In this work, we analyze the spectral properties of locally pressed fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) written into polarization maintaining fibers. We study the evolution of the spectral response of a FBG written into a PANDA fiber when the central region of the grating is perturbed by a diametrical load. Due to the complex structure of the fiber, a finite element model was carried out to determine the strain distributions generated at the center region of the fiber core, and hence taking the induced change in refractive index as the change in effective refractive index due to the applied load. Once the shifting in Bragg wavelength and the optical principal axes of the loaded region are known, a modified transfer matrix method is applied to calculate the spectral response of the FBG. We have found experimentally and by numerical simulations that the reflected spectra for the grating exhibit a narrow and tunable polarization-dependent spectral hole. The tuning of this spectral hole is dependent of the magnitude and the angle of the applied force over the optical fiber.


Working capital management is one of the essential determinants of firms' market value because it directly affects profitability. And, working capital management is also extremely crucial from the point of firms' sustainability. Hence, firms should establish a fine balance between profitability and risk when it comes to managing working capital. This paper mainly aims to provide some empirical evidence on the effects of working capital management on the profitability of selected companies in the Istanbul Stock Exchange for the period of 2005-2008. The panel data methods are employed in order to analyze the mentioned effects


Dry needling (DN) is a minimally invasive treatment technique widely used by physical therapists to treat myofascial trigger points (MTrP). Even if its safety has been commonly declared and the majority of adverse events are considered mild, serious adverse events cannot be excluded and DN treatments of several trunk muscles can potentially result in pneumothorax. Ultrasound imaging (US) skin-to-rib measurement could ensure the safety of this treatment procedure. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the inter-rater reliability of depth measurement of different trunk muscles (i.e., rhomboid, lower trapezius, iliocostalis, and pectoralis major) between an expert and two novice physiotherapists. Skin-to-rib distance of 26 asymptomatic and normal weights subjects was consecutively, independently, and randomly measured for each muscle by the three examiners (1 expert and 2 novice physical therapists) with a handheld US wireless probe. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC3,k) and standard error of measurement (SEM) were used to assess inter-rater reliability. Inter-rater reliability of skin-to-rib measurements between the three examiners was good to excellent or excellent for every muscle, with an ICC3,k ranging from 0.92 and 0.98 (95% CI 0.86–0.99). The SEM never exceeded 10% of the skin-to-rib distance. In conclusion, skin-to-rib US measurements of the trunk muscles can be reliably performed by novice physical therapists using a handheld US device. These measures could be used as an innovative and reliable technique to improve the safety of some potential dangerous DN treatments.


The qualified district nurse (DN) role demands high levels of leadership. Attracting the right candidates to apply for the Specialist Practice Qualification District Nursing (SPQDN) education programme is essential to ensure fitness to practice on qualification. Anecdotal evidence suggested that the traditional panel interview discouraged candidates from applying and a need to improve the quality of the overall interview process was identified by the authors. The University of Central Lancashire in partnership with Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust adopted the National Values Based Recruitment (VBR) Framework to select candidates to gain entry onto the SPQDN course. This involved using 'selection centres' of varying activities including a multiple mini interview, written exercise, group discussion, and portfolio review with scores attached to each centre. The ultimate aim of utilising VBR was to align personal and profession values to both the nursing profession and the Trust whilst allowing a fairer assessment process. An evaluation of the VBR recruitment process demonstrated 100% pass rate for the course and 100% satisfaction with the interview process reported by all 16 candidates over three academic years. Interviewer feedback showed deeper insight into the candidates' skills and values aligned with the core values and skills required by future District Nurse leaders within the Trust.


An increasing demand for flexibility and product integration, combined with reduced product development cycles, leads to continuous development of new manufacturing technologies such as additive manufacturing. Wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) provides promising technology for the near net-shape production of large structures with complex geometry, using cost efficient production resources such as arc welding technology and wire materials. Compared to powder-based additive manufacturing processes, WAAM offers high deposition rates as well as enhanced material utilization. Because of the layer-by-layer built up approach, process conditions such as energy input, arc characteristics, and material composition result in a different processability during the additive manufacturing process. This experimental study aims to describe the effects of the welding process on buildup accuracy and material properties during wire arc additive manufacturing of aluminum structures. Following a process development using pulse cold metal transfer (CMT-P), linear wall samples were manufactured with variations of the filler metal. The samples were analyzed in terms of surface finishing, hardness, and residual stress. Furthermore, mechanical properties were determined in different building directions.


The energy use in India is at present considerably higher than a few decades ago, mainly as a result of economic growth. The primary source of energy in India, thermal power, is a source of greenhouse gas emissions. To stabilise the CO2 emissions and promote sustainable development, economic development must go hand in hand with low-carbon society's development. A transition towards a green economy will require a shift away from current production and consumption patterns of energy. This is achievable through improved process and end-use energy efficiency, and increased adoption of cleaner energy sources. Fostering increased investments in clean energy and energy efficiency is an important step to achieving more sustainable economic development. Therefore, we have undertaken this study that attempts to examine the impact of FDI in Indian power sector on the path of clean energy.


Article history: Received 11 August 2014 Received in revised form 21 August 2014 Accepted 25 September 2014 Available online 16 November 2014


Candi Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple complex in Yogyakarta and became an icon of tourism, has been recognized by UNESCO as a cultural site. The study aims to analyze and describe the perception of foreign tourists before the visit to the quality of amenities and services at Prambanan. The method used is qualitative by linking the three variables, namely the perception before the visit, expectations and perceptions of the quality of an object. Data collection techniques using interviews. The process of data analysis data collection (interviews, observation, documents) and performed data reduction, encoding in accordance with the parameters and indicators and interpretation. The validity of the test is done by using triangulation. The results showed that the perception of tourists before been stated that the Prambanan temple is beautiful, has a unique architecture, and has an interesting history. The motivation is the need curiosity. The expectation is hoping to see the splendor of the temple, can learn the difference Hindu and Buddhist architecture, hoping temple which will be seen to be greater than imagined, and can see a large temple complex. While the perception after the visit is to have a very high historical value, has an interesting legend, the temple complex of Prambanan temple has great though many temples were missing but did not detract from the beauty, has a very unique architecture and interesting, Prambanan temple complex is well organized. Prambanan Temple is also safe, comfortable, clean, and beautiful as a city park. Thus, comparison of perceptions and expectations of tourists before and after berkunjunga is appropriate or even exceed expectations.


Management of many species is currently based on an inadequate under- standing of their population dynamics. Lack of age-specific demographic information, particularly for long-lived iteroparous species, has impeded development of useful models. We use a Lefkovitch stage class matrix model, based on a preliminary life table developed by Frazer (1983a), to point to interim management measures and to identify those data most critical to refining our knowledge about the population dynamics of threatened log- gerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta). Population projections are used to examine the sen- sitivity of Frazer's life table to variations in parameter estimates as well as the likely response of the population to various management alternatives. Current management practices appear to be focused on the least responsive life stage, eggs on nesting-beaches. Alternative protection efforts for juvenile loggerheads, such as using turtle excluder devices (TEDs), may be far more effective.


Temperature, salinity, flow speeds, and pldnklvn concentrations can be highly variable on the slope of Conch Reef, Florida Keys (USA), as warm surface water is mixed with cool, subsurface water forced onshore by broken internal waves. In August 1995 the water column seaward of the reef exhibited strong temperature and density stratification with a sharp pycnocline and associated subsurface chlorophyll a maximum layer at 45 to 60 m depth. On the reef slope, near-bottom zooplankton sampling at 22 to 28 m showed high concentrations of calanoid copepods, crab zoea, and fish larvae associated with upslope flow of cool, chlorophyll-rich water. In contrast to these periods of high concentrations, zooplankton concentrations were low during periods of long-shore and offshore flow of warm surface waters. Both the frequency of internal bore arrival and the mean durat~on of cool water events increase with increasing depth on the reef slope. Delivery of zooplankton to the reef is, thereforit, d s o erpec:ed :G incic;sc '.:i?h dcpth. 2 sh?r!-term se!!!emen! experiment showed increased settlement of serpulid worms at 20 and 30 m depth compared with 15 m, and a 15.5 mo transplant experiment showed significantly enhanced growth rates of the suspens~on-feeding coral Madracis mirabilis (Scleractinia: Pocilloporidae) at 30 m depth relative to growth at 15 or 20 m. Internal tidal bores appear to be a predictable, periodic source of cross-shelf transport to Florida coral reefs and an important influence on the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of suspended food particles and larval delivery to the benthos.


In this paper we present briefly two possible approaches for modelling the laser cladding process. The first approach is 2D and consists in finding the shape of the molten pool given the fraction of the laser power which is available at the surface of the workpiece and given the amount of powder sticking to the molten pool. The powder reaching the workpiece is assumed to melt instantaneously at the surface of the molten pool, it is then mixed into the molten pool according to the computed velocity field. Because of its complexity, this model is solved only for two-dimensional situations and requires powerfull computers. On the other hand, accurate predictions of the shape of the molten pool are obtained. The second approach is 3D and takes into account the interations between the laser beam, the powder particles travelling into the carrier gas and the molten pool. The laser power reaching the surface of the workpiece is estimated and, assuming this power is used to remelt the substrate with the clad being pre-deposited, the melt pool shape is computed using a 3D analytical model, which allows to obtain immediate results, even on personal computers. The predictions obtained with this numerical model are in good agreement with experimental results.


