analysed by using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on the PLS approach. The research found that refurbishment projects are generally moderately complex. The top three factors that caused the complexity are, 'matching of new material with the existing materials', 'the availability of energy efficient material databases' and 'integrating energy efficiency technology into the existing building'. The quality of the design team attributes and the energy efficiency design performance are also at moderate level. The findings also found that the design team attributes mediate the effect of refurbishment projects complexity on energy efficiency design performance. The research recommends the design team attributes, especially those related to Managerial Attributes should be improved in order to increase EE design performance of refurbishment projects.


Computer encryption is part of the basic infrastructure for modern digital commerce and communications. Recently it has been the subject of various proposals from the U.K. government, as well as governments in several other countries and the European Union as a whole. Whilst these proposals claim to address both the goal of improving commerce through better encryption and that of facilitating access to encrypted communications by law enforcement, the impact of the proposals is in fact to impair the former goal in order to favor the latter. They tend to call for `key escrow' or `key recovery' systems that centralize sensitive keys in databases (at `Trusted Third Parties') and permit government access in a manner similar to that in which phone wiretaps are currently conducted. This paper examines several proposals, especially the March 1997 Consultation Paper from the Department of Trade & Industry entitled `Licensing of Trusted Third Parties for the Provision of Encryption Services', and assesses their implications. We argue that key escrow represents an unprecedented intrusion on individual privacy, holds back the development of digital communications and commerce, and does not achieve the government's stated goals of helping to prevent crime. As an alternative, to address problems of law enforcement in electronic commerce and to facilitate the prosecution of crimes, we suggest a compromise proposal which we call `key archiving.'


Pesticides are commonly used around the world for a multitude of different purposes and on diverse habitats, including agricultural fields, wetlands, and personal lawns and gardens. Currently, acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-inhibiting pesticides are among the most prevalently used chemical pesticides in the United States. A wealth of information exists on sub-cellular responses of organisms, primarily birds, mammals, and fish, exposed to these compounds. However, the effects of AChE-inhibiting pesticides at the whole-organism level, most importantly effects relevant to an individual's fitness, have received less attention. My Master's research focused on describing the effects of carbaryl, an AChE-inhibiting pesticide, on several fitness-related traits in the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis). Reptiles are the least studied vertebrate taxon in ecotoxicological studies even though contaminants are suspected in contributing to recent population declines. Using multiple dose concentrations within the range expected to occur in nature (based on EPA application rates and published pesticide residues on insects), I quantified the effects of carbaryl on sprint performance energy acquisition, and energy allocation, traits which could have important implications for the animal's ability to avoid predators, capture prey, and grow and reproduce. I found that at the highest dose concentration, lizards experienced a decrease in arboreal and terrestrial locomotor performance, a decrease in energy acquisition, and alterations in energy allocation. My findings suggest that acute exposure to high concentrations of carbaryl can have important sublethal consequences on fitness-related traits in S. occidentalis. Future studies should examine the consequences of multiple-pulse exposures to AChE-inhibiting pesticides on reptiles.


The recent supply of large volumes of seawater desalinated water in Israel prompted both the development of new water quality standards and the development of a novel post treatment process, designed to comply with the new standards at a cost effective price. The new process is designed to supply water with alkalinity, Ca 2 +  and calcium carbonate precipitation potential values as required in the new criteria, along with the addition of a threshold Mg 2 +  concentration recently recommended by the WHO. The current paper describes the process in general, and focuses in particular on attaining these criteria while maintaining a low total hardness concentration (120 mg/L as CaCO 3 ). The process is based on dissolving calcite using H 2 SO 4 and replacing the excess calcium ions generated in this process by Mg 2 +  ions (using a specific cation exchange resin—Amberlite) and by Na + (using a second cation exchange resin—chabazite, from the zeolite group). Once exhausted the resins are re-loaded with Mg 2 +  and Na + by the brine generated in the RO process, thus no unwanted brines are generated. A case study is presented for which operational costs were approximated at 0.034 $US/m 3 product water.


Although administration of rIL-2 post-T depleted allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (TD-BMT) offers the prospect of augmenting immune reconstitution and thereby reducing the risks of infection and relapse, it has been unclear what direct or indirect effects this agent would have on the regenerating myeloid system. We find that addition of 200 IU or rIL-2 to patient lymphocytes obtained within 6 wk of TD-BMT results in a substantial (2 to 3 log) increase in INF-gamma secretion and the production of TNF. Cytokines present in supernatants obtained from IL-2-stimulated patient lymphocytes have two contrasting effects on myeloid cells from normal donors and from marrow recipients. They prime granulocytes for enhanced oxidative metabolism as measured by ability to generate chemiluminescence in response to FMLP, whereas IL-2 added directly to neutrophils has no effect. However, these IL-2-induced cytokines also act to inhibit myeloid progenitor growth and reduce granulocyte macrophage (GM) colony formation by a mean of 53%. Preincubation of supernatants with anti-IFN-gamma antibody partially abrogates both enhancement of granulocyte chemiluminescence and suppression of marrow CFU-GM. Addition of IL-2 directly to recipient marrow also produces inhibition, leading to a 25% reduction of GM-colony growth. This effect is not due to direct interaction between myeloid progenitor cells and IL-2, because it is completely abrogated by removal of CD8 and Leu-7+ lymphocytes from the marrow. Although the suppressive effects on marrow growth in vitro are of particular concern after BMT, the potential of IL-2 to promote granulocyte function, immune reconstitution, and anti-leukemic activity after TD-BMT justify further consideration of IL-2 therapy in this setting.


The high-resolution, smoothed particle hydrodynamics galaxies of the McMaster Unbiased Galaxy Survey are used to examine the satellite systems of 16 model host galaxies. Each galaxy has a different mass, angular momentum and merger history that yield a rich set of satellite luminosity functions. With new observations of distant satellite systems, we can compare these luminosity functions to satellite systems beyond the Local Group. We find that the luminosity functions of our simulations compare well to observations when the luminosity functions are scaled according to host mass. We use the recently found relationship between dwarf satellites and host mass in distant satellite systems to normalize a theoretical, complete luminosity function for the Milky Way. The luminosity function of satellites, expressed as a function of the host mass, is given by dN/dM_V=3.5M_host^{0.91}× 10^{0.1M_V-10.2}, where mass is given in Msun. The mass of a host galaxy can be used to predict the number of dwarf satellites and even when considering spiral and elliptical hosts separately this relation holds.


The goal of Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) is to learn a program that explains a set of examples in the context of some pre-existing background knowledge. Until recently, most research on ILP targeted learning Prolog programs. Our own ILASP system instead learns Answer Set Programs, including normal rules, choice rules and hard and weak constraints. Learning such expressive programs widens the applicability of ILP considerably; for example, enabling preference learning, learning common-sense knowledge, including defaults and exceptions, and learning non-deterministic theories. In this paper, we first give a general overview of ILASP's learning framework and its capabilities. This is followed by a comprehensive summary of the evolution of the ILASP system, presenting the strengths and weaknesses of each version, with a particular emphasis on scalability.


