Lynsey Dixon never plans anything. She has no commitments and no responsibilities apart from her job at a London talent agency that specialises in neurotic actresses like Melanie Chaplin. After keeping her calm head in a crisis, Lynsey is offered a transfer to Los Angeles to help Melanie settle into a new television show. Lynsey can recognise an opportunity when she sees one. An opportunity for serious star spotting and sunny days. Melanie Chaplin is excited to be famous, but being famous can make you forget yourself. Soon she is wildly in love with a married man and pregnant by her womanising co-star, Fabien Stewart. Being a star can be stressful. And why, when her career is soaring, is she jealous of the young wannabes nipping at her Jimmy Choo heels? Serena Simon is the most beautiful girl in the world. She didn't exactly choose Hollywood. When you look like Serena, Hollywood is the only place to go. She has a plan and it's working. Fame is only a photoshoot away. Any minute now someone is going to find out that this sexbomb is a teenage runaway, just fourteen years old. When Lynsey finds Serena she agrees to help her. But junior assistants are not supposed to help anyone but their bosses. It's their little secret. But secrets rarely stay that way, especially in Hollywood. Melanie's reputation takes a nosedive as fame goes to her head. Serena tries to make it as a teenager in a very adult world. They both look to Lynsey for advice and support. If she wants to keep her head in Hollywood, Lynsey Dixon needs one hell of a plan.


At first glance, the challenge of astrophotography may appear daunting. But not only are spectacular results possible, they are easy to learn with the step-by-step instructions provided in Stephan Seip's Digital Astrophotography: A Guide to Capturing the Cosmos. Today, amateurs can produce images that only twenty years ago a large professional observatory would have been proud of; and this book shows you how. Learn how to: Set up your camera for optimum results Focus your camera for razor-sharp images Take beautiful night shots with a simple compact digital camera, a tripod, and a telescope Use a DSLR camera to shoot the Sun, Moon, stars, star clusters, and nebulae through your telescope Get brilliant images of planets with a Webcam Capture remote galaxies with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera just like a pro Also included are lessons on the processing that is done in the "studio" after your shoot, including how to: Shoot RAW format images and improve them with calibration frames Take short exposures of faint deep-sky objects and combine them into a longer exposure Perform brightness, contrast, and color correction Make corrections to correct for vignetting and uneven field illumination Process your images for stunning results Equipment requirements for astrophotography range from nothing but a simple camera and tripod to a multi-thousand dollar computer controlled telescope equipped with a CCD auto-guider and separate guide-scope. Researching the best equipment for your needs is a task in itself. Seip helps you to sort out which cameras are best for the various celestial objects, what to look for when buying a camera, and what accessories you really need. The rewards of this fascinating hobby, as the author says, "Grants you unforgettable hours under the night sky; it allows you to produce aesthetically rewarding and lasting results. Astrophotography is a love-match between physics, photography, art, and digital image processing. It is exciting!"


Donald Trump would most likely not be President but for the institutional change made in the 1970s, and analyzed here, in the nature of the presidential nomination process.
In the 1970s, the United States shifted almost overnight from the methods that had been used for nearly 200 years to select party nominees, in which official representatives of the political parties played the major role in deciding the parties' candidates for President, to a purely populist mode (primaries and caucuses) for selecting presidential nominees. This article explores the contrast between nomination processes that entail a central role for "peer review" – in which party leaders have a central voice in the selection of their parties' nominees – and purely populist selection methods, such as currently used in the United States, in which ordinary voters completely control the selection of nominees and party figures have no special role.
The first half of the article is historical and focuses on the United States. The second half is comparative and explores how other major democracies structure the process of choosing party leaders and candidates for chief executive. In the historical sections, we seek to show both how radical the change was that was made in the 1970s and yet how accidental, contingent, and inadvertent this transformation was. The "framers" of these changes did not actually intend to create the system with which we ended up, in which the primaries and caucuses completely determine the parties' nominees. The comparative sections show that the U.S. system is an extreme outlier among major democracies: in no other democracy is the selection completely controlled by the mass of ordinary voters. Most other democracies use systems of pure peer review to select candidates for chief executive; or use systems that mix elements of peer review with popular participation; and in other ways continue to give official representatives of the parties much greater say than in the United States over the selection of the parties' nominees for Chief Executive.
The institutional design through which democracies choose nominees who compete to become a nation's Chief Executive is among the most consequential features in the design of democratic elections. Yet there is surprisingly little scholarship that explores this issue in detail. This article also contributes to the general analysis of the rise of populist politics in many democracies today by showing how the institutional design for how party nominees are chosen can enable or constrain how easily and quickly populist political forces are able to capture control of government.


AbstractFor integral abutment bridge (IAB) design, there is no consensus on the preferable orientation of the piles supporting the abutment, although variations can affect overall bridge behavior and forces in the piles. This paper details a parametric study of steel girder IABs that used finite-element models to compare the effects of pile orientation on bridges of various lengths and skews. For this study, the bridge lengths investigated were 15.2 m (50 ft), 30.5 m (100 ft), and 45.7 m (150 ft) with skew angles of 0, 15, 30, and 45°. H-pile orientation of webs parallel and perpendicular to the abutment centerline were investigated and compared. The results apply to the thermal response of the models and report abutment and pile displacements, pile weak-axis and strong-axis bending moments, and ratios of maximum bending moments to yield moments. Results show that there is not one optimal pile orientation; rather, optimal orientation depends on other factors. Beyond the effects of length and skew angle, c...


Following the Financial Crisis of 2008, trust in the financial industry was at an all-time low as the American taxpayer was forced to bailout the very same institutions responsible for their suffering. In response, Congress passed Dodd-Frank in 2010 to ensure another crisis like 2008 never happen again. Section 78u-6 of the Act provides incentives and protections for whistleblowers who report violations of securities laws. In recent years there has been a divide among circuit courts over the question of whether employees who report violations internally to their bosses— and not directly to the SEC—are protected by the Act. Currently, the Second, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits, have all adopted a different answer to this question. In analyzing this issue, courts have so far agreed there is only one definition of whistleblowers according to Dodd-Frank: those individuals who report directly to the Commission. The circuit split, however, is focused on whether, despite the single definition of "whistleblower" provided for by Dodd-Frank, its anti-retaliation provision nonetheless protects individuals who report internally and not directly to the SEC. This Note proposes that under a proper reading of the Act, Congress has granted the SEC broad authority to determine who is a whistleblower and has not narrowly defined a whistleblower to mean only those who report directly to the Commission.


Due to the broad bandwidths, terahertz (THz)-waves offer the possibility for wireless transmission of high data rates. Especially, broadband wireless access over short ranges and fixed wireless links based on THz-waves are very promising. They can be incorporated as a bridge for optical networks or an alternative for the connection of wireless stations in difficult environments, to transmit next generation HDTV signals or for the broadband connection of servers in a data center, for instance. The frequency range between 300 and 900 GHz is very promising for these applications since the possible bandwidth is very high and first electronic circuits will become available on the market soon. However, contrary to wireless links in the lower GHz-bands, the free-space path-loss is quite high and the attenuation due to molecules in the air or water droplets can significantly decrease the transmittable data rates in this frequency range. Here the basic properties of THz-waves will be investigated and the maximum achievable data rates for fixed wireless THz-links will be derived. In order to keep the considerations as general as possible, the derivations are based on simple assumptions and equations. Additionally, conclusions for the applicability of THz-waves for fixed wireless links with distances up to 1 km will be given and the special requirements for these systems will be discussed. As we will show, high data rates can only be transmitted via these links if transmitter and receiver antennas with very high gains are used. This requires an adaptive control of mechanical fluctuations.


The NCUACS was founded in Oxford in 1973 as the Contemporary Scientific Archives Centre, moving to the University of Bath with its present title in 1987. Thus 2003 marked our 30th anniversary: a time to celebrate achievement, take stock and prepare for future challenges. Our mission is to locate, catalogue and find permanent homes for the archives of contemporary British scientists and engineers, and thus preserve and make accessible the original source materials for the history of science. We are not an archive repository but a highly cost–effective processing centre. As specialists in scientific archives we act as intermediaries between the scientists or the scientist's families who own the archives and hand them over to the Unit for cataloguing, and the archive repositories that will look after them permanently and provide access to researchers who wish to consult them.


Abstract We consider capital controls and their impact on selected countries, providing a critique of IMF policy. We show how the warning signs of the 1970s were ignored and the consequences became apparent during the ensuing period of neoliberal hegemony. We contend that promoting increased capital mobility is counterproductive as it reduces macroeconomic 'policy space'. We introduce a development of the international policy 'trilemma' in the form of a variant of the idea of the 'quadrilemma'. We suggest that, in most cases, the key policy driving economic growth is fiscal policy but it may be that its unconstrained use (and that of monetary policy) is not possible either under fixed exchange rates or when free capital mobility exists; a nation may face a 'demi-quadrilemma'. We contend that, in practice, a country can only adopt 'two from four'; if it chooses to retain free use of monetary and fiscal policy, it must sacrifice both fixed exchange rates and capital mobility. We advocate the rejection of fixed exchange rates and free capital mobility allowing the retention of requisite monetary and fiscal policy space, and that a multinational approach to the capital control policy would effectively contribute to a growth and development strategy.