After a brief review of the different types of quaternions, we develop a new
 perspective for dual quaternions with dividing two parts. Due to this new
 perspective, we will define the isotropic and nonisotropic dual quaternions.
 Then we will also give the basic algebraic concepts about the dual
 quaternions. Moreover, we define isotropic dual quaternionic curves and
 non-isotropic dual quaternionic curves. Via these definitions we find
 Serret-Frenet formulae for isotropic dual quaternionic curves. Finally, we
 will use these results to derive the Serret-Frenet formulae for
 non-isotropic dual quaternionic curves.


We have reported the case of a patient diagnosed as having advanced gastric cancer at the age of 88 years old. An endoscopy revealed a type-2 gastric cancer of 25 x 30 mm in the lesser curvature of the middle stomach body and an IIa gastric cancer with T2 SS and cardiac accessory lesions. Both the type-2 and IIa lesions were defined as tub1 with surrounding atrophic gastritis and entero-epithelium metaplastic carcinoma. Considering the patient's age and her desire not to receive cancer treatment, we prescribed laughter therapy as recommended by the Society for Healing Environment. The program was implemented in a laughter-inducing environment and consisted of five stages: (1) Making the patient feel safe, (2) Relaxing the patient, (3) Increasing the effectiveness, (4) Improving her condition and (5) Increasing her joy of living. One year and seven months later, an endoscopy of the lesser curvature of the middle stomach body indicated that the lesions clearly improved with a morphological reduction into IIa + IIc masses. A tissue biopsy revealed that nucleus abnormality clearly improved from the initial diagnosis, with no irregularity in size. The suspected lesion was localized to a limited area near the stomach wall. Although partial gastric adenocarcinoma was suspected, the cancers turned into gastric adenoma, atrophic gastritis, and enteroepithelium metaplastic carcinoma. Now, five years after the initial diagnosis, she maintains a good condition. Laughter, one of our casual behaviors, has the effect of reducing the stress experienced by the human body. Laughter is expected to become alternative medicine in the future, and we hope to see more reports and evidence on soothing therapies using laughter.


Curricular support during the significant transitions each student experiences in law school will provide substantial benefits to students as well as the law school. What are the significant transitions? The distinction between the situational changes a law student experiences and the significant transitions of law school is important. During law school, each student experiences a number of situational changes like physically moving to a new city to attend law school or starting a new class or a new year of law school. A significant transition, however, is a psychological inner re-orientation and self-definition that the student must go through in order to incorporate the situational changes into a new understanding of professional life's developmental process. This article will make clear that the major periods of inner re-orientation and self-definition for a law student are exceptional opportunities for the law faculty and staff to foster student growth toward later stages of the school's learning outcomes. This benefits both each student and the law school itself.

The premise of this article is that each law student during law school, similar to each medical student during medical school, will also have significant transitions where the student is growing, step by step, from being a novice outsider with a stance of an observer ultimately to join a new community of practice as an insider to the profession. Unfortunately, there is very limited scholarship about the significant transitions each student must navigate in legal education. Part II of this article provides an analytical framework regarding the major transitions a law student must make to become a competent practicing lawyer. In Part III, the article provides data from law students starting the 2L year that identify the students' perception of the major transitions from being a student to being a practicing lawyer in the 1L year and the summer between the 1L and 2L years. Part IV analyzes principles that should inform an effective curriculum to help students grow during the major transitions of law school. Part V applies the principles of an effective curriculum from Part IV to the specific transitions that the students identified as most important in Part III.


There are several issues of concern regarding indirect tension testing systems to evaluate and characterize tensile properties of open graded friction course (OGFC) mixture. It is necessary to evaluate the Superpave Indirect Tension Test (IDT) in terms of its ability to accurately determine tensile properties of OGFC mixture with an independent testing system. For this purpose, Superpave IDT and Dog-Bone Direct Tension Test (DBDT) were performed in resilient and creep loading modes to determine tensile properties of dense graded and OGFC mixture. It is also necessary to further verify with asphalt mixture, previously established correction factors based on three-dimensional finite element analysis to determine mixture properties accurately from the DBDT testing system. Prior verification was based only on polymer specimen of known properties. The tensile properties of dense graded and OGFC mixtures were successfully obtained with both testing systems employed in this study. Both Superpave IDT and DBDT provided reasonable and consistent test results with respect to test temperature, aging, and binder modification. Observed differences in creep response between the two were explained by well known phenomena involving effects of stress state on mixture properties (lower creep rate were obtained in Superpave IDT where the mixture is subjected to greater confinement). Thus, continued use of the Superpave IDT is recommended because it provides reasonable properties and is much more practical than DBDT. However, relationships to account for stress state effects need to be considered for mechanisms involving uniaxial stress states. DBDT creep compliance is more appropriate for uniaxial stress states (surface tension away from tires), while Superpave IDT creep compliance is more appropriate for stress states involving confinement (bottom or near-surface tension between tires).


Pavlov (1927) first reported that following appetitive conditioning of multiple stimuli, extinction of one CS attenuated responding to others which had not undergone direct extinction. Four experiments with rat subjects investigated potential mechanisms of this secondary extinction effect. Experiment 1 assessed whether secondary extinction would be more likely to occur with target CSs that have themselves undergone some prior extinction. Two CSs were initially paired with shock. One CS was subsequently extinguished before the second CS was tested. The target CS was partially extinguished for half the rats and not extinguished CS for the other half. A robust secondary extinction effect was obtained with the non-extinguished target CS. Experiment 2 investigated whether secondary extinction occurs if the target CS is tested outside the context where the first CS is extinguished. Despite the context switch secondary extinction was observed. Extinction of one CS was also found to thwart renewal of suppression to a second CS when it was tested in a neutral context. Experiment 3 examined whether secondary extinction can be attributed to mediated generalization caused by association of the CSs with a common US during conditioning. Rats received conditioning with three CSs and then extinction with one of them. Secondary extinction was observed with a shock-associated CS when the extinguished CS had been associated with either food pellets or shock, suggesting that secondary extinction is not US-specific and is thus not explained by this mediated generalization mechanism. Experiment 4 examined whether intermixing trials with the two stimuli during conditioning is necessary for secondary extinction to occur. Rats were either conditioned with intermixed trials as in Experiments 1-3, or with blocked trials of each CS presented in conditioning sessions separated by a day. Secondary extinction was observed only in the former condition. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that CSs must be associated with a common temporal context for secondary extinction to occur.


This report describes the regional geochemistry of groundwater from the Sherwood Sandstone
aquifer of Devon and Somerset. In order to assess the likely natural baseline chemistry of the
groundwater in the area, information has been gathered from the strategic collection of 21 new
groundwater samples, and from collation of existing groundwater, rainfall, mineralogical and
geochemical data.
The Sherwood Sandstone aquifer results from continental deposition during the early Triassic
period. The deposition comprised thick clastic deposits in basins created during the late Permian.
There are two distinct units: the Otter Sandstone Formation and the underlying Budleigh
Salterton Pebble Beds Formation. These units form the most important aquifer in south-west
England.
The main chemical properties of the groundwater are determined by rainwater recharge reacting
with the aquifer minerals. Of these minerals carbonates are the dominant influence on the water
chemistry. While Ca is dominant in groundwaters from both aquifer units, the water types from
the two units can be distinguished: the Otter Sandstone Formation aquifer has mainly Ca-HCO3
type waters, with some mixing towards Mg, and the groundwaters in the Budleigh Salterton
Pebble Beds Formation aquifer are of Ca-HCO3 type to Na+K-Cl type. There is little variation in
the major ion proportion of the groundwaters from the Otter Sandstone Formation, most likely as
these represent groundwater in equilibrium with the minerals which give it this character. There
is greater variation in the Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds Formation groundwaters. Besides the
difference in groundwater types, the groundwater from the Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds
Formation is more acidic, more oxic, has lower SEC values, and HCO3, Cr, U and Mg
concentrations, and higher concentrations of Al, Be, Cd, Cr, Co, Tl and REE than the
groundwater from the Otter Sandstone Formation.
Human impacts on the water quality are evident. These are mainly visible in the presence of
indicator contaminants, such as nitrate. The widespread presence and changes of nitrate
concentrations over time indicate the extent to which the unconfined aquifer is influenced by
modern farming practices or urban pollution. Concentrations of NO3-N exceeded the current
drinking water limit of 11.3 mg L-1 in 25% of the sampled groundwaters, which probably reflects
the intensification of agriculture in the study area over the last few decades. Indeed, the dominant
land uses of the area are agriculture and grassland. However, recent legislation and the drive
towards intelligent farming have meant that in some groundwaters the concentrations of nitrate
are decreasing.
While many of the groundwaters investigated in this study are of good inorganic quality there are
some notable exceptions which contain elevated concentrations of Fe, SO4, Ni, Co and NO3. The
distribution of the poor-quality is generally so sporadic that water quality would be difficult to
predict prior to drilling a borehole.
For many analytes, the 95th percentile of the distributions has been taken as a first approximation
of an upper limit of baseline concentrations as this serves to eliminate the most extreme outlier
concentrations that likely represent a distinct population.