Large concrete structures are being built for the
production, storage and transportation of oil. The effects
of crude oil on the properties of concrete are not well known
and little data is available in the published literature.
The present investigation is divided into three parts:
1) A study of the mechanical properties of oil saturated
hardened cement paste, mortar and concrete.
2) A study of the effect of absorbed oil on the average
bond stress, and the bond stress distribution between
reinforcing bar and concrete.
3) A study of the changes in the dynamic modulus and
logarithmic decrement of concrete soaked in oil for
different periods.
All the specimens were oven dried to increase the
permeability of concrete to oil and to increase the degree of
oil saturation. The results were compared with those of
similar specimens soaked in water or sealed in polythene
bags as control specimens.
The mechanical properties. of HCPs, mortar, and concrete
studied here were adversely affected by oil saturation.
The compressive strength and elastic modulus were reduced by
amounts depending on the amount of oil absorbed. The tensile
strength was also reduced due to soaking in oil but the
reduction was less than that of the companion specimens sealed
as a reference. It appears that the oil mainly affects the
aggregate-cement bond strength.
- i -
The average bond strength between steel and concrete,
for both plain and deformed bars, decreases with an increase
in the amount of absorbed oil. The reduction. for the plain
bar was between 1.8-2.3 times greater than that for the
deformed bar. The study of the bond stress distribution
showed that at the maximum applied-load, the local bond
stress at the embedded end of the oil saturated specimens was
about six times greater than that at the loaded end.
The dynamic modulus of elasticity increased by 12-14%
after soaking the concrete in oil for 580 days compared to
the oven dried specimens. The increase w~s about 37% less
than that of similar water soaked specimens. The studies
of logarithmic decrement indicate that the loss of moisture
is the most important factor influencing damping capacity.


Wind Farms (WF) employing squirrel cage induction generator (SCIG) directly connected to the grid, represent a large percentage of the wind energy conversion systems around the world. In facilities with moderated power generation, the WF are connected through medium voltage (MV) distribution headlines. A situation commonly found in such scheme is that the power generated is comparable to the transport capacity of the grid. This case is known as Wind Farm to Weak Grid Connection, and its main problem is the poor voltage regulation at the point of common coupling (PCC). Thus, the combination of weak grids, wind power fluctuation and system load changes produce disturbances in the PCC voltage, worsening the Power Quality and WF stability. This situation can be improved using control methods at generator level, or compensation techniques at PCC. In case of wind farms based on SCIG directly connected to the grid, is necessary to employ the last alternative. Custom power devices technology (CUPS) result very useful for this kind of application. In this paper is proposed a compensation strategy based on a particular CUPS device, the Unified Power Quality Compensator (UPQC). A customized internal control scheme of the UPQC device was developed to regulate the voltage in the WF terminals, and to mitigate voltage fluctuations at grid side. The internal control strategy is based on the management of active and reactive power in the series and shunt converters of the UPQC, and the exchange of power between converters through UPQC DC–Link. This approach increase the compensation capability of the UPQC with respect to other custom strategies that use reactive power only. Simulations results show the effectiveness of the proposed compensation strategy for the enhancement of Power Quality and Wind


Conversion to a religion usually has a positive impact on the written culture of a given community. The conversion may or may not result in the adoption of a new writing system. In the Turkic world, we find examples for both cases. The Karaims, by their conversion into Karaitism, adopted the Hebrew script. They used the Hebrew alphabet up till the beginning of the 20th century in their everyday life for writing; for example, private letters and secular and religious texts in Karaim. Another Turkic speaking group, the heterogeneous Rabbanite community of Krimchaks (whose majority is of Sephardic origin) also used the Hebrew script to write their vernacular. Some characteristics of the writing systems of the Karaim and of the Krimchaks have been described, but no comparative research has thus far been carried out. In this study, the peculiarities of the Hebrew alphabet used by both Turkic speaking peoples will be discussed and illustrated. For instance, the new characters, which were introduced in order to indicate specific Turkic phonetic values, and the ways the same Hebrew vowel sign or letter is used in the different Krimchak and Karaim manuscripts.


This article observes the gentrification process in a post-socialist country of Estonia. In socialist countries, the land and properties belong to the state and therefore, the real estate market which kick-starts the gentrification process is absent. Not until socialism collapsed, countries became independent, and ownership reforms were established did properties gain value and became objects of sale. In Estonia, the real estate market started to develop after the Republic of Estonia regained independence in 1991, and the land was returned to their legal owners. Due to this historical peculiarity, the gentrification process in Estonia has some differences compared to the process occurring in Western countries.This review article deals with the gentrification process happening in a post-socialist region. In the analysis of the gentrification process development, three waves of gentrification are described,the differences between them are highlighted, and the time of their occurrence is determined.This case study deals with a small district of Tartu called Supilinn, which represents a classic case of gentrification.


The Arab–Israeli wars since 1948 resulted in several peace treaties between Israel and its neighbours brokered by the US, the Soviet Union and European countries in an attempt to achieve a just and lasting peace settlement in the Middle East. All efforts however proved ultimately futile, with the resumption of war several years after each peace treaty had been signed. For example, after the Six Day War of 1967, all parties agreed to accept a peace treaty based upon United Nations Resolution 242. However, six years after the tabling of the resolution, war broke out again on October 1973. Another long process of peace settlement ensued which culminated in the Camp David Accords, brokered by President Jimmy Carter. These peace accords, signed between President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel on 17 September 1978, led directly to the Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979. Despite its success, the 1979 treaty yet again failed to achieve the just and lasting peace settlement that had been expected. In all these treaties, the core issues of the conflict, such as the Palestinian refugee problem and the status of East Jerusalem, failed to be resolved. This article examines the British attitude and perspective towards the peace settlement after the 1973 war, focussing on the proposal for an International Peace Guarantee and the initiative of the Euro-Arab Dialogue. Based upon declassified archival records of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office available at the National Archives in England, it unveils the attitude of the British government towards the UN Resolutions as well as its collective initiatives with the European Community to establish a just and lasting peace settlement in the Middle East.


Integration of wireless power transfer (WPT) systems in roadways and vehicles represents a promising alternative to traditional internal combustion transportation systems. The economic feasibility and environmental impact of WPT applied to the transportation system is evaluated through the development of engineering system models. For a 20% penetration, results show a 20% reduction in air pollutants, 10% reduction in energy use and CO2 emissions and a societal level payback (defined as total cost of ownership savings compared to a traditional vehicle equal to roadway infrastructure) of 3 years. The modeled system covers 86% of all traffic in the US, impacts 40% of all roadways and shifts $180 billion per year from oil production to jobs in local power generation and development, construction, and maintenance of electrified roadways and new electric vehicles. Results on model sensitivity to energy prices, payback as a function of penetration, and trucking vs light duty use will be presented.