The Srepok watershed in the Central Highland of Vietnam plays an important role in the economic development of the region. Any harmful effects of climate change on natural resources may cause difficulties for social and economic development in this area. The present study aims to predict and evaluate changes of water resources in the Srepok watershed under the impact of climate change scenarios by using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model. The study used observed weather data from 1990 to 2010 for the first period and climate change scenarios A1B and A2 from 2011 to 2039 for the second period and from 2040 to 2069 for the third period. According to the climate change scenarios of the studied watershed, future minimum and maximum daily average temperature will rise in all climate change scenarios and the amount of annual precipitation will fall in scenario A1B and go up in scenario A2. Based on the simulation results, the annual water discharge in scenario A1B decreased by 11.1% and 1.2% during the second and third periods, respectively, compared with the first. In scenario A2, annual water discharge increased by 2.4% during the second period but decreased by 1.8% during the third period.


The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) has been actively promoting patient safety for a long time, well before the issue was given a firm place on the European and international agendas. Among its efforts to help raise the profile of patient safety, CPME organised a conference on the 4th and 5th April 2005 together with a group of EU health stakeholders that covered the whole spectrum of healthcare delivery. The European Conference 'Patient Safety – Making it happen!' took place in Luxembourg under the auspices of the Luxembourg EU presidency and EU Commissioner Kyprianou and resulted in the "Luxembourg Declaration on Patient Safety". This Declaration contains recommendations to the EU, national authorities and healthcare organizations. It underlines the added value of the EU and recommends joining forces with the WHO Alliance for Patient Safety. A culture of transparency, trust and safety is being sought for through the suggested use of e-health, flows of health information, patient involvement and reporting systems. CPME saw perseverance and commitment pay off as patient safety is now seen as a priority by all health stakeholders and EU institutional bodies (European Commission, presidencies and Council). However all parties realise full well that the Luxembourg Declaration on Patient Safety is only the first step. All efforts are now focussed on follow up and implementation.


Recent findings in the field of psychopharmacology pertain to the abuse of drugs and alcohol among criminal offenders and have implications for new management techniques. Drugs of abuse exert their effects on areas of the brain responsible for pleasure, providing a powerful reinforcement for drug usage. Furthermore, there is a prevalence of psychological, psychiatric and social dysfunctions that antedate drug use which are identifiable at an early age. It is suggested that drugs of abuse differentially influence users via these biological, psychological and social mechanisms, reinforcing the development of serious and chronic abuse in a vulnerable subgroup. Studies of drug abuse specially indicate that within this subgroup, antisocial behavior precedes and exacerbates drug abuse, and multiple risk factors contribute to the concomitant development of criminality and drug abuse. Early detection and comprehensive treatment of underlying disorders that may both precipitate and result from drug abuse promise to improve possibilities for prevention and reducing relapse rates. Furthermore, the inclusion of pharmacologic treatments may further enhance the success of conventional drug treatments. This article proposes that incorporating scientific data and medicalizing our approach to drug abuse is essential to win the war against drugs.


Abstract The paper analyses the dynamic procedures that work during the formation of international law in international organizations and conventional frameworks. These procedures organize and structure the interactive exercise of the normative function by law-creating bodies and law-applying bodies. The paper conceives of this 'way' of making international law as a law-making method that the concept of standardization helps to understand. Grounded in Aristotelian dialectic logic, standardization indeed conceptualizes the dialogic and procedural law-making that works for normative coherence in contexts characterized by co-operation and the heterogeneity of interests. Introducing this concept, the paper insists on the fact that it is the procedural nature of the dialogue that is crucial to reach normative coherence. Drawing on the consequences of standardization, and regarding dynamic procedures, it reappraises the status and the importance of both the different sources of international law and the different participants to international law-making. Also, the paper points out the predominance of normative coherence, as well as that of its 'guarantor', namely procedure that its author considers the cornerstone of legal certainty in the co-operative context of the international society.


A range of reforms in relation to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's (ASIC's) investigative and enforcement powers are discussed in this article. These reforms (including the protection regime for voluntary informants and the infringement notice power) are aimed at promoting a more timely and effective investigation or a more timely intervention by ASIC. Such reforms mean that ASIC can take more timely interlocutory or final remedial steps to protect and promote the confidence of corporations, creditors and investors.

An examination of the foreign regulators indicates that in some areas these regulators have superior regulatory powers and the foreign regulatory regimes afford superior protections to the individual in comparison to the situation in Australia. The current weaknesses in ASIC's regulatory powers impede ASIC's ability to achieve its public interest objectives, limit the investigative assistance that ASIC can give to both Australian and foreign regulators, limit the enforcement assistance that ASIC can give to the victims of the contraventions of the legislation and call into question the utility of the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (CLERP) reforms.
It is argued in this article that the Federal Government should consider a broader harmonisation of Australia's corporate regulatory framework with the corporate regulatory frameworks of the United States and the United Kingdom and give ASIC some of the regulatory powers that are already available to ASIC's foreign counterparts. The affected persons should be given clearer protections and remedies equivalent to those available in the United States and the United Kingdom. Such reforms have the advantage of not only improving Australia's corporate regulation laws but also enhancing ASIC's ability to participate in the global regulatory environment.


Importance: Antiseizure medication (ASM) treatment duration for acute symptomatic neonatal seizures is variable. A randomized clinical trial of phenobarbital compared with placebo after resolution of acute symptomatic seizures closed early owing to low enrollment. Objective: To assess whether ASM discontinuation after resolution of acute symptomatic neonatal seizures and before hospital discharge is associated with functional neurodevelopment or risk of epilepsy at age 24 months. Design, setting, and participants: This comparative effectiveness study included 303 neonates with acute symptomatic seizures (282 with follow-up data and 270 with the primary outcome measure) from 9 US Neonatal Seizure Registry centers, born from July 2015 to March 2018. The centers all had level IV neonatal intensive care units and comprehensive pediatric epilepsy programs. Data were analyzed from June 2020 to February 2021. Exposures: The primary exposure was duration of ASM treatment dichotomized as ASM discontinued vs ASM maintained at the time of discharge from the neonatal seizure admission. To enhance causal association, each outcome risk was adjusted for propensity to receive ASM at discharge. Propensity for ASMmaintenance was defined by a logistic regression model including seizure cause, gestational age, therapeutic hypothermia, worst electroencephalogram background, days of electroencephalogram seizures, and discharge examination (all P ≤ .10 in a joint model except cause, which was included for face validity). Main outcomes and measures: Functional neurodevelopment was assessed by the Warner Initial Developmental Evaluation of Adaptive and Functional Skills (WIDEA-FS) at 24 months powered for propensity-adjusted noninferiority of early ASM discontinuation. Postneonatal epilepsy, a prespecified secondary outcome, was defined per International League Against Epilepsy criteria, determined by parent interview, and corroborated by medical records. Results: Most neonates (194 of 303 [64%]) had ASM maintained at the time of hospital discharge. Among 270 children evaluated at 24 months (mean [SD], 23.8 [0.7] months; 147 [54%] were male), the WIDEA-FS score was similar for the infants whose ASMs were discontinued (101 of 270 [37%]) compared with the infants with ASMs maintained (169 of 270 [63%]) at discharge (median score, 165 [interquartile range, 150–175] vs 161 [interquartile range, 129–174]; P = .09). The propensityadjusted average difference was 4 points (90% CI, 3 to 11 points), which met the a priori noninferiority limit of 12 points. The epilepsy risk was similar (11% vs 14%; P = .49), with a propensity-adjusted odds ratio of 1.5 (95% CI, 0.7–3.4; P = .32). Conclusions and relevance: In this comparative effectiveness study, no difference was found in functional neurodevelopment or epilepsy at age 24 months among children whose ASM was discontinued vs maintained at hospital discharge after resolution of acute symptomatic neonatal seizures. These results support discontinuation of ASM prior to hospital discharge for most infants with acute symptomatic neonatal seizures.