Recognized as a major figure in postwar American painting, Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993) was an artist strongly identified with California but whose work is beloved throughout the United States and the rest of the world. This catalogue is the most comprehensive volume on the artist now available. Jane Livingston's extensively researched biographical essay covers Diebenkorn's entire career and concentrates on the artist's inner life and purposes as revealed in his paintings. Ruth Fine deals primarily with the figurative aspect of Diebenkorn's work (1955-67), and John Elderfield concentrates on the Ocean Park period (1967-93). All three authors provide valuable insights based on their personal relationships with the artist and his widow, Phyllis. On both page and canvas, the reader can sense Diebenkorn's complexity and highly self-conscious working methods, as well as his formidable integrity. "The Art of Richard Diebenkorn" will give readers with an interest in all phases of modernism new thoughts about the relationship between abstraction and representation. Stunningly illustrated, with 192 full-color reproductions, this book is an exhilarating testament to a distinctive American artist.


In the latter years of the nineteenth and the first years of this century, Arab nationalists began to articulate their vision of a polity that would eventually replace the Ottoman framework. By the time Sharif Husayn ibn Ali alHashimi assumed the mantle of the Sharifate in Mecca in 1908, three ideas were in circulation which would have an impact on Husayn's vision of the post-Ottoman order. These were: the idea of a spiritual Sharifian or Arabian Caliphate; the importance of the Arabs, and of the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula in particular in an Islamic revival; and the important role the Hijaz should play in a post-Ottoman polity. While the polity that Husayn envisaged borrowed from previous formulations, it included ideas developed from his own experience as the leader of an Arabian chieftaincy. Husayn's vision was of a suzerainty, a ri'asah.


1999 Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (CCRTS), June 29 - July 1, 1999, U.S. Naval War College, Rhode Island


In this paper, high-speed optical ribbon couplers for card-to-backplane interconnect applications are presented. The ribbon couplers are based on evanescent coupling between flexible multimode waveguide arrays. A soft lithographic technique is utilized to fabricate the ribbons. A flexible nonterminating optical data bus has been developed. Using BeamPROP software, we simulated the evanescent light coupling between two closely spaced ribbon waveguides to study the effects of waveguides separation, interaction length, and misalignment on coupling efficiency. Further experimental analysis and tests have been performed to quantify these effects. To investigate data transmission performance, a 12-channel optical interconnect link has been assembled. Experimental results demonstrated successful evanescent coupling; facilitating auto alignment coupling between card and backplane ribbon waveguides at data speeds as high as 10 Gb/s per channel. The evident high-speed interconnect performance and rapid ribbon prototyping approach can result in overall lower cost coupler fabrication for prospective optical interconnect applications.


Variational autoencoders (VAEs) are one of the powerful likelihood-based generative models with applications in various domains. However, they struggle to generate high-quality images, especially when samples are obtained from the prior without any tempering. One explanation for VAEs' poor generative quality is the prior hole problem: the prior distribution fails to match the aggregate approximate posterior. Due to this mismatch, there exist areas in the latent space with high density under the prior that do not correspond to any encoded image. Samples from those areas are decoded to corrupted images. To tackle this issue, we propose an energy-based prior defined by the product of a base prior distribution and a reweighting factor, designed to bring the base closer to the aggregate posterior. We train the reweighting factor by noise contrastive estimation, and we generalize it to hierarchical VAEs with many latent variable groups. Our experiments confirm that the proposed noise contrastive priors improve the generative performance of state-of-the-art VAEs by a large margin on the MNIST, CIFAR-10, CelebA 64, and CelebA HQ 256 datasets.


A potential motivation for scientists to deposit their scientific work as preprints is to enhance its citation or social impact, an effect which has been empirically observed for preprints in physics, astronomy and mathematics deposited to arXiv. In this study we assessed the citation and altmetric advantage of bioRxiv, a preprint server for the biological sciences. We retrieved metadata of all bioRxiv preprints deposited between November 2013 and December 2017, and matched them to articles that were subsequently published in peer-reviewed journals. Citation data from Scopus and altmetric data from Altmetric.com were used to compare citation and online sharing behaviour of bioRxiv preprints, their related journal articles, and non-deposited articles published in the same journals. We found that bioRxiv-deposited journal articles received a sizeable citation and altmetric advantage over non-deposited articles. Regression analysis reveals that this advantage is not explained by multiple explanatory variables related to the article and its authorship. bioRxiv preprints themselves are being directly cited in journal articles, regardless of whether the preprint has been subsequently published in a journal. bioRxiv preprints are also shared widely on Twitter and in blogs, but remain relatively scarce in mainstream media and Wikipedia articles, in comparison to peer-reviewed journal articles.


Background The cardiac effects of hypertension include a variety of structural changes such as increases in left ventricular mass (LVM) and left atrium (LA) size. Although data on hypertension-induced left ventricular changes are extensive, relatively little information is available on LA size from large-scale studies. Objective We sought to assess the prevalence of LA enlargement in a large selected hypertensive population and to determine the relations of LA size to several biologic variables including left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and metabolic disturbances. Methods A total of 2500 untreated and treated uncomplicated essential hypertensives consecutively attending, for the first time, our hospital out-patient hypertension clinic and included in the Evaluation of Target Organ Damage in Hypertension, an observational ongoing registry of hypertension-related target organ damage (TOD), were considered for this analysis. All patients underwent extensive clinical, laboratory and ultrasonographic investigations searching for cardiac (and extracardiac) TOD. The LA was considered enlarged when its anteroposterior diameter exceeded 3.7 cm in women and 4.1 cm in men. LVH was defined according to two different criteria: ≥ 125 g/m2 in men and ≥ 110 g/m2 in women; or ≥ 51 g/m2.7 in men and ≥47 g/m2.7 in women. Results Enlarged LA diameter was present in 24.5% of women and in 21.5% of men. Compared with 1925 patients with normal LA size, the 575 patients with enlarged LA were older, more frequently overweight, had higher systolic blood pressure and included a greater proportion of subjects under antihypertensive treatment, with diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Both LA size and prevalence of LA enlargement differed significantly in relation to left ventricular geometry and LVM, being greater in patients with concentric or eccentric LVH than in those with left ventricular concentric remodeling or normal geometry. The prevalence of LA enlargement was similar in patients with concentric and eccentric LVH. According to a logistic regression analysis, overweight, LVH, fasting blood glucose > 7.0 mmol/l and metabolic syndrome were the main independent predictors of LA enlargement in the overall population as well as in both untreated and treated hypertensive subgroups. Conclusions Our study suggests that: LA enlargement is a common echocardiographic finding in selected essential hypertensive patients with different left ventricular geometric patterns; LA size and LA enlargement is related to LVM rather than the type of LVH; and, in addition to LVH, overweight, high fasting glucose and metabolic syndrome are associated with LA dimensions.


It was not unusual during the Renaissance for cooks to torture animals before slaughtering them in order to render the meat more tender, for women to use needlepoint to cover up their misconduct and prove their obedience, and for people to cover the walls of their own homes with graffiti.Items and activities as familiar as mirrors, books, horses, everyday speech, money, laundry baskets, graffiti, embroidery, and food preparation look decidedly less familiar when seen through the eyes of Renaissance men and women. In Renaissance Culture and the Everyday, such scholars as Judith Brown, Frances Dolan, Richard Helgerson, Debora Shuger, Don Wayne, and Stephanie Jed illuminate the sometimes surprising issues at stake in just such common matters of everyday life during the Renaissance in England and on the Continent.Organized around the categories of materiality, women, and transgression -- and constantly crossing these categories -- the book promotes and challenges readers' thinking of the everyday. While not ignoring the aristocratic, it foregrounds the common person, the marginal, and the domestic even as it presents the unusual details of their existence. What results is an expansive, variegated, and sometimes even contradictory vision in which the strange becomes not alien but a defining mark of everyday life.


Permafrost is recognized as Essential Climate Variable (ECV) within the Global Climate Observing System of UN and ICSU organisations. The Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) is the primary international programme concerned with long-term monitoring of permafrost. The core mission of the GTN-P is sustained comprehensive long-term monitoring network, in order to provide consistent, representative and high quality standardized long-term data series of selected permafrost parameters at key sites and to assess their state and changes over time. The Strategy and Implementation Plan 2016-2020 outlines recent progress and future challenges facing the network. It describes the governance and management structure of GTN-P, linkages to regional and global observing systems, management process and reporting strategies. It presents measurement methods and protocols used in field data collection and state of the art data management system, which was recently designed and implemented to process, analyse, and visualize permafrost data. It concludes with the outlook of the future developments of the network in order to sustain and succeed its core mission of providing long-term observations and maintain the availability of data collected.


The Barton Springs segment of the Balcones Fault Zone Edwards Aquifer is an important resource for water supply and environmental flows; however extreme droughts can limit the amount of available water. The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District has developed its drought management policies specifically for a recurrence of the 1950s drought of record (DOR). A comparison was made between the DOR and the 2009 drought using springflow, streamflow, rainfall, and water-level data. Generally, the values of these parameters for the DOR are slightly lower than those during the 2009 drought. The 24-month rainfall total for the 2009 drought was almost the same as the value for the last 2 years of the DOR, 35.2 and 34.8 inches, respectively. However, from a water-budget perspective, there was almost twice the amount of water being discharged (by pumping and springflow) at the end of the 2009 drought compared to the DOR. Several possible explanations for the difference in water budgets between the DOR and the 2009 drought are: (1) the DOR was considerably longer so the amount of water in storage was more depleted; (2) there was a long-term shift to wetter conditions after 1957 leading to more water in storage during the 2009 drought; and (3) increased pumping since the 1950s could have been offset by an increase in flow from adjacent and underlying aquifers, or even urban recharge such as leaking water pipes. However, it is likely that during a recurrence of the DOR, springflow will decrease below rates observed during the DOR owing to higher rates of pumping.