We present a method for homogenizing the Fourier spectrum for holographic digital data storage by use of a phase spatial light modulator (SLM), and methods for the recovery of data from a phase image are implemented and discussed. Binary digital data are displayed on a phase SLM operating in 0 and pi phase modes to optimally remove the intense dc peak so as to obtain a homogenized Fourier spectrum. Methods based on holographic interferometry have been developed and employed for recovery of the original amplitude data page from the phase-data page. A new edge-detection-based method also has been demonstrated and analyzed for reconstruction of the original data. Experimental results are presented to confirm the feasibility of these novel techniques.


Global warming has the potential to negatively affect one of Canada's primary sources of winter recreation: hockey and ice skating on outdoor rinks. Observed changes in winter temperatures in Canada suggest changes in the meteorological conditions required to support the creation and maintenance of outdoor skating rinks; while there have been observed increases in the ice-free period of several natural water bodies, there has been no study of potential trends in the duration of the season supporting the construction of outdoor skating rinks. Here we show that the outdoor skating season (OSS) in Canada has significantly shortened in many regions of the country as a result of changing climate conditions. We first established a meteorological criterion for the beginning, and a proxy for the length of the OSS. We extracted this information from daily maximum temperature observations from 1951 to 2005, and tested it for significant changes over time due to global warming as well as due to changes in patterns of large-scale natural climate variability. We found that many locations have seen a statistically significant decrease in the OSS length, particularly in Southwest and Central Canada. This suggests that future global warming has the potential to significantly compromise the viability of outdoor skating in Canada.


The viewpoint is that communication networking is about efficient resource sharing. The focus is on the three building blocks of communication networking, namely, multiplexing, switching and routing. The approach is analytical, with the discussion being driven by mathematical analyses of and solutions to specific engineering problems.

 The result? A comprehensive, effectively organized treatment of core engineering issues in communication networking. Written for both the networking professional and for the classroom, this book covers fundamental concepts in detail and places design issues in context by drawing on real world examples from current technologies.

 ·Systematically uses mathematical models and analyses to drive the development of a practical understanding of core network engineering problems.
 ·Provides in-depth coverage of many current topics, including network calculus with deterministically-constrained traffic, congestion control for elastic traffic, packet switch queuing, switching architectures, virtual path routing, and routing for quality of service.
 ·Includes over 200 hands-on exercises and class-tested problems, dozens of schematic figures, a review of key mathematical concepts, and a glossary.


Urbanization has considerably altered natural hydrology of urban watersheds by increasing runoff volume, producing higher and faster peak flows, and reducing water quality. Efforts to minimize or avoid these impacts, for example by implementing low impact development (LID) practices, are gaining momentum. Designing effective and economical stormwater management practices at a watershed scale is challenging; LIDs are commonly designed at site scales, considering local hydrologic conditions (i.e., one LID at a time). A number of empirical studies have documented hydrologic and water quality improvements achieved by LIDs. However, watershed scale effectiveness of LIDs has not been well studied. Considering cost, effort, and practicality, computer modeling is the only viable approach to assess LID performance at a watershed scale. As such, the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) was selected for this study. It is well recognized that model predictions are plagued by uncertainties that arise from the lack of quality data and inadequacy of the model to accurately simulate the watershed. To scrutinize sensitivity of prediction accuracies to spatial resolution, four SWMM models of different spatial detail were developed for the Ballona Creek watershed, a highly urbanized watershed in the Los Angeles Basin, as a case study. Detailed uncertainty analyses were carried out for each model to quantify their prediction uncertainties and to examine if a detailed model improves prediction accuracy. Results show that there is a limit to the prediction accuracy achieved by using detailed models. Three of the four models (i.e., all but the least detailed model) produced comparable prediction accuracy. This implies that devoting substantial resources on collecting very detailed data and building fine resolution watershed models may not be necessary, as models of moderate detail could suffice. If confirmed using other urban watersheds, this result could benefit stormwater managers and modelers. All four SWMM models were then used to evaluate hydrologic effectiveness of implementing bioretention cells at a watershed scale. Event based analyses, 1-year, 2-year, 5-year and 10-year storms of 24-hours were considered, as well as data from October 2005 to March 2010 for a continuous simulation. The runoff volume reductions achieved by implementing bioretention cells were not substantial for the event storms. For the continuous simulation analysis, however, about twenty percent reductions in runoff volume were predicted. These results are in-line with previous studies that have reported ineffectiveness of LIDs to reduce runoff volume and peak for less frequent but high intensity …


In this paper, Charles Bean, Executive Director, Chief Economist and member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, discusses the impact of globalisation on the industrialised countries and in particular the inflation process. He explains how globalisation has affected the returns to labour and capital, and the location of production in the world economy. Globalisation has also influenced relative prices, lowering the prices of imported goods but boosting the prices of oil and other commodities. And it may have changed the inflationary process, flattening the trade-off between domestic activity and inflation through a number of channels. Although globalisation has provided a benign backdrop for monetary policy, it poses a number of challenges going forward: the beneficial tailwind has waned and changes in product and labour markets have altered the determination of prices and wages in ways central bankers do not yet fully understand.


Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes influence colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. However, lymphocyte infiltration comes in different flavours and evidence has been provided that the spatial distribution of immune cells within the tumour tissue is an important immunological feature. The aim of this thesis was to investigate how the dual localization of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can affect their function in the tumour microenvironment. The project started with the analysis of the CD3 compartment, as CD3+ T cell infiltration (CD3-TILs) is a recognized positive prognostic factor for CRC patients. Results here presented show that CD3+ tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes are present both interspersed in the tumour tissue or scattered throughout the stroma (CD3-TILs) and also aggregated in lymphoid structures showing features of tertiary lymphoid tissue (CD3-TLT). Tumour-associated TLT had a peculiar compartmentalization, with CD3+ T cells and CD20+ B lymphocytes holding complementary positions and with distinct types of dendritic cell populations among them. The presence of HEVs (High Endothelial Venules) suggests a role for TLT in T cell recruitment at the tumour site. To test this hypothesis in human cancer, I performed a whole tissue analysis of the CD3+ infiltrate on CRC sections and found a positive correlation between CD3-TIL and CD3-TLT densities. I further confirmed the hypothesis in vivo in a murine model of colitis-associated cancer (AOM/DSS). AOM/DSS treated mice had expanded TLT compared to control mice. Intravenously injected GFP+ splenocytes localised in TLT of tumour-bearing mice more than in control mice. I then investigated the clinical significance of CD3-TLT in relationship with CD3-TILs in a cohort of 351 CRC patients. In patients with node-negative (without lymph node metastasis, stage II) CRC, a high density of CD3-TLT and CD3-TILs associated to a better prognosis, while in patients with node-positive (presence of lymph node metastasis, stage III) CRC, TLT and TIL density were irrelevant in predicting patient prognosis, thus behaving as biomarkers only for early stage CRC patients.