– The recent sedimentary basins in Central Tunisia correspond to a set of depocenters with complex geometry which are bounded by E-W, N070 and N-S brittle structures. These bordering faults, active during Eocene and Cretaceous times, have been rejuvenated at the end of the Neogene and during Quaternary in a relay pattern system associated with compressive and extensive deformations according to the alternance of extension and compression phases (Tortonian Atlasic Phase of compression, post tectonic top Miocene-early Pleistocene extension associated to the rifting of the Tyrrhenian Basin, and Pleistocene Phase of compression). These tectonic regime changes involve subsidence inversions. Moreover, the neotectonic study carried out along the strike-slip faults corridories and their associated structures enable us : – to precise the timing of the tectonic deformations ; – to establish tectono-sedimentary relationships of Mio-Plio-Quaternary age. Introduction : geodynamical context and objectives of the study. – In Central Tunisia as in the whole Maghreb [Piqué et al., 1998 ; Piqué et al., 2002], the Mesozoic and Cenozoic evolution of sedimentary basins is largely controlled by tectonic heredity due to rejuvenation of basement discontinuities. In fact, previous studies have shown that the normal kinematics activity of The Sbiba-Cherichira fault has governed the opening and the distribution of the Cretaceous and the Eocene basins evolving in a globally extensive tectonic regime [Boltenhagen, 1981 ; El Ghali, 1993]. These old tectonics is proven, also, by the interpretation of NNE-SSW seismic profiles through this collapsed zone [Ben Ayed, 1986, fig. 3] and who reveal that subsidence had been active during the Lower Cretaceous and continued up to the Albian. In the late Miocene and early Quaternary, following the Langhian collision of Sardinia against the Northern Platform of Tunisia [Cohen et al., 1980], the Atlasic and Villafranchian Phases of compression are the most important. They were responsible for the formation of important N040 o to N070 o E Atlasic folds , N040 o to N090 o E thrusts , the opening of N120 o to N150 o E basins parallel to the shortening axis and E-W strike slip fault [Burollet, 1956 ; Ben Ayed, 1986]. In this paper, we present and discuss results of research carried out in the Sbiba-Cherichira area. This research combines interpretation of sedimentological observations and microtectonic or structural field studies [El Ghali et Batik, 1992] carried out along and near the Sbiba-Cherichira faults system, which corresponds to two separated master faults (fig. 2) : – the « Southern Sbiba Fault » developed to the west with a direction N090 o E which acted as is the southern boundary of the "Sbiba Trough" subsident area as early as the Albian (fig. 3) ; – the "Cherichira Fault" developed to the north-east with a direction N070 o E. These faults are connected by the N040 o E Labaied-Trozza Fault. Bull. Soc. géol. Fr., 2003, t. 174, n o 4, pp. 373-381 Bull. Soc. géol. Fr., 2003, n o 4 1Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Département de Géologie, 7000 Bizerte, Tunisie. 2Université Bordeaux I, UMR CNRS 5805 Avenue des Facultés, F33405 Talence cedex, France. Manuscrit déposé le 27 août 2002 ; accepté après révision le 3 mars 2003. Tortonian tectonic activity. – During Tortonian compression (orientation of the shortening axis N120 o to N140 o E) [Burollet, 1956 ; Ben Ayed, 1986 ; Philip et al., 1986 ; Martinez et al., 1990], many transformations were induced in the studied area (fig. 4a). In fact, the E-W faults of Sbiba and the N070 to N90 o E faults of Cherichira, disposed in left relay, were reactivated as dextral strike-slip faults inducing simultaneous distensive deformations (normal faults, grabens, half-grabens...) and compressive ones (folds, reverse faults, overlappings....) localised at fracturing extremity [El Ghali, 1993]. Compressive structures. – The brittle structures are associated with ductile deformations of two types : * The first one corresponds to en echelon folds including : – to the south of the E-W Sbiba Fault, in J. Tiouacha and J. Labaied, Eocene and Neogene strata which are involved in hectometric folds with a N040 o to N060 o E axial direction (fig. 4a) and an axial westward dip changing from 05 o to 60 o E ; – to the west of the J. Rebeiba fault, Lutetian and Oligocene to Lower Miocene Strata which are affected by hectometric folds with a N070 o to N090 o E direction (fig. 4a) and an axial westward dip, changing from 05 o to 20 o E [El Ghali, 1993]. All these folds are abruptly cut up by the master faults and they can be interpreted as en echelon fault propagation folds. * The second includes plurikilometric folds parallel to the strike slip faults : – the E-W anticline of J. Labaied due to the transpression responsible for reactivation of the southern Sbiba Fault with a dextral strike slip component (fig. 4a) ; – the N040 o E anticline of J. Trozza and the N070 o E anticline of J. Cherichira respectively associated with the Trozza-Labaied fault and the Cherichira fault. Because of their orientation approximatively normal to the shortening axis, these faults are reactivated reversed faults giving fault-bend folds [Suppe, 1983] thrusted to the SE with a decollement level in Triassic evaporites extruded along the fault between J. M'Rhila and J. Cherichira (fig. 4a). Distensive structures : syntectonic depocenters associated to dextral strike-slip faults. – The dextral strike-slip faults extremities develop as normal faults N140 to N160 o E in the dampening zone (fig. 4a). The east and west endings of Sbiba strike slip fault are two distensive extremities the opening mecanism of which is compatible with that of a megasplit basin at a strike-slip extremity [Harding, 1973 ; Odonne, 1981 ; Granier, 1985 ; Faugère et al., 1986...]. Top Miocene to early Pleistocene tectonic activity. – During upper top Miocene and early Pleistocene times, the Sbiba Trough was characterized by a subsidence more important than in any other place in Tunisia and was filled by continental deposits of the Segui Formation (conglomerates, sands, black clays and lacustrine limestones, fig. 5). Subsidence (500m near Haffouz, 3000m in Sbiba Trough, fig. 4b) was controlled by the activity of synsedimentary normal and strike-slip faults, forming small grabens, monoclinal grabens N090 o to N130 o E trending often cut by the Sbiba Fault (figs. 4b and 7). This extension can be considered as a post-tectonic extension relative to the Atlasic phase of compression, the orientation of the tensile axis being the same. Pleistocene tectonic activity. – In Central Tunisia, a NNW-SSE compressive phase, intervening in early Quaternary, has been demonstrated out [Burollet, 1956 ; Ben Ayed, 1986 ; Philip et al., 1986]. This "Villafranchian phase" follows distensive strike-slip tectonics of top Miocene Lowermost Pleistocene [El Ghali, 1993] and involves subsidence inversion. This phase is manifested by reverse dextral strike-slip faults on E-W segments (Sbiba and Ain Grab faults, fig. 4c) and by SE vergence overlappings on the NE-SW segments of J. Trozza (fig. 6) and N070 o E ones of Cherichira (fig. 8). In other places the top Miocene-early Pleistocene deposits of the Segui Formation are folded, producing in the Sbiba basin N070 o to N090 o E en echelon folds (fig. 4c) with westward or eastward axial dipping between 05 o and 15 o . In Jebel Ain Grab area, the folds are overturned and locally thrusted northwards producing a morphostructural dam. This latter limits to the south a sag filled with fluviatile and lacustrine deposits (fig. 9). Comparison with neighbouring regions and conclusions. – The Sbiba-Cherichira faults system correspond to an en-echelon strike slip fault inherited from a basement discontinuity. It recorded most of the main tectonic processes which affected the southern margin of the Tethys. In Central Tunisia, this faults system constitutes an evolution model of one of the major scars which affects the sedimentary cover and controls basins distribution and evolution since the Cretaceous to the Quaternary. * The Tortonian compressional episode corresponding to the Compression Atlasic Phase described from the Rif in Morocco to northern Tunisia [Viguier et al., 1980 ; Philip, 1983 ; Ben Ayed, 1986 ; Morel, 1989 ; Aite, 1995 ; Piqué et al., 2002]. The N120 o to N130 o E orientation of the shortening axis induced the most important transpression which has triggered the rejuvenation of the Sbiba-Cherichira system as a very active fault driving halokinesis of Triassic evaporites and large development of brittle and folded structures associated to wrench faulting activity as in the eastern platform of Tunisia (fig. 10) [Ellouz, 1984]. * During the top Miocene-early Pleistocene postectonic extension, the rejuvenation of older faults generated a multidirectional extension near the Sbiba-Cherichira faults system as in northern Tunisian platform [Tricart et al., 1994] or in the north-eastern platform and in the strait of Sicily [Bobier et Martin, 1976 ; Ellouz, 1984]. In the Sbiba and Haffouz basins, the multidirectional extension is responsible for the development, along the N070 o E dextral strike slip faults and N120 o E left lateral strike slip faults, of depocenters for the Segui Formation which is superimposed to Middle Cretaceous subident areas [El Ghali, 1993]. * The Upper-Pleistocene episode which corresponds to the Villafranchian Phase with a N170 o to N180 o E shortening axis in agreement with the convergence of the European and African Plate and very well documented from the southern margin of Grande Kabilie [Aite, 1995] to northern Tunisia [Ben Ayed, 1986]. Near Sbiba it induced formation of folds, thrusts or reversed faults forming morphostructural dams in which fluvio-lacustrine deposits are accumulated. Bull. Soc. géol. Fr., 2003, n o 4 374 A. EL GHALI et al.


Group-delay tracking is a method of fringe tracking used for optical stellar interferometry. It employs a photon-counting spectrometer to record short-exposure frames of channeled spectra. In each frame the number of fringes is proportional to the path difference, which can be extracted by power spectrum analysis. In this study the low-light-level limitations of the method are examined when the fast Fourier transform is used for data processing. Frame times are limited by the coherence time of the atmosphere, and for active tracking the sensitivity depends on the largest number of power spectra that can be integrated usefully. Rayleigh and Rician statistics are used to model the visibility amplitudes determined from the power spectra, and the probability of tracking loss is examined as a function of fringe visibility, the number of photons per frame, and the number of integrated frames. The effect of bracketing the fringe peak with a filter is also examined, and simulations are used to verify the predictions.


Contours of African American Politics chronicles the systematic study of African American politics and its subsequent recognition as an established field of scholarly inquiry. African American politics emanates from the demands of the prolonged struggle for black liberation and empowerment. Hence, the study of African American politics has sought to track, codify, and analyse the struggle that has been mounted, and to understand the historic and changing political status of African Americans within American society. This two-volume set presents a selection of scholarship on African American politics as it appeared in The National Political Science Review from its initial launch in 1989 to the spring of 2009. Represented are contributions from some of the leading scholars of African American politics, who have helped to establish and sustain the field. The volumes are organised around themes that derive from the unfolding real-life drama of African American politics and its subsequent scholarly treatment. The result is a window into the political efforts that meld the historically disparate strands of black political expressions into a reconstructed and strategically nimble, electoral-based mass mobilisation necessary for optimising the impact of the African American vote. Sections in the volumes also chronicle the evolution of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists as a professional organisation. The two volumes illuminate a pivotal epoch in black political empowerment and provide a context for the future of black politics.