Corporate governance is very crucial to all listed firms, as it has been argued that listed firms are likely to get external finance, not only because of the reputation of the capital market and excessive investor optimism, but also due to assurances provided by their corporate governance systems.
This study aims to use a Corporate Governance Index (CGI) and assess whether good corporate governance practices/structures in the Nigerian banking sector enhances the market value of deposit money banks or otherwise. Using Tobin's Q ratio as proxy for Firm Value, the study employed panel data regression method on extracted data from annual reports of listed (DMBs) deposit money banks in Nigeria for a period of twelve years, from 2006 to 2017.
The study finds that Firm value is positively associated with corporate governance and market capitalization. Hence DMBs with good corporate governance mechanisms in place and high profitability are valued more by investors in the capital market while those that are growing in size and age are likely to be valued less by investors in the market.
It is therefore recommended that DMBs in Nigeria should pay more attention to corporate governance practices in order to enhance their firm value and attract more investors in the capital market. Regulatory authorities such as as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposits Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should develop and harmonize good corporate governance index for DMBs in Nigeria and ensure compliance by the DMBs so as to enhance the capital market and therefore assist in the growth and development of the economy in general.


This study is based on datasets acquired from multi sources e.g. rain-gauges, satellite, reanalysis and coupled model for the region of Northwestern India. The influence of rainfall on crop production is obvious and direct. With the climate change and global warming, greenhouse gases are also showing an adverse impact on crop production. Greenhouse gases (e.g. CO2, NO2 and CH4) have shown an increasing trend over Northwestern Indian region. In recent years, rainfall has also shown an increasing trend over Northwestern India, while the production of rice and maize are reducing over the region. From eight selected sites, over Northwestern India, where rice and maize productions have reduced by 40%, with an increase in CO2, NO2 and CH4 gas emission by 5% from 1998 to 2011.

 The correlation from one year to another between rainfall, gas emission and crop production was not very robust throughout the study period, but seemed to be stronger for some years than others.

 Such trends and crop yield are attributed to rainfall, greenhouse gas emissions and to the climate variability.


The impact of Raman amplification and Simplex coding is studied in combination with differential pulse-width pair Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (DPP-BOTDA) to achieve sub-meter spatial resolution over very long sensing distances. An optimization of the power levels for the Raman pumps, Brillouin pump and signal has been carried out through numerical simulations, maximizing the signal levels and avoiding at the same time nonlinear effects and pump depletion. A reduction of acoustic-wave-induced distortions in the Brillouin gain spectrum down to negligible levels has also been achieved by numerical optimization of the pulse width and duty cycle of return-to-zero Simplex coding, providing significant signal-to-noise ratio enhancement. Strain–temperature sensing over 93 km standard SMF is achieved with a strain/temperature accuracy of 34µε/1.7 °C, and 50 cm spatial resolution throughout the fiber length.


Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) is a kind of common malignant weed in the agricultural fields worldwide. In recent years, it has not been well controlled under the commercial rate of glyphosate application in some areas of Hunan Province in China. To evaluate and confirm the glyphosate resistant biotypes of S. nigrum, the seeds of ten suspected glyphosate resistant populations of S. nigrum were collected in the agricultural fields from this province. Their GR50 values and glyphosate resistance were determined by the biomass method, the comprehensive index of pesticide injury method, and the leaf discs method independently. The results showed that 'r1, r2, r3, and r9' populations were of moderate resistance levels to glyphosate. But the shikimic acid levels in S. nigrum did not display a typical sigmoidal curve to glyphosate resistance, supporting that the mechanism of different resistance might be involved among the glyphosate resistant biotypes in S. nigrum.


Background/introduction Patients Know Best® (PKB) is an innovative, patient-controlled, medical record and communication platform aiming to facilitate patient centred care. Aim(s)/objectives This qualitative service evaluation aimed to gain insight into the utility of PKB and experiences of users: specialist doctors, nurses and people living with HIV (PLWHIV). Methods Participants were from 7 UK HIV centres that use PKB, 2 with PKB integrated with lab systems allowing automatic upload of blood results. Six doctors, 5 nurses and 4 PLWHIV took part in focus groups or individual interviews, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were systematically coded using a thematic analysis approach. Results Participants had on average 1.5–2 years' experience of'using PKB. PKB was mainly used to send/access lab results (automatically, or via secure messaging) or for other secure messaging e.g. clinicians uploaded clinic communications to GPs, care plans, letters for employment/sick notes, PLWHIV requested new/repeat prescriptions, booked appointments, queried results, symptoms and medication issues. Participants reported that PKB enabled different models of care (e.g. nurse-led, remote-monitoring) and use resulted in efficiencies and increased capacity, improved patient experience and self-management. Communication with GPs, pharmacists and clinicians in other departments via PKB was an area of unmet potential. Participants suggested lack of IT systems integration and resistance to PKB by some colleagues/PLWHIV were barriers to wider uptake. Discussion/conclusion Varied benefits and value of PKB were reported. Overall experiences with PKB in UK HIV services were positive with all supporting continued use, greater uptake and integration.


National security decision-making has been at the forefront of Israeli life for over six decades. Repeated wars, ongoing hostilities at lower levels, the need to confront dire and even existential threats, and various peace initiatives have all imbued Israel's national security decisions with unusual importance. Traditionally held to be primarily reactive in character, Israeli decision-making has become increasingly proactive in recent decades. At the same time, many of the diplomatic and military initiatives Israel has undertaken have gone awry, and the number of policy failures has become untenable. Indeed, Israel has suffered from a decades-long domestic political stalemate - arguably a crisis - on matters of its fundamental existence, including the Palestinian issue, with the political system unable to resolve the contending currents of opinion.Although a very small nation, Israel has a clearly disproportionate impact on world affairs, and its decision-making processes are thus of considerable concern to the United States and the international community as a whole. Despite a uniquely close relationship with the US based on common democratic systems, cultural traditions, and a resulting bilateral presumption of mutual understanding, the reality is that relations between the US and Israel are rife with misunderstandings.Understanding Israel's decision-making process (DMP) is thus essential. This article briefly presents the driving forces behind the Israeli DMP and argues that Israel can no longer afford the failings of its own decision-making processes. It concludes with recommendations for reforms needed primarily on the institutional level, but the electoral as well.Earlier research1 has established that Israel's national security decision-making processes are shaped largely by three causal factors: first, a uniquely harsh and dangerous external environment, characterized by rapid and sweeping change and only limited malleability, which greatly shapes and circumscribes Israel's national security choices; second, Israel's proportional representation (PR) system, which causes deep political fragmentation and a resulting need to govern through coalition governments, with clear consequences for the roles of the premier and cabinet; and finally, the relative weakness of the primary civilian national security organs (the foreign and defense ministries and the National Security Staff2) in the national DMP, compared to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and intelligence services.These causal factors were found to result in ten primary characteristics and pathologies:(1) The Israeli DMP is focused overwhelmingly on the short term and is often improvisational and sequential. Long-term policy formulation is consequently minimal.(2) Crucially, premiers manifest a clear tendency to avoid systematic policy planning, especially in the cabinet, but even more so in the Ministerial Committee on Defense (MCoD) and informal decision-making forums. Consequently, policy objectives, priorities, and options are typically not well elucidated, which greatly hinders Israel's ability to achieve its goals.(3) The cabinet and MCoD are typically dysfunctional, and most real decision-making is thus conducted by the premier in informal forums with the defense minister, chief of staff(CoS), other senior defense officials, and, at times, the foreign and other ministers. Israel thus does not have an effective statutory forum for national security decision-making.(4) By the time an issue reaches the cabinet, the premier and relevant minister(s) have typically settled on a preferred course of action and present just one option that can be approved or rejected. The creation of the Israeli National Security Council (INSC) in 1999 has partially alleviated this, but an insufficient consideration of options remains a basic problem.(5) The DMP is intensely politicized, albeit less so regarding decisions to use military force. …


Core-binding factor beta (CBFbeta) and CBFalpha2 form a heterodimeric transcription factor that plays an important role in hematopoiesis. The genes encoding either CBFbeta or CBFalpha2 are involved in chromosomal rearrangements in more than 30% of cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), suggesting that CBFbeta and CBFalpha2 play important roles in leukemogenesis. Inv(16)(p13;q22) is found in almost all cases of AML M4Eo and results in the fusion of CBFB with MYH11, the gene encoding smooth muscle myosin heavy chain. Mouse embryos heterozygous for a Cbfb-MYH11 knock-in gene lack definitive hematopoiesis, a phenotype shared by Cbfb(-/-) embryos. In this study we generated a Cbfb-GFP knock-in mouse model to characterize the normal expression pattern of Cbfbeta in hematopoietic cells. In midgestation embryos, Cbfbeta was expressed in populations enriched for hematopoietic stem cells and progenitors. This population of stem cells and progenitors was not present in mouse embryos heterozygous for the Cbfb-MYH11 knock-in gene. Together, these data suggest that Cbfb-MYH11 blocks embryonic hematopoiesis at the stem-progenitor cell level and that Cbfb is essential for the generation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. In adult mice, Cbfbeta was expressed in stem and progenitor cells, as well as mature myeloid and lymphoid cells. Although it was expressed in erythroid progenitors, Cbfbeta was not expressed during the terminal stages of erythropoiesis. Our data indicate that Cbfb is required for myeloid and lymphoid differentiation; but does not play a critical role in erythroid differentiation.