In the second part of my thesis, I analysed the distribution of B cells in colorectal cancer and their possible contribution to disease progression. Despite still controversial, increasing evidence that B cells play a role in cancer progression has been provided, bringing up the hypothesis that also B-cell responses should be considered as targets of immunotherapeutic approaches. Similarly to CD3+ cells, I showed that, both in human and in preclinical models of CRC, B cells display a dual geographical distribution, either within tertiary lymphoid tissue (CD20-TLT) or dispersed at the tumour invasive margin (CD20-TILs). Therefore, I evaluated the role of B cells according to their localization in the microenvironment. I found that CD20-TLT associated to better prognosis, while CD20-TILs did not. Interestingly, CD20-TLT correlated with CD20-TILs only among patients who experienced cancer recurrence. This result suggests that, when located within a lymphoid site, B cells might have a protective anti-tumour function, participating in an antitumour immune response. Conversely, the distribution of B cells scattered in the microenvironment is likely to reflect a non-specific pro-tumour inflammatory reaction. To confirm the hypothesis in vivo and attempt to dissect the dual function of B cells, I took advantage of two CRC preclinical models in which B cells present a distinct geographical distribution in the tumour microenvironment. In the first model, B cells mainly localise within TLT, while in the second one B cells diffusely infiltrate the mucosa, without forming aggregates. I found that in a model in which B cells localize primarily within TLT, the genetic deficiency of B cells significantly increased tumour formation, suggesting that B cells within TLT might exert an important anti-tumour function. In contrast, in a model in which B cells only localize within the tissue, genetic deficiency of B cells reduces tumour growth, suggesting that infiltrating B-TILs might have a pro-tumour role.

Therefore, the occurrence of TLT is associated with lymphocyte infiltration in CRC, contributing to recruitment of CD3-TILs. TLT and TILs work together to set up an anti-tumour immune response in patients with low-risk early-stage colorectal cancer. Thus, TLT represents a novel prognostic biomarker for CRC. As to the B cell compartment, their differential distribution in the tumour site corresponds to distinct prognostic functions. This evidence suggests that the design of novel immunotherapeutic drugs depleting B cells should take into account their ability to selectively targeting CD20-TILs but not C20-TLT.


Recent progress in Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS) provided extensive molecular mass data for complex natural organic matter (NOM). Structural information can be deduced solely from the molecular masses for ions with extreme molecular element ratios, in particular low H/C ratios, which are abundant in thermally altered NOM (e.g. black carbon). In this communication we propose a general aromaticity index (AI) and two threshold values as unequivocal criteria for the existence of either aromatic (AI > 0.5) or condensed aromatic structures (AI >= 0.67) in NOM. AI can be calculated from molecular formulae which are derived from exact molecular masses of naturally occurring compounds containing C, H, O, N, S and P and is especially applicable for substances with aromatic cores and few alkylations. In order to test the validity of our model index, AI is applied to FTICRMS data of a NOM deep-water sample from the Weddell Sea (Antarctica), a fulvic acid standard and an artificial dataset of all theoretically possible molecular formulae. For graphical evaluation a ternary plot is suggested for four-dimensional data representation. The proposed aromaticity index is a step towards structural identification of NOM and the molecular identification of black carbon in the environment.


[2]rotaxanes composed of a dibenzo-24-crown-8 wheel (DB24C8) and an axle containing two metal-complexing tetraazamacrocyclic units linked with a p-xylylene bridge, coordinating the same or different metal ions (Ni and/or Cu) are described. A symmetric di-Ni rotaxane crystallizes in the monoclinic P21/c space group with one rotaxane cation and four PF6- counterions in the asymmetric part of the unit cell. In the crystal, the cations and anions of the investigated compound form an intertwined 3D-framework with C-HF and C-Hπ intermolecular interactions. The NMR ROESY spectrum of the diamagnetic di-Ni rotaxane confirms that at room temperature slow shuttling of the DB24C8 moiety takes place along the symmetric axle. The non-symmetric rotaxane, containing 14- and 16-membered nickel(ii)-complexing macrocycles, exists in solution as an equilibrium mixture of two conformers in the ratio of ca. 1 : 7. This rotaxane behaves as a potential-controlled molecular switch: in the major isomer, the DB24C8 moiety is localized in the vicinity of the 14-membered metal-complexing macrocycle, and moves towards the 16-membered unit upon the first oxidation. Reverse translocation occurs after the subsequent oxidation of the 14-membered complex unit. In contrast, no such movements of the DB24C8 moiety were observed upon investigation of the heteronuclear [2]rotaxane, coordinating copper(ii) and nickel(ii) ions.


Often parents are concerned that their child is not being treated as an individual and that its particular needs and requirements are not recognised, or, in the case of children with SEND, ignored by the specialist professionals involved (Zablotsky et al, 2014), and in some cases by the School as a whole (Carpenter et al, 2015). Therefore, parents feel that it is necessary to pay for any extra private support their child needs, and in the case of SEND even opt for home education in order to escape the structures of a formalised, generalised education system (Badman, 2009; Parsons et al, 2009; Parsons & Lewis, 2010; Kendell & Taylor, 2016). The present study investigates two play-based approaches and how they impact upon the learning and development of children with and without SEND. These two play-based approaches have their roots in the constructivist epistemology that characterises the approach developed and advocated by Maria Montessori. The study was qualitative in nature and was itself underpinned by a social constructionist epistemological position. I chose to use three data collection methods: observation, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. These were carried out over a series of visits to the settings. Using thematic analysis and an inductive approach (Swain, 2018), I investigated the similarities and differences in the way the two settings taught children aged between two and three (without SEND) and four and seven (with SEND). The specific SEND of the children under consideration in this study was Autism Spectrum Condition. I examined a range of factors that could affect the learning and development of the children. These included the learning environment; pedagogy; methods that facilitated positive relationships between staff and children - including the key element of communication; and peer-teacher and peer-peer interactions. The impact on the children's development is critically discussed and analysed in relation to acquisition of knowledge and play-based curricula; curriculum adaptability and flexibility, autonomy-supportive teaching and freedom of choice; independent learning and development of life skills; and physical development. This approach allowed me to gather in-depth information and to investigate group processes in detail, from a micro-perspective (Klonek et al, 2016). Based on the evidence presented in this thesis, my conclusion is that play-based approaches can be highly effective in facilitating children's overall learning and development. They respond to the children's interests, allow them to work at their own pace and do not pressure them to achieve learning that is beyond their capability to grasp at any particular stage.