The new Kenyan Constitution gives a very critical treatment to gender. It seeks to repudiate the historical exclusion of women from the mainstream society. It strikes at the socio-legal barriers that Kenyan women have faced over history. Compared with the old constitutional order, the new legal framework not only creates space for women to maneuver their way in the private and public sphere on an equal footing with men, but also institutionalizes direct gender-specific measures that seek to correct the consequences of women's historical exclusion from the society. Such measures include affirmative action. Through affirmative action, the new constitution seeks to elevate women to a pedestal that has hitherto been the preserve of men. In this paper, we trace the legal position of women throughout Kenya's history. We argue that in the pre-colonial and colonial period women had a more or less diminished legal status. This situation did not change much after independence and throughout the subsequent regimes women's legal status did not improve. The law discriminated against them either directly or in its effect. While multi-partys brought some gains, these were not significant enough to break off the legal and social chains that beset women in Kenya. The new constitution is a culmination of the incremental steps taken by the country to level the socio-legal terrain in favor of women. It provides the same opportunities for men and women. At the same time it seeks to rectify the imbalances that women have suffered throughout years of historical exclusion. The new constitution represents a significant improvement in women's status in Kenya in all spheres of life. We discuss the opportunities and suggest that if women are to make a wholesome contribution to the Kenyan society they must take advantage of the framework in the new constitutional dispensation.


Previous research has shown that sound symbolism facilitates action label learning when the test trial used to assess learning immediately followed the training trial in which the (novel) verb was taught. The current study investigated whether sound symbolism benefits verb learning in the long term. Forty-nine children were taught either sound-symbolically matching or mismatching pairs made up of a novel verb and an action video. The following day, the children were asked whether a verb can be used for a scene shown in a video. They were tested with four videos for each word they had been taught. The four videos differed as to whether they contained the same or different actions and actors as in the training video: (1) same-action, same-actor; (2) same-action, different-actor; (3) different-action, same-actor; and (4) different-action, different-actor. The results showed that sound symbolism significantly improved the childrens' ability to encode the semantic representation of the novel verb and correctly generalise it to a new event the following day. A control experiment ruled out the possibility that children were generalising to the "same-action, different-actor" video because they did not recognize the actor change due to the memory decay. Nineteen children were presented with the stimulus videos that had also been shown to children in the sound symbolic match condition in Experiment 1, but this time the videos were not labeled. In the test session the following day, the experimenter tested the children's recognition memory for the videos. The results indicated that the children could detect the actor change from the original training video a day later. The results of the main experiment and the control experiment support the idea that a motivated (iconic) link between form and meaning facilitates the symbolic development in children. The current study, along with recent related studies, provided further evidence for an iconic advantage in symbol development in the domain of verb learning. A motivated form-meaning relationship can help children learn new words and store them long term in the mental lexicon.


Speaking Code begins by invoking the "Hello World" convention used by programmers when learning a new language, helping to establish the interplay of text and code that runs through the book. Interweaving the voice of critical writing from the humanities with the tradition of computing and software development, in Speaking Code Geoff Cox formulates an argument that aims to undermine the distinctions between criticism and practice and to emphasize the aesthetic and political implications of software studies. Not reducible to its functional aspects, program code mirrors the instability inherent in the relationship of speech to language; it is only interpretable in the context of its distribution and network of operations. Code is understood as both script and performance, Cox argues, and is in this sense like spoken language--always ready for action. Speaking Code examines the expressive and performative aspects of programming; alternatives to mainstream development, from performances of the live-coding scene to the organizational forms of peer production; the democratic promise of social media and their actual role in suppressing political expression; and the market's emptying out of possibilities for free expression in the public realm. Cox defends language against its invasion by economics, arguing that speech continues to underscore the human condition, however paradoxical this may seem in an era of pervasive computing.


It is unnecessary here to justify the importance of landforms in the study of geography and the claim that their full understanding requires careful field observation. What is true of geography as a discipline is vital in its teaching. This is the essence of the problem. of good geography teaching, for it can be taught with textbooks and chalkboard, but to be successful these must be supported by skilful use of visual materials and field work, both of which make great demands on the time and energy of the teacher. Without them the student is equipped with a mass of factual material, a poor foundation for further academic study and only a small contribution to his real education. He may understand the mechanics of the earth's structure or the processes of denudation and yet be incapable of recognising the consequences of these on the landscape or a map. Such dangers in unimaginative formal teaching are numerous, and the concentric approach, working from the known to the unknown, and sample studies, while not complete answers in themselves are attempts to provide a basis in comprehensible features. At the same time there has been a commendable increase in fieldwork in schools which is the best way to bring reality and understanding into geographical teaching.


Abstract The striking arrangement of colorful facies in the sandstones outcrops of the Los Chihuidos high, Argentina, has been attributed to the surface expression of hydrocarbon-induced alteration. The Huincul Formation (late Cenomanian–early Turonian) is part of the thick continental red-bed-dominated Neuquen Group, which consists of meandering fluvial deposits developed in a foreland basin. Visual distinctions reveal four diagenetic facies: red, white, gray, and minor brown sandstones. Differences in the diagenetic mineralogy among sandstones facies are interpreted to depend on the degree of interaction with hydrocarbon-bearing solutions and the relative position of the redox roll front developed during this process. The red facies represents the original oxidized sandstone, with hematite, kaolinite, quartz and albite overgrowths, and calcite cement precipitated under oxidizing conditions during the regional burial diagenesis. The white facies formed during the interaction of red beds with reduced fluids (in presence of hydrocarbons or organic acids), where clasts and cement were partially dissolved, and iron was reduced to Fe2+ due to redox reactions and removed, resulting in the sandstone decoloration and in a marked development of the secondary porosity. Minor montmorillonite replaced kaolinite and detrital feldspars, and a poikilotopic calcite precipitated, filling the pores. The gray and the brown sandstone bound the redox front, which is characterized by the presence of abundant clay minerals and oxide minerals enriched in vanadium and copper. Montmorillonite and secondary hematite are dominant in the more oxidized gray sandstones whereas interstratified chlorite–montmorillonite is more abundant in the more reduced brown sandstones. The coexistence of these minerals indicates metastable reducing–oxidizing conditions at the redox front. Based on diagenetic characteristics, tectonic framework, maturation timing of source rocks, and petroleum-emplacement history, hydrocarbons could have migrated into the Huincul Formation during the Tertiary uplift, but later erosion could have released the hydrocarbons and exhumed the reservoir. This multi-scale investigation of diagenetic features related to burial history and to structure-controlled upflow of hydrocarbons in a succession of siliciclastic rocks enhances modeling of a regional-scale redox system worldwide. Our study offers new insight into the application of authigenic minerals to trace hydrocarbon pathways along red beds and to evaluate the reservoir quality, in the understanding the importance of fluid compositions, mixing, and fluid–rock interaction along a major redox system.


The Batak Toba sub-ethnic is an indegenous tribe in Sumatra Island, who has local knowledge of using plants as food (edible plants). This study aims to (1) document the non-cultivated plants used by Batak Toba sub-ethnic as edible plants; (2) compare the quantitative values of edible plants by Batak Toba sub-ethnic. The study was conducted with ethnobotany approach through surveys and parcifative observations. The interviews were conducted toward key informants (7 people) and the general respondents (30 people). The general respondents were grouped into 17-30 years old, 30-50 years old, more than 50 years old, which the numbers of each were 10 respondents. The data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The quantitative analysis was done by calculating the relative frequency of citation (RFC), and informant consensus factor (ICF). This research found a total of 44 species belonging to the 28 families and 40 genera have been used by Batak Toba sub-ethnic as edible plants. The edible plants have been used as vegetables (18 species), fruits (16 species), spices (6 species), and drinks (3 species). The mean of species known by respondents were 15.8 ± 5.18 (17-30 years old), 23.2 ± 3.58 (30-50 years old), 26.8 ± 4.66 (> 50 years old) and 36.85 ± 5.11 (key informants). The IFC values of edible plants were 0.943 (spices) - 0.968 (drinks). A total of nine species of foodstuffs have been known by all respondents (RFC = 1.0). The utilization of Calamus javensis and Arundina graminifolia, as foodstuffs are going to be further investigated as low-calorie of carbohydrate sources.


Propolis, a resinous substance collected by honeybees by mixing their saliva with plant sources, including tree bark and leaves and then mixed with secreted beeswax, possesses a variety of bioactivities. Whereas caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) has been recognized as a major bioactive ingredient in New Zealand propolis, Brazilian green propolis, on the other hand, possesses artepillin C (ARC). In this study, we report that, similar to CAPE, ARC docks into and abrogates mortalin-p53 complexes, causing the activation of p53 and the growth arrest of cancer cells. Cell viability assays using ARC and green propolis-supercritical extract (GPSE) revealed higher cytotoxicity in the latter, supported by nuclear translocation and the activation of p53. Furthermore, in vivo tumor suppression assays using nude mice, we found that GPSE and its conjugate with γ cyclodextrin (γCD) possessed more potent anticancer activity than purified ARC. GPSE‑γCD may thus be recommended as a natural, effective and economic anticancer amalgam.


Tautomerizable heteroarenes, bearing multiple interconvertible nucleophilic centers exhibit high chemo- and regioselective allylation irrespective of allylating agents used under Pd-catalysis. The achieved selectivity may be attributed to the dominant lactam form of heteroarenes and Pd-catalyzed intramolecular allylic substitution. A generalized green protocol for chemo- and regioselective allylation of biologically relevant heteroarenes with allyl alcohols in dimethyl carbonate (DMC) as solvent was developed. Excellent selectivity was observed during intermolecular competition study demonstrating the differential nucleophilicity of tautomerizable heteroarenes and differential allyl palladium forming ability of a variety of allyl alcohols.