The range of applications and services which can be successfully deployed in packet-switched networks such as the Internet is limited when the network does nor provide Quality of Service (QoS). This is the typical situation in today's Internet. A key aspect in providing QoS support is the requirement for an optimised and intelligent mapping of customer traffic flows onto a physical network topology. The problem of selecting such paths is the task of QoS routing QoS routing algorithms are intrinsically complex and need careful study before being implemented in real networks. Our aim is to address some of the challenges present m the deployment of QoS routing methods.

This thesis considers a number of practical limitations of existing QoS routing algorithms and presents solutions to the problems identified. Many QoS routing algorithms are inherently unstable and induce traffic fluctuations in the network. We describe two new routing algorithms which address this problem The first method - ALCFRA (Adaptive Link Cost Function Routing Algorithm) - can be used in networks with sparse connectivity, while the second algorithm - CAR (Connectivity Aware Routing) - is designed to work well in other network topologies. We also describe how to ensure co-operative interaction of the routing algorithms in multiple domains when hierarchial routing is used and also present a solution to the problems of how to provide QoS support m a network where not all nodes are QoS-aware.

Our solutions are supported by extensive simulations over a wide range of network topologies and their performance is compared to existing algorithms. It is shown that our solutions advance the state of the art in QoS routing and facilitate the deployment of QoS support in tomorrow's Internet.


In this comment, we disagree with the Court of Appeal's decision to disqualify two newly elected members of the Legislative Council from office. While we accept that the judiciary is empowered under Art 104 of the Basic Law to determine whether an oath taken is valid, it is our view that after the oath is judicially deemed invalid, it should be left to the President of LegCo to determine whether the lawmaker is to be denied a second chance of retaking the oath and be disqualified. First, the CA held that para 2(3) of the relevant Interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress "automatically disqualified [the pair of lawmakers] from assuming their offices", but the term "automatic" or "automatically" is found nowhere in the Interpretation. The Interpretation only uses the term "forthwith", which means "without delay", and it would not be inconsistent with the Interpretation for the CA to punt the issue over to the President to proceed with the disqualification expeditiously. Second, reading ss19 and 21 of the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance (Cap 11) together, we argue that a lawmaker can only be disqualified for declining to take the requisite oath if he had not taken a valid oath after a reasonable time had elapsed. Therefore, the lawmaker is not disqualified "automatically" on the first occasion where he declined to take the requisite oath. Third, the principle of non-intervention in the internal process of LegCo applies herein. Whilst the courts have jurisdiction to determine whether the President has the general power to grant or deny a newly elected LegCo member the opportunity of retaking the requisite oath after the original attempt was judicially deemed invalid, the courts will not exercise jurisdiction to determine the specific occasion or manner of exercise of this power by the President. Finally, if the Interpretation is treated as a piece of legislation instead of a judicial decision, and if Hong Kong courts were to approach this legislation using common law principles of statutory interpretation, the presumption against retrospectivity of legislation applies; and on the facts of this case, this Interpretation would not operate retrospectively to events that predated its announcement.


'East International', a publicaly funded annual exhibition conceived and curated by Lynda Morris (Norwich Gallery, Norwich School of Art and Design, and director of EAST International), is considered to be the UK's premier open submission exhibition and is one of England's largest displays of contemporary art. It is recognised internationally as a launch pad for emerging talent.

The 2007 show consisted of 27 artists from Europe, North America and Britain selected by artist and curator Matthew Higgs and artist Marc Chaimowicz. It was described in a review by Martin Herbert in Art Monthly as 'easily the strongest of the last decade'. It explored themes and myths of urban history in painting, sculpture and film. 'EAST 07' also included four off-site projects 'EASTwork'. The selectors' choice reflected their experience of looking at more than 11,000 slides of artists work from more than 300 countries. The 'EASTdiscourse,' held between the selection and the exhibition opening, brought all the artists together so they were as fully informed as the selectors and the curator about the context and location. Many pieces of work were site-specific.

The artists selected represented different generations and included David Hepher, Rose Wylie, Luke Fowler, Tasha Amini, Jeffrey Dennis, Josh Blackwell, Alexandre Singh and Karin Ruggaber.

Reid produced a site-specific wall installation of 35 A0 inkjet prints on metallic foil paper. In his review in Art Monthly, Herbert notes the level of intensity in her work and describes the work 'as tapping a vein of resentment'.

There is a fully illustrated catalogue and a book on all the EAST exhibitions since 1991.


Massive galaxies in the distant Universe form stars at much higher rates than today. Although direct resolution of the star forming regions of these galaxies is still a challenge, recent molecular gas observations at the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer enable us to study the star formation efficiency on subgalactic scales around redshift z = 1.2. We present a method for obtaining the gas and star formation rate (SFR) surface densities of ensembles of clumps composing galaxies at this redshift, even though the corresponding scales are not resolved. This method is based on identifying these structures in position-velocity diagrams corresponding to slices within the galaxies. We use unique IRAM observations of the CO(3–2) rotational line and DEEP2 spectra of four massive star forming distant galaxies – EGS13003805, EGS13004291, EGS12007881, and EGS13019128 in the AEGIS terminology – to determine the gas and SFR surface densities of the identifiable ensembles of clumps that constitute them. The integrated CO line luminosity is assumed to be directly proportional to the total gas mass, and the SFR is deduced from the [OII] line. We identify the ensembles of clumps with the angular resolution available in both CO and [OII] spectroscopy; i.e., 1–1.5′′. SFR and gas surface densities are averaged in areas of this size, which is also the thickness of the DEEP2 slits and of the extracted IRAM slices, and we derive a spatially resolved Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) relation on a scale of ~8 kpc. The data generally indicates an average depletion time of 1.9 Gyr, but with significant variations from point to point within the galaxies.


Conventional wisdom suggests that armed conflicts with religious dimensions are inherently difficult to end. Religious appeals seem to make conflict issues indivisible. Yet, religious conflicts do end. In order to understand this puzzle, there is a need to examine the empirical records of the termination process of these types of armed conflicts. In this study, we argue that there is a potential for conflict resolution of religious conflicts without necessarily requiring concessions on the core beliefs and aspirations. We explore this proposition by examining the empirical pattern of Asian armed conflicts with explicit religious dimensions as stated incompatible positions and scrutinize how they are ended. Our empirical analysis reveals that none of the parties raising religious demands has made concessions on those demands. Yet, in about half of the cases, there are accommodations that do not imply concessions on the religious goals. Based on these findings, the study draws out the potential implications for the debate about the role of religion, armed conflicts, and peaceful resolution.


The physically-based spatially-distributed model PROMET (Processes of Radiation, Mass and Energy Transfer) is applied to the Greater Damascus Basin, which is considered as one of the most important basins in Syria, to serve as a case study of using spatial data for Geo-environmental studies. Like most areas of the Middle East, the study area is characterized by large temporal and spatial variations in precipitation and by limited water resources. Due to the increasing water demand caused by the economic development and the rapid growth of population, the study area is expected to suffer from further water shortages in the future. This highlights the necessity of developing an integrated Decision Support System (DSS) to evaluate strategies for efficient and sustainable water resources management in the basin, taking into consideration global environmental changes and socio-economic conditions. The work presented here represents the first steps toward achieving this goal through applying a distributed hydrological model (an important component of any integrated DSS for water resources management) to the Greater Damascus Basin utilizing different types of spatial data used as time-dependent (e.g., meteorology) and time-independent (e.g., topography and soil) input parameters. The model PROMET, which was developed within the GLOWA-Danube project as part of the decision support system DANUBIA, is run on an hourly time step (for the period from 1991 to 2005) and a 180*180m spatial resolution to simulate the water and energy fluxes in this basin. The model is embedded within a raster-based GIS-structure which facilitates the integration of the diverse types of spatial data. The spatial information related to topography (such as elevation, slope, and exposition) as well as those related to runoff routing (such as upstream-area, channel width, and downstream proxel) are automatically extracted from Digital Elevation Model (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, SRTM-90m DEM). The spatial patterns of the different land use/land cover classes are derived from remote sensing data (classification of a cloud-free LANDSAT 7 ETM+ image using the supervised classification algorithm). The spatial fields of meteorological input data are provided on an hourly basis through spatiotemporal interpolation of the measurements of the available weather stations. Spatial information about the soil texture is provided through generalization and aggregation of the soil type classes of the Soil Map of Syria (prepared by USAID) and transferring the soil types to texture classes. Several pedotransfer functions are then used to estimate the soil hydraulic properties for each soil texture class (and each soil layer) found in the study area. While plant physiological parameters (which are assumed to be static, such as minimum stomatal resistance) are estimated for each vegetation class using information taken from literature sources, the temporal evolution of Albedo and Leaf Area Index (LAI) are derived from five cloud-free LANDSAT-7 images acquired at different seasons of the year.
The goodness of the results obtained by the model PROMET are verified and/or validated by comparing them either with their corresponding data observed in the filed or with remote sensing-derived information (e.g., snow cover). Two subcatchments are selected for the purpose of calculating the spatially-distributed annual water balances. The results indicate that the modelled mean annual runoff volume fits well with the measured discharge for both chosen subcatchment. In addition, the simulated discharge is compared to the observed one (at seven gauge stations) on a monthly basis, covering the whole simulation period (15 years). The results of the regression analysis for each of these gauge stations (with slope of regression line ranges from 0.79 to 1.04; coefficient of determination 0.69-0.90; and Nash-Sutcliffe Coefficient 0.73-0.95) indicate that there is a good correlation between simulated and observed monthly mean discharge volumes.