Kiperberg, Michael Preventing Reverse Engineering of Native and Managed Programs Jyvaskyla: University of Jyvaskyla, 2015, 60 p.(+included articles) (Jyvaskyla Studies in Computing ISSN 1456-5390; 228) ISBN 978-951-39-6436-8 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-6437-5 (PDF) Finnish summary Diss. One of the important aspects of protecting software from attack, theft of algorithms, or illegal software use is eliminating the possibility of performing reverse engineering. One common method used to deal with these issues is code obfuscation. However, it is proven to be ineffective. Code encryption is a much more effective means of defying reverse engineering, but it requires managing a cryptographic key available to none but the permissible users. The thesis presents a system for managing cryptographic keys in a protected environment and supporting execution of encrypted code. The system has strong security guarantees. In particular, the cryptographic keys are never stored on the target machine, but rather delivered to it from a remote server, upon a successful verification of its authenticity. The keys and the decrypted instructions are protected by a thin hypervisor at all times. The system allows the encryption and execution of both native and Java code. During native code execution, the decrypted instructions are inaccessible to a potentially malicious code. This is achieved by either preventing execution of any other code or by protecting the memory region containing the decrypted instructions during their execution. Java programs, unlike native programs, are not executed directly by the processor, but are interpreted (and sometimes compiled) by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Therefore, the JVM will require the cryptographic key to decrypt the encrypted portions of Java code, and there is no feasible way of securing the key inside the JVM. The thesis proposes to implement a Java bytecode interpreter inside the secure environment, governed by a thin hypervisor. This interpreter will run in parallel to the standard JVM, both cooperating to execute encrypted Java programs.


In the field of postcolonial literary studies, representations of concrete forms of mobility have not received the critical attention they deserve. This is partly due to the field's reductive understanding of "mobility" as a synonym for migration. In order to enhance dialogue between postcolonial literary studies and mobilities research, this article focuses on representations of aeromobility in the context of Afroeuropean student mobilities in a set of Francophone African novels from the 1980s to the 2010s. My reading of scenes of aeromobility in the text corpus draws attention to the anxious aspects of the air travel of unaccustomed travelers and African newcomers traveling to the former colonial center, and explores the formal functions of representations of aeromobility in terms of narrative structures and tropes.


Introduction:
 Bone marrow (BM)-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) contribute to the repair of vasculature, whereas the inflammatory cells (ICs) contribute to the vascular damage. Recently, dysfunctional brain-BM communication has been associated with an impaired BM activity, reflecting a decrease in EPCs and increase in ICs. We hypothesized that an overactive brain RAS leads to elevated sympathetic drive to the BM, which precedes the increase in blood pressure (BP), initiates the EPC/IC imbalance, and contributes to the development of vascular pathophysiology.

 Methods:
 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were infused with 15ng/kg/min Ang II ICV for 7 days. Following this, indirect BP measurements were taken, and the
 in situ
 decerebrated artificially-perfused preparation (DAPR) was used to compare thoracic (tSNA) and femoral BM sympathetic nerve activity (fSNA) between control and Ang II rats. In order to characterize tSNA and fSNA, we monitored the effects of elevated CO
 2
 (9%) on the phrenic nerve activity (PNA), tSNA and fSNA. PNA-triggered averaging of integrated tSNA and fSNA signals was performed across 100 phrenic cycles, allowing for quantification of averaged tSNA and fSNA during discrete phases of the respiratory cycle: inspiration (I), post-inspiration (P-I), mid-expiration (M-E) and late expiration (L-E). Thus, the peak levels of tSNA and fSNA during each respiratory phase could be compared across preparations.

 Results:
 We observed no differences in the BPs of control (95±5 mm Hg) and Ang II rats (96±2 mm Hg). Electrophysiology revealed a characteristic PNA pattern, and peak activity of tSNA and fSNA during the P-I phase, typical of the respiratory-sympathetic coupling. Exposure to 9% CO
 2
 elevated both the tSNA and fSNA in the control and Ang II rats. However, a 75% increase in the tSNA peak firing, and a 20% increase in the fSNA peak firing were observed in the Ang II rats when compared to the control.

 Conclusion:
 These observations demonstrate, for the first time, that elevated brain Ang II, at sub-pressor conditions, results in an increased sympathetic drive to the BM. This may initiate early impaired BM activity, reflecting in an imbalance in BM EPCs and ICs, which may contribute to the development of hypertension-related pathophysiology.


Abstract In order to ensure the quality and integrity of diagnostic semen analysis results, materials used should be tested to ensure that they do not interfere with sperm function. As a toxicity test, complex sperm function testing may be considered controversial, since the fertilizing capacity of single sperm can never be assured. In preference, sperm motility offers a unique means of assessing the toxicity of reagents and materials before they are used in routine practice. Motility is the semen parameter most likely to be influenced by the external environment. Indeed, it is the main reason that laboratories insist on supplying their own approved specimen containers and ensuring that patients, as far as possible, adhere to strict conditions for sample collection and transport prior to testing. This differs to other indirect tests of toxicity such as the mouse embryo assay, whereby the rate of mouse pre-implantation embryo development to the blastocyst stage is compared. This guideline is aimed at health care scientists who deal with andrology in both general pathology and specialised fertility laboratories, and provides a model approach to sperm toxicity testing. For assisted reproduction clinics, the same methodology can be used to test any consumables that are used for sperm processing, and as an indirect guide for any consumables that come into direct contact with oocytes and pre-implantation embryos.


In The Original Jesus biblical historian Tom Wright focuses on key stages in the life of Jesus, and key elements of his teaching, revealing a vivid reconstruction of what Jesus himself was aiming to achieve, and how the movement he began can best be understood in relation to the turbulent politics and fervent aspirations of his day. Tom Wright also looks at the way we interpret the different Gospel narratives about Jesus, showing how modern readers coming fresh to these texts can do so in an informed and discriminating way. Written in a lively, non-technical style, and illustrated throughout with full-colour photographs, The Original Jesus offers a compelling insight into what Jesus really stood for, why he was crucified, and how it was that his followers came to regard him as nothing less than the human face of God.


Multiple molecular forms of phospholipase D (PLD; EC 22.214.171.124) were identified and partially characterized in endosperm of germinated seeds and leaves of castor bean (Ricinus communis L. var Hale). The different PLD forms were resolved by nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing, and size-exclusion chromatography. PLD was detected with both a PLD activity assay and immunoblots with PLD-specific antibodies. There were three major forms of PLD, designated types 1, 2, and 3, based on their mobility during nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Molecular masses of the PLD variants were estimated at 330, 230, and 270 kD for the types 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Isoelectric points of the native type 1, 2, and 3 PLDs were approximately 6.2, 4.9, and 4.8. Under the in vitro assay conditions used, the three forms of PLD exhibited the same substrate specificity, hydrolyzing phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) but not phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylinositol (PI). The three forms of PLD differed in their substrate preferences, and the order of activities was: PLD 1, PE = PG = PC; PLD 2, PE = PG = PC; PLD 3, PE = PG = PC. The Km values of PLDs 1, 2, and 3 for PC were 1.92, 2.62, and 5.18 mM, respectively. These PLDs were expressed differentially following seed germination and during leaf development. Type 1 was found in the early stages of seedling growth and in young leaves, type 2 was present in all the tissues and growth stages examined, and type 3 was expressed in senescent tissues. The PLDs shifted from largely cytosolic to predominantly membrane-associated forms during leaf development. The present studies demonstrate the structural heterogeneity of plant PLD and growth stage-specific expression of different molecular forms. The possible role for the occurrence of multiple molecular forms of PLD in cellular metabolism is discussed.