Routing packet traffic through a chain of hosts is a common technique for hackers to attack a victim machine without exposing themselves. Generally, a long connection chain formed is an indication of the presence of an intruder. Previous work has mostly focused on detecting stepping-stone hosts. Few researchers have addressed the issue of long connection chains (especially downstream detection). A challenging issue in this area is to detect users connecting to a server using a long connection chain with only the information at the end of the chain. This thesis presents a solution to the problem of detecting upstream long connection chains. We first observe that the longer a connection chain is, the more packet crossovers are generated. Thus we reduce the problem of detecting long chains to that of detecting unusually large number of packet crossovers along the chain between requests and responses at server side. However, the approach requires the packet information along the whole chain. Since we cannot directly measure the number of crossovers on intermediate nodes, we are forced to study the consequences of large number of crossovers. A detection algorithm has been designed based on the distribution of packet gaps. We validated our algorithm using test data generated on the Internet. The result shows a high detection rate of long connection chains from short ones without too many false positives.


Abstract. Coarse crystalline cryogenic cave carbonates (CCCcoarse) dated to the last glacial period are common in central European caves and provide convincing evidence of palaeo-permafrost during this time. Little is known, however, about the exact nature of the environment in which CCCcoarse formed as no modern analogue setting is known. Here, we report the first findings of sub-recent, albeit inactive, CCCcoarse from a cave of the Western Alps which is located in the present-day permafrost zone. The globular shape and the presence of ubiquitous euhedral crystal terminations are comparable to previously reported aggregates from the last glacial period and strongly suggest that these aggregates formed subaqueously in pools lacking agitation. Furthermore, stable isotope values of mm-sized spheroids point to calcite precipitation in a closed system with respect to CO2, strongly supporting the hypothesis of a cryogenic origin associated with the freezing of water ponds. U-series analyses revealed three clusters of late Holocene calcite precipitation intervals between 2129 and 751 a b2k. These ages correlate with known periods of elevated summer temperatures, suggesting that warming and thawing of the frozen catchment above the cave allowed water infiltration into the karst system. The growth of CCCcoarse resulted from the re-freezing of this water in the still cold karst cavities.


Decisions making in smart cities mobility management is based on the advice of the current state of city transit based on objective data. In this paper, the case of Figueres city is presented: we analyze data coming from a group of sensors installed in a big urban area of the city and we create predictive transit models. Thanks to this study, urban and mobility technicians will be able to know if their current actions are working properly or, on the contrary, they should do other procedures. The present paper is organized as follows: on first place, we find an introduction of Smart Mobility situation in Europe and we place Figueres in its context. To continue, the opportunity of innovation is shown by defining the problem we would like to solve based on precedents and specifying the data problem. We continue with the state of the art of technologies and software used and we describe the innovation: selection and visualization of data, analysis of a group of data delimited on specified dates which are referred only to a volume of transit of a certain group of sensors. This analysis enables the calculation of transit volume prediction. R software has been used in order to obtain results which will be discussed afterwards. Finally, conclusions are described and references which have been used are provided


This paper examines the historical background and political processes behind the formation of Hizb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan (The Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan). It lays out the evolving political agendas and strategies of the party during the years of civil war, Taliban rule and the post-2001 political process. The author concludes that by 2009 the party was so fragmented and divided that the political weight it carried in Afghanistan bore little resemblance to what it had first enjoyed.


The defeat of Proposal B by Michigan voters on November 3 was not a surprise. Merian's Friends, the group sponsoring this measure to legalize physician-assisted suicide for the seriously ill, was outmatched in funding and organization. Citizens for Compassionate Care united dozens of medical, religious, right-to-life, and other groups in a well-funded campaign to persuade voters that Proposal B was dangerously flawed as public policy. More surprising, perhaps, was the margin of defeat. Proposal B lost in every one of Michigan's eighty-three counties, including those which supported Jack Kevorkian's attorney Geoffrey Fieger in his failed bid to be governor; in all but 14 counties it lost by more than a two-to-one margin, in a state where public opinion was said to favor assisted suicide. This was not an isolated incident. One state, Oregon, voted 51 percent to 49 percent to legalize assisted suicide for the terminally ill in 1994; the state's voters rejected a bid to repeal the law by a wider margin of 60 percent to 40 percent in 1997. But supporters' prediction that with victory in Oregon their agenda would sweep the country was mistaken. According to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, bills on assisted suicide were introduced in twenty-six states in 1997 and 1998. But all legalization measures were easily defeated, usually dying in committee. During this period, three states--Virginia, Michigan, and South Carolina-passed new bans on assisted suicide, following the lead of Iowa and Rhode Island, which enacted bans in 1996. Other states, such as Kansas and South Dakota, recently clarified their existing criminal statutes and added civil penalties for assisting a suicide. At present, thirty-eight states have specific statutes against assisted suicide (although one, Oregon, has created an exception for terminally ill patients who fulfill certain guidelines); eight forbid the practice by common law or by interpretation of the state homicide statute; and four (Nevada, Hawaii, Utah, and Wyoming) have no clear law on the matter. Proponents of assisted suicide have made several attempts to bypass legislatures through popular referenda, by which voters in some states can directly approve new laws. Based on polls showing majority support for the concept, they reasoned that state legislators tend to be cautious but would fall in line once the voters made their wishes clear. But the strategy may have backfired. With voters rejecting legalization proposals in progressive bellwether states like Washington (1991) and California (1992), legislators in those states and voters elsewhere may now be even less willing to take the leap. …


From the subaltern assemblies of the enslaved in colonial New York City to the benevolent New York African Society of the early national era to the formation of the African Blood Brotherhood in twentieth century Harlem, voluntary associations have been a fixture of African-American communities. In the Company of Black Men examines New York City over three centuries to show that enslaved Africans provided the institutional foundation upon which African-American religious, political, and social culture could flourish. Arguing that the universality of the voluntary tradition in African-American communities has its basis in collectivism-a behavioral and rhetorical tendency to privilege the group over the individual-it explores the institutions that arose as enslaved Africans exploited the potential for group action and mass resistance. Craig Steven Wilder's research is particularly exciting in its assertion that Africans entered the Americas equipped with intellectual traditions and sociological models that facilitated a communitarian response to oppression. Presenting a dramatic shift from previous work which has viewed African-American male associations as derivative and imitative of white male counterparts, In the Company of Black Men provides a ground-breaking template for investigating antebellum black institutions.


Abstract Background: Systemic administration of adenosine produces anti-nociception. Although literature supports intrathecal adenosine for neuropathic pain, its efficacy in postoperative pain remains unproven. There has been no study on the efficacy of adenosine on postoperative pain when administered with hyperbaric bupivacaine. The aim of our present study was to evaluate the efficacy of two different doses of intrathecal adenosine as an adjunct to 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine in patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy under spinal anaesthesia. Method: Seventy-five women, aged 40–60 years and scheduled for vaginal hysterectomy under spinal anaesthesia, were included. Patients were allocated to three groups of 25 patients each to receive 500 μg adenosine (group I), 1000 μg adenosine (group II) and normal saline (group III) with 2.6 ml of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine. Postoperative analgesia was provided with patient-controlled fentanyl. Time of administration of rescue analgesia and total dose of fentanyl were recorded. The times to full recovery of sensory and motor block were noted. Results: There were no differences in time to rescue analgesia and postoperative fentanyl consumption over 24 hours among the groups. There was no significant difference in onset of sensory and motor block or regression of sensory block, although statistically significant difference was noted in the time taken for regression of motor block. Conclusion: Intrathecal adenosine does not affect the postoperative analgesic requirement when administered with hyperbaric bupivacaine.


In his introduction to the Plenary Session of the First World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production for Sheep, Rae (1974) pointed to the wide diversity of sheep production systems throughout the world. Goats add further to this range in production environments, husbandry systems and to the variety of products for which these two domestic species are farmed. Such variety makes any consolidated review of Genetic Improvement Programs for sheep and Goats very difficult, especially if all important operational features of the production and marketing circumstances for each end product are to be consid ered in evaluating the success of programs currently being applied around the world. For this reason a decision was made in planning this Session not to attempt the difficult task of reviewing in-depth all those applications of genetic improvement for which published information is available. Rather, it was decided to attempt to draw out the different ways in which breeding programs may be evaluated, giving emphasis to the sort of approaches that have been taken. Because this format would need to refer to specific examples it was considered that these could be chosen to illustrate particular operational features and genetic principles upon which different programs are based. It was also con sidered that this format would prevent some repetition of descriptive detail already published and that it would provide greater operational insight by high lighting actual applications appropriate to different species, breeds and traits as well as to the production circumstances under which animals were managed.


Introduction: A system that can deliver multidrugs at a controlled rate is very important to the treatment of various chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, and hypertension. In general, both highly and poorly water-soluble drugs are not good candidates for elementary osmotic delivery, so in the present investigation nifedipine-hydroxyproyl-β-cyclodextrin (1:1) inclusion complex was used to modulate the solubility of nifedipine (NP) within the core and metoprolol was used not only as the active ingredient but also as osmotic agent. Materials and Methods: NP-cyclodextrin complex was prepared by coprecipitation method. The tablets were prepared and coated with cellulose acetate phthalate-containing dibutyl phthalate as plasticizer at various concentrations. The coated tablets drilled for orifice. The orifice size, level of plasticizer, and coating thickness were used as formulation variables. Finally, the optimized formulation was studied for different pH, agitational speed, and release mechanism. The optimized formulation was also subjected to in vivo prediction for the desired Cmax and Cmin using superposition method. Results: Formulation variables such as orifice size, level of plasticizer, and coat thickness of semipermeable membrane were found to affect the drug release from the developed formulations. The optimal elementary osmotic pump was found to deliver both drugs at a rate of approximately zero order for up to 10 h independent of pH and agitational intensity but dependent on the osmotic pressure of the release media. Conclusion: Hence, the prototype design of the system could be applied to other combinations of drugs used for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc.