Abstract. Agricultural land management greatly affects soil properties. Microbial soil communities are the most sensitive and rapid indicators of perturbations in land use and soil enzyme activities are sensitive biological indicators of the effects of soil management practices. Citrus orchards frequently have degraded soils and this paper evaluates how land management in citrus orchards can improve soil quality. A field experiment was performed in an orchard of orange trees (Citrus Sinensis) in the Alcoleja Experimental Station (Eastern Spain) with clay-loam agricultural soils to assess the long-term effects of herbicides with inorganic fertilizers (H), intensive ploughing and inorganic fertilizers (P) and organic farming (O) on the soil microbial properties, and to study the relationship between them. Nine soil samples were taken from each agricultural management plot. In all the samples the basal soil respiration, soil microbial biomass carbon, water holding capacity, electrical conductivity, soil organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, aggregate stability, cation exchange capacity, pH, texture, macronutrients (Na, Ca and Mg), micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu), calcium carbonate equivalent, calcium carbonate content of limestone and enzimatic activities (urease, dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase and acid phosphatase) were determined. The results showed a substantial level of differentiation in the microbial properties, which were highly associated with soil organic matter content. The management practices including herbicides and intensive ploughing had similar results on microbial soil properties. O management contributed to an increase in the soil biology quality, aggregate stability and organic matter content.


Appraising the impact of Folstein et al's 1977 report on 'Mood disorder as a specific complication of stroke' is a challenging task for someone who did not enter medical school until the mid-1980s. Stroke changed in the 1970s, and the view in retrospect appears unrecognisable. This was a dramatic change, from an intellectual backwater too dull for neurologists to even bother seeing, to become a hot topic: a disease to be studied in mega trials and a standard bearer for evidence based medicine. Prior to the 1970s, with the exception of dysphasia, neuropsychiatric complications had been given scant thoughtdit was a disorder that affected how people walked. It was recognised that some elderly patients became depressed after stroke but the prevailing view appeared to be "so what, they 're old and infirm, what do you expect?" It is against this backdrop that the work of researchers at John Hopkins has to be judged. The importance of the paper was perhaps not the findings but the very fact that they published the study at all. Two years earlier their John Hopkins colleague Robert Robinson published a fascinating study demonstrating that experimentally induced strokes in rats led to alteration in cerebral metabolism of catecholamines that correlated with behavioural changes in the rats that mimicked depression. Folstein's data appeared to be an early example of translational research and were widely disseminated as they appeared to link laboratory based neurobiology with clinical practice. Tantalisingly it seemed to offer a human model for studying the anatomy of depression. Appearing, as it did, contemporaneously with the development of cerebral imaging techniques, this was the impetus researchers had needed. Over the next 2 decades, 143 reports were made on this topic. Sadly, the theory of anatomical location of brain lesions as a simplistic explanation for mood disorder did not stand up to scrutiny. It was perhaps too good to be true; a salient reminder of the need for confirmation in humans of findings from animal models. In critical analysis the paper itself has suffered with the passage of time. Epidemiological techniques have advanced, as has expectation of sample sizes and analysis strategies. Future investigators submitting to the journal are unlikely to get a case control study past peer review without any statistical comparisons! But for all that, it is a well written report that gets its key messages across clearly and succinctly, perhaps because the manuscript was not cluttered with t tests and hazard ratios, and that is something editors welcome in any era. And the key messages were importantd the realisation that depression after stroke was not simply an understandable reaction to disability has stood the test of time. We now know that 33% of stroke patients suffer from depression (95% CI 29% to 36%). We now know that this depression leads to increased disability and probably increased mortality. Most importantly, we now know that antidepressants are effective in treating it. Countless patients round the world are benefiting from this knowledge and that is an impact that any researcher can be proud of.


Book synopsis: Now fully updated, Scorsese on Scorsese is the definitive study of America's foremost film director, including new chapters on Kundun, Bringing Out the Dead, the documentary My Voyage to Italy, and the epic Gangs of New York.

True to its title, this book offers Martin Scorsese in his own words: through a career-length interview in which he recalls his upbringing in New York's Little Italy, and explains the inspiration and creation of his many great movies. The result is an incomparable insight into a body of work that is the most personal achievement in modern American cinema.

Scorsese proves himself to be a terrifically articulate artist, whether recounting the many battles to get his movies made, his supreme passion for the medium of film itself, or the roots of his long-time creative partnership with actor Robert De Niro. Scorsese on Scorsese also contains a complete filmography, and a wealth of behind-the-scenes stills and sketches from Scorsese's own collection.


The problem of interreflections for Lambertian surfaces of arbitrary shape and with varying reflectance is of interest for many practical applications. We present a general method to approach this problem. We define photometric modes that are uncoupled in the sense that each mode may be assigned a (pseudo) reflectance and that interreflections among modes vanish. Then the problem is formally identical with that of a convex body, in which interreflections are of no importance. The photometric modes depend on the shape of the body. In many practical cases one or a few modes dominate, and the reflected radiance depends more on the shape of the body (the dominant mode) than on the precise irradiance distribution. A few examples are treated explicitly. The redistribution of radiation described by the modes is treated by means of the net vector flux and the space density of radiation. Knowledge of these fields for the dominant mode yields considerable intuitive insight in the physical situation and provides the means to estimate the effects of painting part of the surface or of the introduction of screens.


In evolution alternative genetic trajectories can potentially lead to similar phenotypic outcomes. However, certain trajectories are preferred over others. These preferences bias the genomes of living organisms and the underlying processes can be observed in ongoing evolution.We have studied a variety of biases that can be found in bacterial chromosomes and determined the selective causes and functional consequences for the cell. We have quantified codon usage bias in highly expressed genes and shown that it is selected to optimise translational speed. We further demonstrated that the resulting differences in decoding speed can be used to regulate gene expression, and that the use of 'non-optimal' codons can be detrimental to reading frame maintenance. Biased gene location on the chromosome favours recombination between genes within gene families and leads to co-evolution. We have shown that such recombinational events can protect these gene families from inactivation by mobile genetic elements, and that chromosome organization can be selectively maintained because inversions can lead to the formation of unstable hybrid operons.We have used the development of antibiotic resistance to study how different bacterial lifestyles influence evolutionary trajectories. For this we used two distinct pairs of antibiotics and disease-causing bacteria, namely (i) Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is treated with rifampicin and (ii) Escherichia coli that is treated with ciprofloxacin. We have shown that in the slow-growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis, resistance mutations are selected for high-level resistance. Fitness is initially less important, and over time fitness costs can be ameliorated by compensatory mutations. The need for rapid growth causes the selection of ciprofloxacin resistance in Escherichia coli not only to be selected on the basis of high-level resistance but also on high fitness. Compensatory evolution is therefore not required and is not observed.Taken together, our results show that the evolution of a phenotype is the product of multiple steps and that many factors influence which trajectory is the most likely to occur and be most beneficial. Over time, selection will favour this particular trajectory and lead to biased evolution, affecting genome sequence and organization.


Vasopressin and oxytocin are produced in and secreted from not only hypothalamo-hypophysial neurons which shed their products into the circulation to act as hormones or releasing factors, but also from neurons whose axons form tracts which remain within the central nervous system. Using tritiated or radioiodinated ligands, binding sites for vasopressin and for oxytocin have been detected by in vitro autoradiography. In the rat hypothalamus binding sites for vasopressin are present in the suprachiasmatic, sigmoid and arcuate nuclei, and oxytocin receptors in the area of the ventromedial nucleus. Electrophysiological evidence obtained using single cell recordings in slices suggests that oxytocin-binding sites present in the ventromedial hypothalamus and in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis mostly represent functional, neuronal receptors. The expression of these receptors (but not of the vasopressin receptors) depends on gonadal steroid hormones, as does that of uterine and mammary gland oxytocin receptors. Modifications of the hormonal status associated with, for example, puberty and lactation cause 'up-regulation' of central and peripheral oxytocin receptors. The central administration of oxytocin facilitates (and the administration of oxytocin agonists inhibits) maternal behaviour and the milk ejection reflex, therefore the hormonal and neural actions of oxytocin appear to be complementary in ensuring the birth and development of the offspring.


Crossbred Hereford × Angus calves (n = 103) were used to determine the effect of early weaning on carcass and ribeye (longissimus muscle) characteristics of bulls and steers. Treatments were: 1) early-weaned (117 days of age) bulls, 2) early-weaned steers, 3) normal-weaned (220 days of age) bulls, and 4) normal-weaned steers. Cattle were harvested at 360 and 389 days of age. At 36 hours postmortem, carcass quality and cutability were measured. Ribeye steaks were aged 14 days and scored for color, Warner-Bratzler shear force, and sensory panel evaluations. Carcasses from early-weaned cattle had greater dressing percentages, heavier weights, greater fat thicknesses, and higher numerical USDA Yield Grades (lower cutability). They also had more marbling and greater USDA quality grades, but had similar longissimus color, shear force, and sensory panel scores, compared with those of normal-weaned cattle. Bulls had greater dressing percentages, but had similar carcass weights to steers. Bull carcasses had less fat thickness and greater ribeye areas, resulting in lower numerical USDA Yield Grades (higher cutability) than steers had. They also had less marbling, darker color, and lower USDA quality grades than steers did. Longissimus muscles from bulls were darker, had greater shear forces, and had lower sensory panel tenderness scores than those from steers. For early-maturing British-type cattle, early weaning is a viable management strategy to produce heavier, higher-quality carcasses than those of normalweaned cattle. Carcasses from early-weaned cattle are fatter and have lower cutability. For a non-implant "natural" market, bulls could be an alternative for producing high-cutability carcasses. Steaks may be less tender, however, and pre-harvest management must be optimized to reduce dark-cutting carcasses.