This paper presents an overview of the model development and validation of an advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) computer code (CFD-BWR) that allows the detailed analysis of two-phase flow and heat transfer phenomena in Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) fuel bundles. The CFD-BWR code is being developed as a customized module built on the foundation of the commercial CFD-code STAR-CD which provides general two-phase flow modeling capabilities. The model development strategy that has been adopted by the development team for the prediction of boiling flow regimes in a BWR fuel bundle includes the use of local flow topology maps and topology-specific phenomenological models specifically designed for a 3-dimensional CFD code. The paper reviews the key boiling phenomenological models and focuses on several key experiment analyses for the validation of two-phase BWR phenomena models including flow regime experiments, cladding-to-coolant heat transfer and Critical Heat Flux experiments, and the BWR Full-size Assembly Boiling Test (BFBT).


This thesis focuses on fiction and poetry written by women who have migrated from former British colonies in the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia, to Britain or North America; it explores how issues of race, gender, sexuality, belonging and power are raised through the writings' accounts of migration, displacement and changing identity. The thesis stresses the importance of these writings in addressing key issues in feminist politics and in women's lives, and in making significant contributions to these debates. It argues that women's migration, and literary accounts of migration, are important to feminism, as is feminism to understanding migration. Key texts include Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga; The Unbelonging, by Joan Riley; Lucy, by Jamaica Kincaid; and No Language is Neutral, by Dionne Brand. I also draw on a number of other novels, poems and anthologies of migrant women's writings. The diversity of the texts by migrant women that form the basis of the thesis has shaped my understanding of the issues they raise; the breadth and variety of the writing calls for a wide range of critical approaches in order that the writing is, as far as possible, illuminated rather than constrained by any one critical model. I am committed throughout the thesis to a feminist approach which incorporates an attention to women's activism along with 'the theoretical'; and which takes seriously the personal/emotional implications both of the kinds of imbalances of power which many migrant women explore and resist in their writings, and of feminist theorising and practice. The thesis consists of six chapters, the middle four of which are organised into two pairs. I begin the thesis with a chapter looking at accounts of women's decisions and journeys of migration, and the personal, political and historical contexts in which their migration takes place. Chapters Two and Three, which are paired under the title 'Women and Place', examine the impact of migrant women's changing relationships with place, before and after migration, on their sense of home, belonging and identity. In Chapters Four and Five, I move on to address the significance of these writings in terms of feminist politics and contemporary debates about identity, difference and racism. I have paired the chapters under the common title 'Literary Activism' in order to highlight connections between reading, writing and political activism. In conclusion, the thesis looks at representations of women's emotional and bodily experiences of the liberatory and/or oppressive aspects of their migrations. It addresses the possibilities –or impossibilities—of migrant women living with, coming to terms with, and resisting their oppressions, both personally and politically. This final chapter brings together, and takes further, various issues addressed throughout the thesis, in terms of writers' portrayals of both the effects of migration on women's sense of themselves, and of their explorations and responses to the impact of migration.


This study investigated the hypothesis that there is a relationship between teacher practices that focus on the provision of involvement, structure, and autonomy support and student engagement (Connell & Wellborn, 1991). The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) (Pianta, R., Hamre, B., Haynes, N., Mintz, S., & La Paro, K., 2006) was used to assess practices of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade core teachers (N =17) in mathematics, English, science, and social studies in an economically-depressed, rural middle school setting. Student perceptions (N = 299) of relatedness, competence, and autonomy, and mathematics teachers' (N = 5) perceptions of student engagement were assessed using the Research Assessment Package for Schools (RAPS) (IRRE, 1998). While the findings revealed that there were significant relationships between teacher practices that center on involvement, structure, and autonomy support and student engagement, the effect sizes were found to be low.


This study applies rich data from the 2000 Swiss census to investigate the patterns of intergenerational education transmission for natives and second generation immigrants. The level of secondary schooling attained by youth aged 17 is related to their parents' educational outcomes using data on the entire Swiss population. Based on economic theories of child educational attainment we derive hypotheses regarding the patterns in intergenerational education transmission. The data yields substantial heterogeneity in intergenerational transmission across population groups. Only a small share of this heterogeneity is explained by the predictions of economic theory.


This paper argues that through the theatrical application of defamiliarization (ostranenie) the performer of 'bizarre' magic seeks to achieve an 'illusion of reality' which transcends the traditional performance-magic desire to deceive and rather create a long-lasting impression in the minds of the spectator that artistically confabulates, instilling a realistic memory spawned of a pretended reality. The article distinguishes 'presentational' from 'representational' theatrical approaches to argue that the 'bizarre' magician performs within a hyper-representational mode that the author terms 'paratheatre', meaning theatre and performance that the audience fails to recognize as such. Tracing the history of magic from its application among, inter alia, the priestly classes through stage magicians, this article discusses the 'bizarrist' aim to remove magic from the expectation of deception and any willing suspension of disbelief, and, via convincing storytelling, re-situate the magic moment into an atmosphere of genuine acceptance and even belief.


Economists have long been interested in the effect of business sentiment on economic activity. Using text analysis, I construct a new company-level indicator of sentiment based on the net balance of positive and negative words in Australian company disclosures. I find that company-level investment is very sensitive to changes in this corporate sentiment indicator, even controlling for fundamentals, such as Tobin's Q and expected profits, as well as controlling for measures of company-level uncertainty. I explore the mechanisms that link investment to sentiment. The conditional relationship could be because sentiment proxies for private information held by managers about the future prospects of the company or because of animal spirits among managers relative to investors. I find that the effect of sentiment on investment is relatively persistent, which is consistent with the private information story, albeit less persistent than other news shocks, such as Tobin's Q. But the effect of sentiment on investment is not any stronger at 'opaque' companies in which managers are likely to be better informed than investors, which argues against the private information story. Corporate investment has been weak in Australia since the global financial crisis (GFC) and demand-side factors, such as lower sales growth, explain more than half of this persistent weakness. Low sentiment and heightened uncertainty weighed on investment during the GFC but have been less important factors since then.


ABSTRACT:
Background: The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and practices of health care workers in health care facilities in Honiara, Solomon Islands towards people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and key populations.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey of 160 health care workers who voluntarily consented to complete the self-administered questionnaire. Data was analysed and presented in proportions.
Results: The majority of respondents scored >80.0% on HIV transmission, prevention and risk (TPR). In contrast, only 2/18 (11.1%) and 2/5 (40.0%) of respondents scored >80.0%  on voluntary counselling, testing and treatment (VCTD) and care and treatment (CT) questions respectively. The majority (83.9%) of participants were afraid of catching HIV at work and 73.0% of health care workers (HCW) felt it was their right to know if a patient is HIV positive to protect them at work. Main concerns about treating people living HIV (PLHIV) among the HCWs were: fear of becoming contaminated (77.7%); not having the materials needed to protect themselves (60.0%); and personal/professional stigma by association (57.1%) and stigma to clinic or health facilities (44.4%).
Conclusion: The study found that except transmission, prevention and risk knowledge, respondents generally displayed low levels of HIV knowledge with high levels of negative attitudes and unacceptable practices. There is a need for further training in HIV for these HCWs focusing on improving HIV knowledge, as well as clinical aspects of HIV care.