California is in the fourth year of a severe, hot drought—the kind that is increasingly likely as the climate warms. Although no sector has been untouched, impacts so far have varied greatly, reflecting different levels of drought preparedness. Urban areas are in the best shape, thanks to sustained investments in diversified water portfolios and conservation. Farmers are more vulnerable, but they are also adapting. The greatest vulnerabilities are in some low-income rural communities where wells are running dry and in California's wetlands, rivers, and forests, where the state's iconic biodiversity is under extreme threat. Two to three more years of drought will increase challenges in all areas and require continued—and likely increasingly difficult—adaptations. Emergency programs will need to be significantly expanded to get drinking water to rural residents and to prevent major losses of waterbirds and extinctions of numerous native fish species, including most salmon runs. California also needs to start a longer-term effort to build drought resilience in the most vulnerable areas.


The goal of the present study was to understand the meaning of friendship to young adults who survived severe childhood burn injuries as generated through their descriptions of their experience. This was accomplished through a phenomenological exploration of the subjective experience of friendship as described by ten young adults who survived severe pediatric burn injuries. In-depth, non-directive interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a phenomenological research methodology. Interpretive analysis revealed the following five interrelated themes of the experience of friendship: (a) How Society Looks At Me, (b) How I Deal With It, (c) They Understand or They Don't Understand, (d) Making Friends, and (e) Friends. These themes were contextualized within the frame of two experiential grounds: (a) Who I Am and (b) Changes Over Time. The Ground of Who I Am reflected the participants' sense of personal identity and permeated every aspect of the friendship experience they described. It included the participants' statements about themselves as different or not different from the people around them and their rich descriptions of personal journeys through growth and change toward integration of their scars into their identities. The ground of Changes Over Time represented the temporal context in which the experience of friendship has occurred for these participants and became apparent through their many references to change. The first theme, How Society Looks At Me, reflected the participants' awareness of others within their social worlds and how others, particularly strangers, reacted to their scars. They described both curious and cruel reactions people had to their visible scars as they lived their daily lives and the inevitability of these reactions. The second theme, vi How I Deal With It, encompassed the participants' descriptions of the effects the reactions of others had on their emotional well-being and self-concepts and the various ways they coped with these effects. The third theme, They Understand or They Don't Understand, conveyed the participants' desires for people to understand their lives as burn survivors and as persons with visible disfigurements. They hoped to help people understand the idea that "my scars are me, but they are not all of me." The fourth theme, Making Friends, captured key elements the participants identified regarding the process of making friends, including meeting new people, fitting into groups, and aspects of their experiences that made this process easier and more difficult. The fifth theme, Friends, reflected participants' descriptions of the specific characteristics of their close friendships that were integral to making the overall experience of friendship positive and meaningful in their lives.


The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the reliabilities of cumulative college grade point averages (GPAs), estimated for unweighted and weighted, one-semester, 1-year, 2-year, and 4-year GPAs. using cumulative GPAs for a freshman class at a major university, we estimate internal consistency (coefficient alpha) reliabilities for the several GPAs. We compare these reliabilities to similar reliabilities found in the literature. Principal findings are that different cumulative GPAs have different degrees of reliability and that GPA reliability increases at a decreasing rate with number of semesters completed. understanding these differences in reliability has implications for how GPAs are used by institutional researchers in practical as well as theoretical studies. The literature review and methods of the study should be useful to the institutional researcher who undertakes an investigation that involves GPA reliability.


The surviving gilded and polychrome altarpieces and sculptures in Portuguese churches, and the historical documents relating to them, offer an opportunity for understanding material and technological choices regarding gesso grounds. This paper focuses on the historical documentary research about gessoes — one aspect of a wider research project which also involved investigation of physical/chemical evidence, and archaeological reconstructions of gilded gesso grounds. Documentary research sheds light on the meaning of the terms used in historical documents, and on artists' choice of materials and practices, production, and trade patterns of materials. It informs technological investigations and conservation decisions. The paper also stresses the importance of the evidence gained by using the historical and archaeological methodology applied in material culture studies, in which documentary, analytical, and experimental information complement and/or elucidate each other, leading to a comprehensive understanding of this technology.


We study the propagation of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays in the magnetised cosmic web. We focus on the particular case of highly magnetised voids ($B \sim \text{nG}$), using the upper bounds from the Planck satellite. The cosmic web was obtained from purely magnetohydrodynamical cosmological simulations of structure formation considering different power spectra for the seed magnetic field in order to account for theoretical uncertainties. We investigate the impact of these uncertainties on the propagation of cosmic rays, showing that they can affect the measured spectrum and composition by up to $\simeq 80\%$ and $\simeq 5\%$, respectivelly. In our scenarios, even if magnetic fields in voids are strong, deflections of 50 EeV protons from sources closer than $\sim\;$50 Mpc are less than $15^\circ$ in approximately 10-50% of the sky, depending on the distribution of sources and magnetic power spectrum. Therefore, UHECR astronomy might be possible in a significant portion of the sky depending on the primordial magnetic power spectrum, provided that protons constitute a sizeable fraction of the observed UHECR flux.


Motivation: Microsatellites, also known as simple sequence repeats, are the tandem repeats of nucleotide motifs of the size 1–6bp found in every genome known so far. Their importance in genomes is well known. Microsatellites are associated with various disease genes, have been used as molecular markers in linkage analysis and DNA fingerprinting studies, and also seem to play an important role in the genome evolution. Therefore, it is of importance to study distribution, enrichment and polymorphism of microsatellites in the genomes of interest. For this, the prerequisite is the availability of a computational tool for extraction of microsatellites (perfect as well as imperfect) and their related information from whole genome sequences. Examination of available tools revealed certain lacunae in them and prompted us to develop a new tool. Results: In order to efficiently screen genome sequences for microsatellites (perfect as well as imperfect), we developed a new tool called IMEx (Imperfect Microsatellite Extractor). IMEx uses simple string-matching algorithm with sliding window approach to screen DNA sequences for microsatellites and reports the motif, copy number, genomic location, nearby genes, mutational events and many other features useful for in-depth studies. IMEx is more sensitive, efficient and useful than the available widely used tools. IMEx is available in the form of a stand-alone program as well as in the form of a web-server. Availability: A World Wide Web server and the stand-alone program are available for free access at http://22.214.171.124/IMEX/ or http://www.cdfd.org.in/imex Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com


An important segment of labour regulations concerns the protection aspects of social security. These regulations provide safety nets or fall back mechanisms to enable workers to cope with crises that affect households from time to time, such as illness, employment injury, death or old age. This paper critically reviews and analyses existing regulations in India that provide fall back mechanisms and evaluates how theycompare with systems in selected comparator countries and measure up against the minimum standards recommended in various ILO Conventions. These regulations are important not only from the point of view of the welfare of society but also from the perspective of efficiency of the work force in any activity. The analysis reveals serious shortcomings in the social security legislation and programmes in the country insofar as they apply to the unorganised workers. The paper concludes by making recommendations on alternative approaches to redress the deficiencies.


Most research initiatives on Roma migration focus on Roma migrating from non-EU to EU or EU-to-EU countries. This research aimed to look at another sub-component of the migration process: transatlantic, Canadian migration from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. The migration and asylum seeking of Central Eastern European Roma to Canada started in the 1990s when several thousands of Roma moved to Canada. The collection of papers presented here looks at various aspects of Roma migration to and from Canada. Our premise was that 'Canadian Roma migration' should be understood as a process motivated by a mixed set of factors and, from an analytical point of view, it should be studied as neither refugee nor labor migration but as a compound of both. The first two studies in the volume investigate the legal and the political components to the push and pull of Roma migration, while the rest of the papers are based on qualitative, empirical studies that were conducted in three CEE countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia – as well as in Canada. The country case studies were designed to consider Roma migration from a micro perspective using the same methodology and the same conceptual framework. Researchers in the three countries did fieldwork in villages and towns in which there had been a significant out-migration of Roma, presently or in the past. The factors impelling migration were social, political as well as economic: deteriorating interethnic relations, the rise and spread of violence as well as political racism and fear from racist attacks, deprivation and worsening of living conditions for the poorest, and stigmatized ethnicity, the consequences of which Roma have to face on a daily bases (employment and educational discrimination, verbal and physical racial violence.). As a general pattern, we could distinguish the pioneers from the laggards in the migration process. In all three cases, pioneers were migrants who were from wealthier families and many had earlier migration experiences; they were the ones who would leave, come back, and some would try to leave again. The latter – the laggards – were often the failed migrants, those whose return left them in a more desperate situation than they had been in before leaving.


The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal statute that requires hospitals to screen and, if necessary, treat and stabilize every individual who comes to the emergency department. To comply with EMTALA, a hospital's screening must be performed uniformly for patients with similar symptoms. Courts have undermined the statute's effectiveness, however, by routinely granting summary judgment to defendant hospitals charged with EMTALA screening violations. The ease with which hospitals prevail at the summary judgment stage fails to remedy and deter disparities in care. Moreover, it discourages emergency departments from using written protocols. The implementation of written guidelines for emergency-department care can significantly improve EMTALA's effectiveness by making violations more easily ascertainable, encouraging hospitals to self-regulate, and substantially improving hospital care. This Note argues for a greater evidentiary burden on hospitals that would require a hospital, before it can be granted summary judgment, to elucidate explicitly the elements of its uniform screening procedure and demonstrate affirmatively that this procedure was employed during the plaintiff's emergency room examination.