A photonic crystal microresonator is proposed in this study that is relocatable in two dimensions. A wavelength-scale resonator with high Q-factor (26,000) and high collection efficiency (80%) is formed and repositioned by simply placing and relocating a curved-microfiber to a new position on the surface of a two-dimensional square lattice photonic crystal slab. The formation of the resonator was confirmed by observing lasing of resonators. Infrared microscope images showed that the lasing site is two-dimensionally relocated in-situ. Spectral tuning was demonstrated by modifying the curvature of the microfiber. Functionalities, such as the two-dimensional relocation, spectral tuning and efficient extraction, which the curved-microfiber coupling offers, may provide an alternative way of coupling with a single quantum dot.


America, beginning as a small group of devout Puritan settlers, ultimately became the richest, most powerful Empire in the history of the world, but having reached that point, is now in a process of implosion and decay. This book, inspired by Frankfurt School Critical Theory, especially Erich Fromm, offers a unique historical, cultural and characterological analysis of American national character and its underlying psychodynamics. Specifically, this analysis looks at the persistence of Puritan religion, as well as the extolling of male toughness and America's unbridled pursuit of wealth. Finally, its self image of divinely blessed exceptionalism has fostered vast costs in lives and wealth. But these qualities of its national character are now fostering both a decline of its power and a transformation of its underlying social character. This suggests that the result will be a changing social character that enables a more democratic, tolerant and inclusive society, one that will enable socialism, genuine, participatory democracy and a humanist framework of meaning. This book is relevant to understanding America's past, present and future.


The objective of this paper is to understand the determinants of the enforcement level of indirect taxation in a positive setting. We build a sequential game where individuals differing in their willingness to pay for a taxed good vote over the enforcement level. Firms then compete a la Cournot and choose the fraction of sales taxes to evade. We assume in most of the paper that the tax rate is set exogenously. Voters face the following trade-off: more enforcement increases tax collection but also increases the consumer price of the goods sold in an imperfectly competitive market. We obtain that the equilibrium enforcement level is the one most-preferred by the individual with the median willingness to pay, that it is not affected by the structure of the market (number of firms) and the firms' marginal cost, and that it decreases with the resource cost of evasion and with the tax rate. We also compare the enforcement level chosen by majority voting with the utilitarian level. In the last section, we endogenize the tax rate by assuming that individuals vote simultaneously over tax rate and enforcement level. We prove the existence of a Condorcet winner and show that it entails full enforcement (i.e., no tax evasion at equilibrium). The existence of markets with less than full enforcement then depends crucially on the fact that tax rates are not tailored to each market individually.


In this paper, we propose a general-purpose multimedia query language that is built upon a set of generalized n-ary spatio-temporal relations and object-oriented modelling paradigm for multinnedia data. We present a grammar for the query language and elaborate how various functiona;!ities such as declartion of multimedia data, specification of spatio-temporal logic, expressio~l of spatio-temporal semantics for content-based retrieval of irnagelvideo data, composition of multimedia documents, and orchestration of presentations can be supported through this language. Currently, the language is being implemented using object-oriented concepts imd the Postgres database management system.


Seismic and field data show that the Fundy rift basin of southeastern Canada experienced two distinct episodes of deformation during Mesozoic time. The first episode, during Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic time, was extensional. Rifting associated with NW–SE extension reactivated NE trending Paleozoic compressional structures as normal faults, forming the northwestern boundary faults of the Fundy basin. Displacements on the low-angle boundary faults locally exceeded 10 km. Rifting also reactivated east trending Paleozoic compressional structures as oblique-slip faults with normal and sinistral strike-slip components, forming the northern boundary faults of the Fundy basin. Several kilometers of sediments and lava flows filled the basin during rifting. The second deformational episode occurred during or after Early Jurassic time and probably before or during Early Cretaceous time. Inversion associated with NW–SE shortening occurred along all faulted margins of the Fundy basin. The northwestern boundary faults experienced several kilometers of reverse displacement, broad anticlines developed within their hanging walls, and the Fundy basin acquired its synclinal form. The northern boundary faults of the Fundy basin became oblique-slip faults with reverse and dextral strike-slip components. Gentle synclines, tight anticlines, and faults with reverse separation deformed the synrift strata near the northern margin of the Fundy basin. Neither collision nor subduction zones existed near the Fundy basin during Mesozoic time. Hence we believe that tectonic processes associated with seafloor spreading (e.g., incipient ridge push forces, continental resistance to plate motion) produced the shortening in the Fundy basin. Shortening occurred during the transition from rifting to drifting as North America separated from northern Africa and/or during the early stages of drifting as the seafloor-spreading centers of the North Atlantic propagated northward.


This paper aims to better understand how retail development in emerging markets might occur by carrying out a detailed analysis of Indian retailing and then applying the results to a wider range of emerging markets. The goal is to identify potential patterns of future retail development in emerging economies. The scenarios approach was considered an appropriate methodology for investigating developing economies as it accepts structural uncertainty with multiple interpretations and multiple futures. In fact for retailing, there are countless 'right' answers, endless combinations of business models and infinite permutations of key themes and approaches. Conceptualising the evolution of different retail formats taking the scenarios approach is therefore a prudent choice of methodology, especially in wanting to avoid the dangers of over formalising the format development process within the retail context in emerging markets. Four possible visions for retail development in India, each with their own benefits and costs: a Kirana Kingdom, Sanskriti Planets, Sasta World or Mishrit Universe were developed from the primary research conducted and then tested in the context of other emerging markets. A combination of regulatory intervention and the changing cultural disposition of consumers on account of changing socio economic conditions play a significant role in the development of retailing in emerging markets. The significant role of the politics of retailing in emerging markets has also been highlighted in this paper. Retail development in emerging markets can therefore be aligned more closely to combination theory where the consumer-regulation configuration plays a significant role in how retail evolves and develops in these markets.


Recent literature has emphasized the need to examine executive functions (EF) in children using multiple sources, including both parent rating and performance-based measures. Computerized Go/No-Go tests, including commercially available continuous performance tests (CPTs), represent one of the most commonly used methods of assessing inhibitory control—a variable central to the executive function construct. We examined the relationship between parent ratings of inhibitory control and CPT performance in two mixed clinical samples. Experiment 1 examined 109 children ages 6–18 using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000) and the Conners' CPT-II (Conners, 2000). In this sample, ratings on the BRIEF Inhibit scale (mean T-score = 62.3) were significantly higher than the CPT-II commissions score (mean T-score = 50.7; p < .0001); and the BRIEF and CPT-II scores were not highly correlated (r = − .12). Experiment 2 examined a sample of 131 children ages 7–18 using the BRIEF and the Tests of Variables of Attention (TOVA; Greenberg, 1996). In this sample, parent ratings on the BRIEF Inhibit scale (mean T-score = 56.8) were similar to TOVA commissions scores (mean T-score = 58.6; p = .33), although still poorly correlated (r = −.02). Factor analyses exploring covariance between BRIEF scales CPT-II variables (Experiment 1) and between BRIEF and TOVA (Experiment 2) yielded similar findings. In both experiments, all eight BRIEF scales loaded on a single factor, with no overlap with either the CPT-II or the TOVA. In mixed outpatient clinical samples, the BRIEF appears to measure different elements of inhibitory control than those assessed by computerized continuous performance tests.


The use of random perturbations of ground truth data, such as random translation or scaling of bounding boxes, is a common heuristic used for data augmentation that has been shown to prevent overfitting and improve generalization. Since the design of data augmentation is largely guided by reported best practices, it is difficult to understand if those design choices are optimal. To provide a more principled perspective, we develop a game-theoretic interpretation of data augmentation in the context of object detection. We aim to find an optimal adversarial perturbations of the ground truth data (i.e., the worst case perturbations) that forces the object bounding box predictor to learn from the hardest distribution of perturbed examples for better test-time performance. We establish that the game-theoretic solution (Nash equilibrium) provides both an optimal predictor and optimal data augmentation distribution. We show that our adversarial method of training a predictor can significantly improve test-time performance for the task of object detection. On the ImageNet, Pascal VOC and MS-COCO object detection tasks, our adversarial approach improves performance by about 16%, 5%, and 2% respectively compared to the best performing data augmentation methods.


PURPOSE
The aim was to investigate the impact of low-dose letrozole usage along with gonadotropin treatment in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles in comparison to gonadotropin treatment alone.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Fifty patients were prospectively included in this randomized study and were divided into two groups. Age, demographic features, causes, and period of infertility were adjusted and matched for both groups. Group 1 included 25 patients who received gonadotropin treatment and letrozole along with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist protocol; group 2 included 25 patients who received gonadotropin treatment along with GnRH antagonist protocol.

RESULTS
Total follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and daily FSH doses were lower in group 1, although not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The period of ovulation induction was significantly shorter in group 2. While numbers of retrieved oocytes and transferred embryos were lower in group 1, they were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Number of clinical pregnancies per embryo transfer, number of clinical pregnancies per cycle, and number of ongoing pregnancies (> 16 gestational weeks) were similar in both groups (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Addition of low-dose letrozole to gonadotropin treatment in GnRH antagonist protocols may result in a lower dose of gonadotropin administration. However, routine clinical practice remains questionable due to no evident positive effect on pregnancy rates.


The enterprise computer-based systems employed by the organisations of today can be extremely complex. Not only do they consist of countless hardware and software products from many varied sources, but they often span continents, piggybacking on public networks. These systems are essential for undertaking business and general operations in the modern environment, and yet the ability of organisations to control their evolution is questionable. The emerging practice of enterprise architecture seeks to control that complexity through the use of a holistic and top-down perspective. However, the toolsets already in me, are very much bottom-up by nature. To overcome the limitations of current enterprise architecture practices, the authors propose the use of the ABACUS methodology and toolset. The authors conclude that by using ABACUS to analyse software and enterprise systems, architects can guide the design and evolution of architectures based on quantifiable non-functional requirements. Furthermore, hierarchical 3D visualisation provides a meaningful and intuitive means for conceiving and communicating complex architectures.


Rooted in an early twentieth-century effort to accelerate the acculturation of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Lutheran Forum began in its present form in 1967 as an independent voice of critique and commentary on issues facing contemporary Lutheranism. Over nearly five decades, the journal and its companion piece, Forum Letter, have advocated a Lutheranism evangelical and catholic. Lutheran Forum remains a lively pan-Lutheran forum, offering responsible and respectful dialogue about matters theological, ethical, liturgical, and ecclesiastical. It attempts to take participants outside their own echo by giving them the opportunity to learn from those whose views are different.


Crime, Legitimacy, and Testilying draws upon Tom Tyler's highly influential legitimacy theory (that perceptions of legitimacy play a crucial role in inducing voluntary compliance with the law) to make the novel but utilitarian argument that more policing of the police - by holding officers accountable for sanctionable and criminal conduct - is likely to have the counter-intuitive effect of reducing crime in the general population. The Article makes this argument by following Mari Matsuda's suggestion and looking to the bottom, i.e., adopting the perspective of those in minority and poor communities. From this (disad)vantage point, police actions that are normally associated with over-enforcement, such as racial profiling and the use of excessive force, also signal a type of under-enforcement. Except in the most egregious cases, law enforcement officers can engage in otherwise sanctionable conduct usually without fear of consequences; in short, officers themselves often operate in and benefit from a zone of under-enforcement. This in turn undermines police legitimacy and induces non-compliance with the law. As a case in point, the Article turns its focus on "testilying" (the name given to police perjury), the paucity of prosecutions, and the resulting legitimacy failure. The Article then proposes reforms to reduce the occurrence of "testilying" and punish its offenders. The Article's conclusion, which should be acceptable to civil libertarians and law and order advocates alike, is that the collateral benefits of such increased policing of the police far outweigh the drawbacks. In fact, increased policing of the police would not only have the collateral consequence of reducing crime across the board. It would also benefit the police themselves by leading to safer and better policing.


Process inter-operation is characterized as cooperative interactions among loosely coupled autonomous constituents to adaptively fulfill system-wide purpose. Issues of inconsistency can be anticipated in inter-operating processes given their independent management and design. To reduce inconsistency (that may contribute to failures) effective methods for statically verifying behavioral interoperability are required. This paper contributes a method for practical, semantic verification of interoperating processes (as represented with BPMN models). We provide methods to evaluate consistency during process design where annotation of the immediate effect of tasks and sub-processes has been provided. Furthermore, some guidelines are defined against common models of inter-operation for scoping traceability to possible causes of inconsistency. This supports subsequent resolution efforts.


Background. This research investigated the possibility of integrating simulation in plastic surgery residency training. The problem addressed was the lack of knowledge about using simulation as a teaching method to enhance the training of plastic surgeons. There was a lack of empirical evidence regarding learning outcomes that could be mastered by simulation-based education and training and their specific cognitive levels. Objectives. To identify and describe: ( i ) learning outcomes for plastic surgery education and training for which simulation might be an important (essential and useful) training method; and ( ii ) simulation modalities, linked to specific cognitive levels, to establish the influence of simulation on plastic surgery education and training. The objectives entail determining the importance of simulation in plastic surgery training and identifying simulation modalities most suited to attain specific outcomes. Methods. Data were collected by means of a Delphi survey to obtain consensus from an expert panel comprising 9 plastic surgeons, supplemented by semi-structured interviews conducted with 8 national and international role players in simulation and postgraduate education. Results. Learning outcomes, levels of training, possible simulation modalities, cognitive levels and descriptive verbs and phrases were described, as these pertain to learning. Participants agreed that simulation in medical education can be used to enhance postgraduate plastic surgery training, with special reference to specific outcomes and cognitive levels. Participants made recommendations for the planning and support of the implementation, aimed at ensuring the quality of training. Conclusion. The objectives set were achieved and the results of the study serve as encouragement and guidance in the striving for the enhancement of postgraduate plastic surgery education and training, and in other medical disciplines.


Bit by bit, a data-intensive substrate for education is being designed, plumbed in and switched on, powered by digital data from an expanding sensor array, data science and artificial intelligence. The configurations of educational institutions, technologies, scientific practices, ethics policies and companies can be usefully framed as the emergence of a new "knowledge infrastructure" (Paul Edwards). The idea that we may be transitioning into significantly new ways of knowing – about learning and learners – is both exciting and daunting, because new knowledge infrastructures redefine roles and redistribute power, raising many important questions. For instance, assuming that we want to shape this infrastructure, how do we engage with the teams designing the platforms our schools and universities may be using next year? Who owns the data and algorithms, and in what senses can an analytics/AI-powered learning system be 'accountable'? How do we empower all stakeholders to engage in the design process? Since digital infrastructure fades quickly into the background, how can researchers, educators and learners engage with it mindfully? If we want to work in "Pasteur's Quadrant" (Donald Stokes), we must go beyond learning analytics that answer research questions, to deliver valued services to frontline educational users: but how are universities accelerating the analytics innovation to infrastructure transition? Wrestling with these questions, the learning analytics community has evolved since its first international conference in 2011, at the intersection of learning and data science, and an explicit concern with those human factors, at many scales, that make or break the design and adoption of new educational tools. We are forging open source platforms, links with commercial providers, and collaborations with the diverse disciplines that feed into educational data science. In the context of ICLS, our dialogue with the learning sciences must continue to deepen to ensure that together we influence this knowledge infrastructure to advance the interests of all stakeholders, including learners, educators, researchers and leaders. Speaking from the perspective of leading an institutional analytics innovation centre, I hope that our experiences designing code, competencies and culture for learning analytics sheds helpful light on these questions. Simon Buckingham Shum is Professor of Learning Informatics at the University of Technology Sydney, which he joined in August 2014 as inaugural director of the Connected Intelligence Centre: https://utscic.edu.au. Prior to this, he was Professor of Learning Informatics and Associate Director (Technology) at the UK Open University's Knowledge Media Institute. He brings a background in Psychology, Ergonomics and HumanComputer Interaction, and a career-long fascination with making thinking visible using software. He co-founded the Compendium Institute to connect the international community using his team's Compendium visual hypermedia tool, used widely for Dialogue, Issue and Argument Mapping in both education and business. He coedited Visualizing Argumentation (2003, with Kirschner & Carr) followed by Knowledge Cartography (2008, 3rd Edition now in prep., with Okada & Sherborne), and wrote Constructing Knowledge Art (2015, with Selvin). He has been active in shaping the field of Learning Analytics since the inaugural LAK 2011 conference, serving as a Program Chair (2012/2018), convening many workshops, and a regular keynote speaker. He co-founded the Society for Learning Analytics Research, serving as a V-P and on the Executive. Homepage: http://Simon.BuckinghamShum.net


Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) elemental and nitrogen isotopic ratios were determined for bulk organic matter in surface sediments of 11 sockeye salmon (Onchorynchus nerka) nursery lakes in British Columbia, Canada. Chitinous exoskeletons of Bosmina spp. were also picked from the sediments and analyzed for Δ15N. The correlation between salmon escapement (spawner abundance) and bulk organic Δ15N confirms the importance of marine‐derived nitrogen to the study lakes. The relation between sediment Δ15N and escapement, however, suggests that simple mixing models may significantly underestimate spawner abundance in nitrogen‐limited lakes. In addition, the use of sediment and chitin Δ15N and C:N data to characterize lake‐specific differences demonstrates that sediment isotope signatures are dependent on attendant nitrogen deficiency. The sediment C:N ratio, on its own, provides a sensitive measure of nutrient status in these lakes. This finding provides an alternate additional interpretation of C:N ratios that may be more appropriate in large lakes where terrestrial contributions to the central basin are insignificant.


Weber and Pelfrey examine qualitative and quantitative data collected from middle and high school students in a large urban area regarding the use of social technologies in cyberbullying perpetration and victimization. They further explore the interconnectedness between the online and face-to-face environments created by these advancements in technology which may produce risk taking behaviors and school safety issues. Students reported a carryover between environments (during school and after school via social technology) that create a constant access to peers and a reciprocal relationship between cyberbullying perpetrators and victims who become perpetrators in retaliation. The book also provides insight from school staff regarding policies, protocols, and approaches to combating cyberbullying in school.