In this essay, I analyze three sixteenth-century Netherlandish paintings of New Testament miraculous healings in the context of the contemporary understanding of miracles and approaches to disability. I argue that, in contrast to the negative perception of the infirm in the early modern literature, the images promote care for the sick as a Christian duty. Given the complicated theological status of miracles ca. 1600, scriptural healings begin to function primarily as exempla of mercy rather than as promises of supernatural intervention. In the discussed compositions, biblical stories become a model for sixteenth-century viewers through the rhetorical use of architectural backdrops, which replicate a strategy employed in the vernacular theatre and urban festivals. Finally, I show that this connection between miraculous healings and mercy is also established in the iconography of visiting the sick, in which broadly defined medical care is introduced as a manifestation of charity.


COIE, JOHN D., and KUPERSMIDT, JANIS B. A Behavioral Analysis of Emerging Social Status in Boys' Groups. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1983, 54, 1400-1416. 4 fourth-grade boys, each different social status types-rejected, popular, neglected, and average--met in play groups once a week for 6 weeks. 5 groups were of boys from the same classroom, and 5 of the boys were from 4 different schools. Within 3 sessions, social status in the groups was highly correlated with school-based status for boys from both familiar and unfamiliar groups. Observations of behavior coded from videotapes revealed significant distinctive patterns of social interaction for the social status types. Rejected boys were extremely active and aversive, but no more physically aversive than average boys, although group members perceived rejected boys as starting fights. Popular boys engaged in more norm setting and were more prosocial in the unfamiliar groups. Although neglected boys were the least interactive and aversive, they were more visible and active in the unfamiliar group and seemed most affected by the new social context. The findings underscore the importance of distinguishing between behaviors associated with the emergence of social status in contrast to those associated with the maintenance of social status.


Asked by conference organizers to consider the impact of the Supreme Court on intellectual property this millennium, this essay offers the view that the Supreme Court's intellectual property decisions by its present members generally are premised upon what may be viewed as contrived conflicts among bodies of law. Proceeding from this faulty foundation, the Court's efforts to resolve those conflicts subsequently have generated bodies of judge-made law that frustrate in important ways the basic statutory framework of intellectual property law. Examples of cases employing this problematic approach include Bonito Boats, Dastar, Warner-Jenkinson, Festo, TrafFix, and Holmes. Avoiding the contrivances not only would have left intact congressional action that the Court has not held to have been improper in its own right, but it also would have better promoted the normative goals these regimes were designed to achieve. Far from suggesting any particular business outcome in any of these cases, the essay proceeds from a comparative institutional analysis to show how decisional frameworks different from the ones the Court used would better achieve the basic goals and institutions of the particular statutory regimes of intellectual property law at issue in these cases.


Mumiyo deposits form in the vicinity of snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) nesting sites and consist of fossil stomach oil (mumiyo), guano, and minerogenic material. Here we evaluate mumiyo deposits from the inland mountain ranges of central Dronning Maud Land as high‐resolution archives for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in Antarctica. Investigation of internal structures and chemical composition shows that the lamination reflects progressive sedimentation, despite the irregular outer morphology of the deposits. Detailed radiocarbon analysis demonstrates that stratigraphies are intact: 14C ages become successively younger upwards in the deposits. Fatty acid and n‐alcohol composition was determined on samples from eight mumiyo deposits. Dominance of low molecular weight compounds (C14 to C18) points to a dietary signal; however, the relatively low proportions of unsaturated compounds compared to fresh stomach oils indicates some postdepositional degradation. We found marine diatoms in the mumiyo, which potentially provide a proxy for sea ice conditions in the foraging habitat of the petrels. Age ranges of the investigated deposits suggest occupation of the analyzed sites by snow petrels from 17 ka to >58 ka. Changes in deposition rates point to higher occupation frequency in Petermann Range from 46 to 42 ka compared to the late marine isotope stage 3 and the Last Glacial Maximum.


Given the increasing importance of surface water bodies as supply sources of drinking water and regarding the requirement for using different chemicals at various stages of water treatment processes, it is essential to investigate coagulant consumption in water treatment plants. Determination of the required dosage of coagulants used in the coagulation and flocculation unit is one of the most important decisions in water treatment operations. For this purpose, the jar test is generally used to determine the type and concentration of suitable coagulants in a water treatment plant. However, the test is rather time-consuming and unreliable due to the inaccurate results it yields. Instead, intelligent methods can be employed to overcome this shortcoming of the jar test. In this study, experimental data were collected over the period from 2011 to 2012 and further refined for study. Two non-linear models based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and GMDH-type neural networks were then developed and experimental results were used to determine the optimum poly-aluminium chloride dosage for use at Guilan water treatment plant. The effects of input parameters including temperature, pH, turbidity, suspended solids, electrical conductivity, and color were investigated on coagulant dosage. The ANFIS model was found to outperform the GMDH model in predicting the required poly-aluminium chloride dosage.


Mutational changes makes the cells in the prostate gland undergo uncontrollable cell divisions, due to which the gland increases size, this leads to the benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). Every organ in the human body consists of few common cells, similarly prostate gland also comprises of few cell types like luminal and basal epithelial cells, neuroendocrine cells, fibroblasts, lymphocytes, macrophage and endothelial cells. Each cell has its own function based on the gene expression. Sometimes the cells also perform functions of other neighbouring cells via intercellular communication, this specific functions and intercellular communication makes any tissue stabilised and balanced that is tissue homeostasis, which is lacking in the cancer tissues.


Asphalt emulsions are a key material used for pavement preservation. Over time, asphalt concrete pavements become oxidized, which can lead to cracking and other surface deterioration. The addition of pavement maintenance treatments, such as scrub seals, chip seals, or fog seals, can rejuvenate the pavement surface as the asphalt emulsion penetrates the oxidized layer of pavement. However, most existing test methods for asphalt emulsions are empirical in nature and do not directly address field performance. With the aim of improving material characterization and testing so as to better capture field properties, this research explored using a bending beam rheometer (BBR) to measure the stiffness and rate of change of the stiffness (or m-value) of asphalt concrete mixture beams treated with asphalt emulsions. There were three components of this study. First, procedures for fabricating BBR beams from field asphalt concrete samples were developed, as the top portion of pavement is often brittle after field aging and oxidation. It was determined that beams could be successfully fabricated with reasonable geometric variability. Second, asphalt concrete BBR specimens compacted and fabricated in the laboratory were sawn and tested, with and without asphalt emulsion, to determine whether the addition of emulsion could be detected. Third, the same emulsion applied to the laboratory fabricated specimens was applied to field mixes to determine the influence of asphalt emulsion on candidate materials for pavement preservation. Overall, beam fabrication was repeatable, and coefficient of variation values for test results were lower for the laboratory compacted plant mix (10 % to 25 %) than for the field mixtures (9 % to 57 %). Emulsion addition increased the m-value and decreased the stiffness of all pavements, which indicates rejuvenation of the asphalt concrete. BBR mixture beams appear to be able to capture the effect of adding emulsion to both lab produced and field specimens, but more types of emulsions, a more comprehensive conditioning regime, and more asphalt concrete mixtures should be examined in order to determine the effectiveness of the measured performance properties of asphalt concrete with the addition of asphalt emulsion.