If Pakistan is to preserve all that is good about its country — the generosity and hospitality of its people, the dynamism of its youth — it must face the deterioration of its social and political institutions. Sidestepping easy headlines to identify Pakistan's true dangers, this volume revisits the major turning points and trends of Pakistani history over the past six decades, focusing on the increasing entrenchment of Pakistan's army in its political and economic arenas; the complex role of Islam in public life; the tensions between central and local identities and democratic impulses; and the effect of geopolitical influences on domestic policy and development. While Ian Talbot's study centres on Pakistan's many failures — the collapse of stable governance, the drop in positive political and economic development, and, most of all, the unrealised goal of securing a separate Muslim state — his book unequivocally affirms the country's potential for a positive reawakening. These failures were not preordained, Talbot argues, and such a fatalistic reading does not respect the complexity of historical events, individual actors, and the state's own rich resources. While he acknowledges grave crises still lie ahead for Pakistan, Talbot's sensitive historical approach makes it clear that favourable opportunities still remain for Pakistan, in which the state has a chance to reclaim its priorities and institutions and reestablish political and economic sustainability.


This report presents results from our research on privacy for Service Oriented Architectures. It consists of two parts that mutually influenced each other in course of the project. The first part gives a generalized overview of privacy-friendly data handling in cross-domain service compositions. We sketch a generic framework that describes the general processing steps to achieve privacy compliance and proper data handling. The framework abstracts from concrete technologies and policy languages and is thus intended to support implementation based on arbitrary technologies for service-oriented architectures. The second part shows the exemplary implementation of a job application scenario. We used this scenario both to generate and test ideas for the abstract privacy framework. Moreover, the demonstrator is the showcase for real integration and test of the PrimeLife Policy Language (PPL). The scenario has been jointly implemented by EMIC, SAP, and GD. We give technical insight in architecture and design of this demonstrator.


PURPOSE
To examine the effect of hypertonicity on the induction of the Na(+)-myo-inositol (Na(+)-MI) cotransporter(s) in cultured bovine lens epithelial cells (BLECs).

METHODS
Na(+)-MI cotransporter 626-bp reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction product amplified from lens cell RNA and aldose reductase (AR) cDNA probes were used to measure respective mRNA content by Northern blot analysis.

RESULTS
Northern blot analysis of BLEC mRNA hybridized to Na(+)-MI cotransporter cDNA showed that Na(+)-MI cotransporter mRNA increased when secondary cultures of BLECs were exposed to physiological medium supplemented with 116 mmol/l NaCl. A time course further revealed a maximal increase in Na(+)-MI cotransporter mRNA by 8 hours. Thereafter, the level of Na(+)-MI cotransporter mRNA steadily declined for the duration of the 72-hour incubation period despite continuous exposure of BLECs to hypertonicity. AR mRNA levels maximally increased by 24 h of cell exposure to hypertonic condition. Unlike Na(+)-MI cotransporter mRNA, AR mRNA remained elevated throughout the duration of the experiment. Hypertonic exposure resulted in a steady state accumulation of myo-inositol and sorbitol for 6 days. Inhibition of sorbitol formation prompted the intracellular myo-inositol content to a higher level.

CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that enhanced MI transport and accumulation, as an adaptive osmoregulatory response to hypertonicity in cultured BLECs, is a primary, early-onset, protective mechanism against water stress, succeeded by, enhanced sorbitol formation and accumulation, a secondary, late-onset protective mechanism. The lens appears to respond to the preliminary stages of hyperosmotic stress by induction of Na(+)-MI cotransporter mRNA, indicating that the myo-inositol carrier protein(s) play an initial responsive role in the management of osmotic stress. Lens water stress management is interactive because myo-inositol and sorbitol levels are regulated in concert.


The Directigen FLU-A enzyme immunoassay was tested for its ability to detect equine-2 influenza viruses in nasopharyngeal fluids from horses and ponies. A total of 125 swabs from experimental infections and from different sources of natural infection in the USA and Hong Kong were examined. The assay results were compared with the results of standard virus culture in embryonated chicken eggs or Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, and with the serology of the horses sampled. In comparison with virus culture the enzyme immunoassay exhibited 83 per cent sensitivity, 78 per cent specificity, 70 per cent positive predictive value and 88 per cent negative predictive value. The test appeared to be more sensitive than haemagglutination for the detection of low levels of virus in embryonated egg cultures. It also detected equine-1 influenza virus in culture. The test is rapid (15 minutes), simple, and should be a convenient method for the rapid diagnosis and screening of horses for equine influenza infection.


ABSTRACT Capillary rarefaction is broadly defined as a reduction in vascular density. Capillary rarefaction in the kidneys is thought to promote hypoxia, impair hemodynamic responses and predispose to chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression and hypertension development. Various mechanisms have been suggested to play a role in the development of capillary rarefaction, including inflammation, an altered endothelial-tubular epithelial cell crosstalk, a relative deficiency in angiogenic growth factors, loss of pericytes, increased activity of Transforming growth factor -β1 and thrombospondin-1, vitamin D deficiency, a link to lymphatic neoangiogenesis and INK4a/ARF (Cylin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2a; CDKN2A). In this review, we summarize the tools available to monitor capillary rarefaction noninvasively in the clinic, the contribution of capillary rarefaction to CKD and hypertension, the known mechanisms of capillary rarefaction, and potential future strategies to attenuate capillary rarefaction and reduce its negative impact. Therapeutic strategies to be explored in more detail include optimization of antihypertensive therapy, vitamin D receptor activators, sirtuin 1 activators, Hypoxia inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors and stem cell therapy.


We design a new rate-5/4 full-diversity orthogonal space-time block code (STBC) for QPSK and 2 transmit antennas (TX) by enlarging the signalling set from the set of quaternions used in the Alamouti code. Selective power scaling of information symbols is used to guarantee full-diversity while maximizing the coding gain (CG) and minimizing the transmitted signal peak-to-minimum power ratio (PMPR). The optimum power scaling factor is derived analytically and shown to outperform schemes based only on constellation rotation while still enjoying a low-complexity maximum likelihood (ML) decoding algorithm. Finally, we extend our designs to the case of 4 TX by enlarging the set of quasi-orthogonal STBC with power scaling. Extensions to general M-PSK constellations are straightforward.


ABSTRACT The genotype frequencies of three metabolic polymorphisms were determined in a sample of a typical community in central Mexico. CYP1A1*3, GSTM1, and GSTT1 polymorphisms were studied in 150 donors born in Mexico and with Mexican ascendants; with respect to ethnicity the subjects can be considered Mestizos. PCR reactions were used to amplify specific fragments of the selected genes from genomic DNA. An unexpected 56.7% frequency of the CYP1A1*3 allele (which depends on the presence of a Val residue in the 462 position of the enzyme, instead of Ile) was found, the highest described for open populations of different ethnic origins (i.e., Caucasian, Asian, African, or African American). The GSTM1 null genotype was found with a frequency of 42.6%, which is not different from other ethnicities, whereas the GSTT1 null genotype had a frequency of 9.3%, one of the lowest described for any ethnic group but comparable to the frequency found in India (9.7%). The frequency of the combined genotype CYP1A1*3/*3 and the GSTM1 null allele is one of the highest observed to date (or perhaps the highest): 13.7% among all the ethnicities studied, including Caucasians and Asians, whereas the combination of CYP1A1*3/*3 with the GSTT1 null allele reached only 2.8%. The GSTM1 null allele combined with the GSTT1 null allele, on the other hand, has one of the lowest frequencies described, 4.24%, comparable to the frequencies found in African Americans and Indians. Finally, the combined CYP1A1*3/*3, GSTM1 null allele, and GSTT1 null allele genotype could not be found in the sample studied; it is assumed that the frequency of carriers of these combined genotypes is less than 1%. CYP1A1*3 and CYP1A1*2 polymorphisms were also evaluated in 50 residents in a community of northern Mexico; the CYP1A1*3 frequency was 54%, similar to that found in the other community studied, and the CYP1A1*2 frequency was 40%, which is high compared to Caucasians and Asians but comparable to the frequency found in Japanese and lower than the frequency found in Mapuche Indians. Haplotype frequencies for these CYP1A1 polymorphisms were estimated, and a linkage disequilibrium value (D) of 0.137 was calculated.


Aims To determine the use of p40 and laminin 332 (LN332) immunostains for diagnosing metaplastic carcinoma by studying the expression of these and other routine markers in spindle cell metaplastic carcinomas and other malignant spindle cell tumours. Methods We identified cases of spindle cell metaplastic carcinoma (n=36) and other atypical/malignant spindle cell tumours, including 20 phyllodes tumours (14 borderline, six malignant) and 23 spindle cell sarcomas (three primary to breast). Immunohistochemical staining was performed for p40 and two LN332 chains, β3 (kalinin B1) and γ2 (lamC2). The expression of these markers was compared with p63 and cytokeratins. Results p40 and p63 expression was seen in 21 of 36 (58.3%) and 33 of 36 (91.7%) metaplastic carcinomas, respectively. No phyllodes tumours showed stromal expression of p40 or p63. One of 23 (4.3%) sarcomas showed focal weak p63 staining. LamC2 and kalinin B1 expression was seen in 28 of 36 (77.8%) and 26 of 36 (72.2%) metaplastic carcinomas, respectively. LamC2 and kalinin B1 each showed positive stromal cell expression in two of 20 (10%) phyllodes tumours. No sarcomas showed staining with lamC2. Kalinin B1 staining was seen in 17 of 23 (73.9%) sarcomas, including two of three primary breast sarcomas. Cytokeratin expression was seen in 32 of 36 (88.9%) metaplastic carcinomas and diffuse staining was most often seen in 34βE12 and CK5. Conclusions The diagnostic value of relatively novel markers p40 and LN332 was found to be less than that of routinely used markers (p63 and cytokeratins). p40 proved to be a specific marker but lacked the sensitivity of p63, while LN332 showed staining in a significant proportion of phyllodes tumours and sarcomas.


Currently, more than 130 million chemical substances have been registered in the CAS registry, and this number is increasing at a rate of 4,000/day. Among these chemicals, approximately 120,000 are industrially produced and exist in our environment. To cover the huge number of chemical substances that affect human health, effective screening tools are required. In silico and quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) models defining toxicological endpoints are desirable for regulatory authorities to identify chemicals causing adverse effects without conducting actual toxicological studies. There has been considerable effort in the development of QSAR models to predict mutagenicity among many toxicological endpoints because mutagenic chemicals pose the highest concern for human health. The recently developed ICH-M7 guideline (Assessment and control of DNA-reactive impurities in pharmaceuticals to limit potential carcinogenic risk) allows the use of the in silico approach to predict Ames mutagenicity for initially assessing impurities in pharmaceuticals. This is the first international guideline addressing the use of QSAR models in lieu of an actual toxicological study for human health assessment. QSAR models for the Ames assay now require higher prediction power to definitely capture mutagenic chemicals. To increase the prediction power, experimental data sets required to build the models are important. A large number of highly reliable data sets are essential to allow the development and improvement of QSAR models. DGM/NIHS in Japan has the largest Ames mutagenicity database, containing approximately 12,000 new chemicals that have not been previously used for developing QSAR models. We provided the Ames data to vendors to improve their QSAR models. The Ames/QSAR international collaborative project, together with 12 QSAR vendors, started in 2014 and has recently been completed. All QSAR models have considerably improved. Some QSAR models showed nearly 90% prediction power, which is the same level as that of the inter-laboratory correspondence of the Ames assay. Using the in cerebro (expert judgement) approach, we can further predict the relevance of mutagenicity data in humans. We are approaching a new era wherein " in silico/in cerebro " will replace " in vitro/in vivo " in genetic toxicology.


The rates of depression are high in nursing homes and often is not treated. A systematic literature review was conducted searching for research studies on depression interventions in nursing homes. Nineteen studies met selection criteria, which included being published in a peerreviewed journal, being set in a nursing home and utilizing an experimental design. The sample sizes of the studies ranged from 21 participants to as many as 595; the lengths of the studies varied as well from 4 weeks to 24 weeks, with six studies also including follow-ups up to one year post-intervention. Studies showed that interventions involving reminiscing on meaning of life, music and dance therapy, increasing pleasant events in the nursing home, and demonstrating goal-oriented problem-solving strategies significantly improved depressive symptoms in older adults in nursing homes. In many cases, depressive symptoms improved even in control groups due to increased social contact from researchers; depressive symptoms decreased significantly when social contact was highly individualized. Interventions involving cognitive stimulation therapy, exercise therapy and interventions involving reminiscence on personal life did not improve depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were measured using a version of the Geriatric Depression Scale in most of the studies. The remaining studies used the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, or the MontgomeryAsberg Depression Rating Scale. Review findings suggest that multiple interventions can be used successfully to more adequately care for depressed older adults. Discussion will include integrating pieces of these effective interventions into nursing home.


There seems to be a clear trend of increased protection of 'corporate human rights' and, more specifically, due process rights (or procedural fairness) in the field of enforcement of competition law. To a large extent, that trend is based on the uncritical extension of human rights protection to corporate defendants by a process of simple assimilation of corporate and individual defendants. This paper briefly explores the rationale behind the creation of due process rights when the individual is the beneficiary of such protection. It then goes on to critically assess if the same need exists for the extension of those protections to corporate defendants, particularly in the field of competition law or antitrust enforcement. It concludes with some warnings concerning the diminishing effectiveness of competition law prohibitions and of human law protection that can result from an overstretched conception of due process protection in this area of EU economic law. From a substantive perspective, the paper submits that the extension of human rights to corporations cannot be uncritical and should not be completely symmetrical to that for human beings; but that it rather needs to be necessarily adapted to their circumstances. To put it more bluntly, it is suggested that in the field of the enforcement of economic law, administrative law procedures should be sound and there should clearly be a strong system of judicial review in place, but corporations should not have access to broader constitutional or human rights protections and any perceived shortcomings in the design and application of those procedures should remain within the sphere of regulatory reform.


Since the mid-fifties, Ireland has drastically altered her trade policy in favour of freer trade. This has been accompanied by a massive programme of incentives to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This thesis documents the magnitude and structural composition of FDI. A detailed analysis is made of the characteristics of foreign owned projects, their impact on the development of the domestic sector and on the external trade of the host country. The share of the foreign firms' value added which remains in Ireland (Retained Value) is calculated. This is supplemented by . two methods of cost benefit analysis 5 Domestic Resource Cost analysis, which values all costs and benefits in international price equivalents and a calculation of the net return on the input of Government funds. The major benefits of FDI are the creation of new employment (over 40,000 jobs up to 1972) and the increase in industrial exports (46% of manufactured exports were from foreign owned firms in 1970). Other secondary benefits have been small but FDI has contributed positively to the Irish balance of payments. Costs have arisen from payment of subsidies and constraints placed on the growth of the domestic sector by the competition for resources. The introduction of a large foreign sector has resulted in dualistic development and the weakness of linkage effects makes this endemic. Policy conclusions are that a more formal and structural system of appraisal, properly valuing benefits should be implemented. The inflow of FDI would be somewhat reduced and resources should be devoted to developing the domestic sector, through both public and private enterprise. FDI should be regarded as a 'bridging loan' for those sectors where mobilising domestic resources is difficult. More effort should be made to exploit the benefits of FDI by increased selectivity and closer integration with the domestic economy.


The IPv6 Router Advertisement Guard (RA-Guard) mechanism is commonly
employed to mitigate attack vectors based on forged ICMPv6 Router
Advertisement messages. Many existing IPv6 deployments rely on RA-
Guard as the first line of defense against the aforementioned attack
vectors. However, some implementations of RA-Guard have been found to
be prone to circumvention by employing IPv6 Extension Headers. This
document describes the evasion techniques that affect the
aforementioned implementations and formally updates RFC 6105, such
that the aforementioned RA-Guard evasion vectors are eliminated.


A conceptual design is presented of a novel energy-recovering linac (ERL) facility for the development and application of the energy recovery technique to linear electron accelerators in the multi-turn, large current and large energy regime. The main characteristics of the powerful energy recovery linac experiment facility (PERLE) are derived from the design of the Large Hadron electron Collider, an electron beam upgrade under study for the LHC, for which it would be the key demonstrator. PERLE is thus projected as a facility to investigate efficient, high current (HC) (>10 mA) ERL operation with three re-circulation passages through newly designed SCRF cavities, at 801.58 MHz frequency, and following deceleration over another three re-circulations. In its fully equipped configuration, PERLE provides an electron beam of approximately 1 GeV energy. A physics programme possibly associated with PERLE is sketched, consisting of high precision elastic electron–proton scattering experiments, as well as photo-nuclear reactions of unprecedented intensities with up to 30 MeV photon beam energy as may be obtained using Fabry–Perot cavities. The facility has further applications as a general technology test bed that can investigate and validate novel superconducting magnets (beam induced quench tests) and superconducting RF structures (structure tests with HC beams, beam loading and transients). Besides a chapter on operation aspects, the report contains detailed considerations on the choices for the SCRF structure, optics and lattice design, solutions for arc magnets, source and injector and on further essential components. A suitable configuration derived from the here presented design concept may next be moved forward to a technical design and possibly be built by an international collaboration which is being established.


We develop and estimate a model of the union's optimal extent of organizing activity that accounts for the decision of employers regarding resistance to union organizing. The central exogenous variable in the analysis is the quantity of quasi-rents per worker available to be split between unions and employers. We measure available quasi-rents per worker as the difference per worker between total industry revenues net of raw materials costs and labor costs evaluated at the opportunity cost of the workers. Using two-digit industry level data for thirty-five U.S. industries for the period 1955 through 1986, we find that both organizing activity and employer resistance to unionization are positively related to available quasi-rents per worker. However, there is still a strong negative trend in union organizing activity and a strong positive trend in employer resistance after controlling for quasi-rents per worker. Thus, the explanation for the decline in union organizing activity and the increase in employer resistance to unionization since the mid 1970's lies elsewhere.


A total of 42 children aged 6-15 years with type 1 diabetes, and 49 control children aged 6-14 years, participated in this study. Life events during the year prior to the clinical onset of type 1 diabetes that occurred within the family were recorded on a survey consisting of 45 questions. The mean frequencies of these life events were higher in diabetic children (7.7) than in the healthy control group (4.9). Diabetic children were found to experience higher relative frequencies of stressful life events within the range of 38-48%, compared with the children of the control group (range 8-16%). The highest relative frequency of 55% for both groups was the birth or adoption of a brother or sister. Life events involving actual or threatened losses within the family, such as serious illness or death of the mother, death of brother or sister, or hospitalization of mother or father, showed significantly increased frequencies in the diabetic group (range 10-30%) than in control children (range 4-10%). We propose that these stressful life events may be factors that precipitate severe emotional stress, increasing consequent risk of later development of type 1 diabetes.