The work presented in this thesis is motivated by the need to develop practical guidelines to inform the pedagogical design of learning objects and the instructional contexts in which they are used. The difficulty is that there is no standard definition for pedagogical design or appropriate guidelines, in contrast with technical guidelines. Researchers and academic practitioners hold different understandings of the pedagogical values in the design of learning objects that determine their quality and effectiveness as educational software. Traditionally, empirical studies for the evaluation of learning objects gather rating data from the main consumers (i.e. instructional designers, teachers, and students) to assess a variety of design aspects. In this research, it is argues that, in order to evaluate and improve pedagogical design, valuable information can be extracted by analysing existing differences between students and how they use learning objects in real instructional contexts. Given this scenario, investigating the pedagogical aspects of the design of learning objects and how the study of students' behaviour with them can serve to inform such design became the main research interest of this thesis.

The exploratory research presents a review of standard technical guidelines and seven evaluation frameworks for learning objects that emerged in the period from 2000 to 2013, revealing a wide spectrum of criteria used to assess their quality and effectiveness. The review explores the advantages and faults of well-known methodologies and instruments for the evaluation of learning materials and presents a selection of 12 pedagogical attributes of design, with a detailed analysis of their meanings and implications for the development of learning objects. The 12 pedagogical attributes of design are: Learning Objective, Integration, Context, Multimedia Richness, Previous Knowledge, Support, Feedback, Self-direction, Interactivity, Navigation, Assessment, and Alignment.

The empirical research is based on two case studies where blended learning techniques are used as a new teaching approach for first-year Computer Programming courses at the Austral University of Chile. A virtual learning environment was customized and used in these courses to deliver different types of learning contents and assignments. Three studies were carried out for each course: the first study shows the relationships between students' interactions with different materials; the second study demonstrates the influence that learning styles exert upon these interactions, and the third study collects students' scores about the twelve pedagogical aspects of the learning resources used during the course.

The results demonstrate that a relationship exists between the pedagogical attributes of the design of different learning resources and students' interactions with them. Regardless of the learning style preferences of individuals in both cohorts, the design attributes that have the greatest effect on students' behaviour with learning objects and with the whole instructional context are Interactivity, Support, Feedback, and Assessment. From the three sources of data only a combination of two of them, behavioural data and students' scores are valuable sources of empirical data to inform pedagogical design aspects of learning resources. However, it is necessary to establish a direct mapping between design attributes and expected behavioural indicators to facilitate the identification of improvements in the pedagogical design of learning resources.


Abstract Recent research shows that negotiation of meaning in online task-oriented interactions can be a catalyst for L2 (second/foreign/additional language) development. However, how learners undertake such negotiation work and what kind of an impact it has on interactional development in an L2 are still largely unknown mainly due to a lack of focus on task engagement processes. A conversation analytic investigation into negotiation of meaning (NoM) in task-oriented interactions can bring evidence to such development, as conversation analysis (CA), given its analytic tools, allows us to see how participant orientations in interaction evolve over time. Based on an examination of screen-recorded multiparty online task-oriented interactions, this study aimed to describe how users (n=8) of an L2 (1) negotiate and co-construct language and task rules and (2) later show orientations to these rules both in the short term (50 minutes) and in the long term (8 weeks). The findings showed that in addition to negotiating existing rules, the learners co-constructed new rules around an action called policing, which occurred when the learners attended to the breach of language and task rules. Furthermore, even after the negotiation work was completed, they oriented to negotiated rules through policing their own utterances (i.e. self-policing). Overall, this interactional continuum (from other-repairs to self-repairs) brought longitudinal evidence to bear on the role of NoM in the development of L2 interactional competence. These findings bring new insights into NoM, technology-mediated task-based language teaching (TBLT), and CA for second language acquisition (SLA).


Long-TE gradient recalled-echo (GRE) scans are prone to phase artifacts due to B0 inhomogeneity. We propose a learning-based approach that does not rely on navigator readouts and allows to infer phase error offsets directly from corrupted data. Our method does not need to be pre-trained on a database of medical images that match a contrast/acquisition protocol of the input image. A sufficient input is a raw multi-coil spectrum of the image that needs to be corrected. We train a convolutional neural network to predict phase offsets for each k-space line of a 2D image. We synthesize training examples online by reconvolving the corrupted spectrum with point spread functions (PSFs) of the coil sensitivity profiles and superimposing artificial phase errors, which we attempt to predict. We evaluate our approach on "in vivo" data acquired with GRE sequence, and demonstrate an improvement in image quality after phase error correction.


This study investigated interrelations among trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters, and mental health problems among adjudicated adolescents. Girls scored higher than boys on measures of exposure to interpersonal trauma, PTSD symptom clusters, and mental health problems. Results of path analyses were consistent with the hypothesis that PTSD symptom clusters differentially mediate the relations between trauma exposure and mental health problems, with unique patterns of results for boys and girls. For all youth, avoidance mediated the association between trauma and internalizing symptoms whereas reexperiencing and arousal acted as mediators of externalizing. However, for boys only, noninterpersonal traumas also were related to PTSD symptoms, which in turn acted as mediators of internalizing. For girls only, reexperiencing and arousal acted as mediators of internalizing and associated symptoms of PTSD acted as a mediator of externalizing.


This position statement summarises the discussion that took place as part of the AHRC research networking project "Nuclear Cultural Heritage: From Knowledge to Practice" in Thurso, Scotland, 12 September 2019. This project explores the emerging field of nuclear cultural heritage. It aims to establish links between national and international nuclear cultural heritage researchers, the heritage sector and the nuclear sector. The P.I. and director of the project is Dr Egle Rindzeviciute, Associate Professor of Sociology at Kingston University London, UK.
The opinions expressed in the document are not necessarily those of the authors' employers.

Contributors:
Sam Alberti, National Museums Scotland
Will Bell, Sellafield Ltd
Robert Bud, Science Museum London
Ele Carpenter, Goldsmiths, University of London
Oliver Carpenter, Science Museum London
Wayne Cocroft, Historic England
Frank Dittman, Deutsches Museum
Philip Greatorex, Sellafield Ltd
James Gunn, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd
Rodney Harrison, University College London
Jonathan Hogg, University of Liverpool
Sandra Kemp, Lancaster University
Susan Molyneux-Hodgson, Exeter University
Eglė Rindzeviciūtė, Kingston University London
Linda Ross, University of the Highlands and Islands
Anna Storm, Linkoping University
Aditi Verma, Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD