Data from a near co-located imaging Doppler interferometer (IDI) and SuperDARN radar recorded since 1996 have been analysed in a consistent manner to compare the derived mean winds and tides in the upper mesosphere. By comparing only days when both techniques were recording good quality meridional wind data it is shown that the SuperDARN radar winds and tides correlate best with the IDI height bin 90–95 km. On timescales of one hour the winds derived from the IDI have a much greater associated variance and correlate poorly with the SuperDARN winds. Regression analysis reveals that the observed SuperDARN daily mean meridional wind strength is approximately 65% that recorded by the IDI, in good quantitative agreement with previous studies which have shown contamination to SuperDARN derived winds due to the significant back lobe of the radar radiation pattern. Climatologically the two techniques observe similar monthly mean winds with the SuperDARN meridional winds suppressed compared to the IDI which tends to record winds more poleward than those derived by the SuperDARN radar during the summer months, and to be slightly more equatorward during the winter. The 12-h tidal amplitude and phase derived from both techniques are in good agreement, whereas the 24-h tides are seen much more strongly in the SuperDARN radar, especially in wintertime, with poor phase agreement. Long term comparison of the two techniques reveals a tendency for the IDI meridional winds to be more poleward during solar maximum especially during summer time; an effect which is not reproduced in the meridional winds derived from the SuperDARN radar. These results are discussed in the context of previous studies to independently determine the veracity of each technique, and to highlight the circumstances where data derived from these two techniques can be used to draw reliable conclusions from comparative studies based on geographically distributed pairs of instruments.


In mobile ad-hoc networks nodes need to cooperate to communicate, but there are many reasons for non-cooperation. Saving power or preventing other nodes from obstructing a service are merely selfish reasons for non-cooperation, whereas nodes may also actively and maliciously deny service or divert traffic for all sorts of attacks. However, without an infrastructure to rely on, nodes depend on each other`s cooperation. In game-theoretic terms, this is a dilemma. The dominating strategy for individual nodes is not to cooperate, as cooperation consumes resources and it might result in a disadvantage. But if every node follows that strategy, the outcome is undesirable for everyone as it results in a non functional or entirely absent network. Our goals are to increase cooperation by proactively giving selfish nodes an incentive to cooperate, as well as reactively isolate selfish or malicious nodes such that they cannot continue their misbehavior. To make cooperation in mobile ad-hoc networks attractive we have to make sure that selfish behavior, i.e., a behavior that maximizes the utility of a node, leads to an outcome that is also beneficial for the network.


ERBB family members and their ligands play an essential role in embryonic heart development and adult heart physiology. Among them, ERBB3 is a binding partner of ERBB2; the ERBB2/3 complex mediates downstream signaling for cell proliferation. ERBB3 has seven consensus binding sites to the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3K, which activates the downstream AKT pathway, leading to the proliferation of various cells. This study generated a human ERBB3 knock-in mouse expressing a mutant ERBB3 whose seven YXXM p85 binding sites were replaced with YXXA. Erbb3 knock-in embryos exhibited lethality between E12.5 to E13.5, and showed a decrease in mesenchymal cell numbers and density in AV cushions. We determined that the proliferation of mesenchymal cells in the atrioventricular (AV) cushion in Erbb3 knock-in mutant embryos was temporarily reduced due to the decrease of AKT and ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Overall, our results suggest that AKT/ERK activation by the ERBB3-dependent PI3K signaling is crucial for AV cushion morphogenesis during embryonic heart development.


Organ preservation is a critical link in the chain of donation and transplantation and has a significant effect on post-transplant graft function and graft survival. Clinically, the most widely used form of preservation is static cold storage, which is based on the reduction of cellular metabolism by hypothermia. Although static cold storage is simple and effective, it is questionable whether it still meets present day requirements. Due to the persistent shortage of donors, increasing numbers of organs are being accepted from older and non-heart-beating donors. Organs from such donors may benefit from a more dynamic method of preservation: hypothermic machine perfusion.


In an effort to include English language learners (ELLs) in large-scale, contentknowledge assessments, some educators have begun to use accommodations, defined as modifications to a test or to the manner in which a test is administered. To date, however, there is no conclusive evidence that accommodations aid students in demonstrating their content knowledge on standardized tests. This study investigates the potential role of student preference in the use of accommodations with large-scale assessments and the effects of two test accommodations—providing extra assessment time and reading test items aloud—on the standardized test performance of ELLs in seventh-grade social studies classrooms. Additionally, the study investigates the relationships between the accommodations students prefer and the following background variables: their length of time in the United States, amount of education prior to arrival in the United States, and English language proficiency. Students completed a background questionnaire and a standardized test in social studies without accommodations. Students then were asked to identify which of two accommodations they preferred. A parallel form of the standardized test was administered with accommodations. One third of the students received the accommodation of their preference, a third received the accommodation not of their preference, and a third received one of the two accommodations at random. Data analysis found that students did not significantly improve their performance on the accommodated test with either accommodation, even when given their preferred accommodation. Data analysis also found no significant relationships between accommodation preference and various background variables. Standardized tests traditionally have been a controversial issue among educators, policymakers, and parents alike. Questions concerning their usefulness and appropriateness are continually debated. Do the standardized tests that are 1 The work reported here originally appeared in: Castellon, M. (1999). The impact of preference for accommodations: The performance of English language learners on large-scale academic achievement tests. Unpublished master's thesis, University of California, Los Angeles. This report is slightly modified from the original.


Twenty-four US electric utilities were surveyed concerning their operating environments, organizational characteristics, and the mix of resources selected for their integrated resource plans. This article describes the responding utilities in terms of a number of important characteristics, identifies relationships between these characteristics and utility resource mix, and offers recommendations for ways to ensure that cost-effective Demand-Side Management (DSM) programs are fully considered by utilities. Key findings include the following: (1) utilities that include greater amounts of DSM in their plans will not need new capacity as soon as will other utilities; (2) utilities that attribute substantial importance to collaborative planning with non-utility interests emphasize DSM more than utilities that do not favour collaboration as highly; and (3) utilities that attribute greater importance to cost when choosing options for the integrated plan select less DSM than do other utilities, while those that ascribe greater importance to environmental concerns select more DSM.


The aim of this paper is to test the effectiveness of wage-irrelevant goal setting policies in a laboratory environment. In our design, managers can assign a goal to their workers by setting a certain level of performance on the work task. To establish our theoretical conjectures we develop a model where assigned goals act as reference points to workers' intrinsic motivation, creating a sense of gain when attained and a sense of loss when not attained. Consistent with our theoretical framework, we find evidence that managers set goals that are challenging but attainable for an average-ability worker. Workers respond to these goals by increasing effort, performance and by decreasing on-the-job leisure activities with respect to the no-goal setting baseline. We study the interaction between goal setting and monetary rewards by considering different values for the monetary incentives involved in completing the task. Interestingly, we find that goal setting is especially effective when monetary incentives are strong. These results suggest that goal setting may foster workers' intrinsic motivation and increase their level of performance beyond what is achieved using solely monetary incentives.


First place winner of oral presentations in the Social Work section at the 9th Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum (URCAF) held at the Eugene Hughes Metropolitan Complex , Wichita State University, May 1, 2009


Building Better Vaccines Vaccines are one of the most effective tools to protect against infectious diseases. Unfortunately, vaccines for diseases with the highest global health burdens, such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, are not yet available. Koff et al. (p. 1064) review the latest advances in vaccine development and why these particular diseases remain such a challenge. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a serious cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and young children worldwide. Although a prophylactic antibody is available for children at high risk, a vaccine is much needed. As a potential step toward this goal, McLellan et al. (p. 1113, published online 25 April) solved the cocrystal structure of a neutralizing antibody (D25) bound to the prefusion F protein of RSV. Knowledge of the structure of the prefusion protein should help to guide vaccine design and the development of additional therapeutics. The prefusion conformation of respiratory syncytial virus protein F has been trapped by a neutralizing antibody. The prefusion state of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) fusion (F) glycoprotein is the target of most RSV-neutralizing activity in human sera, but its metastability has hindered characterization. To overcome this obstacle, we identified prefusion-specific antibodies that were substantially more potent than the prophylactic antibody palivizumab. The cocrystal structure for one of these antibodies, D25, in complex with the F glycoprotein revealed D25 to lock F in its prefusion state by binding to a quaternary epitope at the trimer apex. Electron microscopy showed that two other antibodies, AM22 and 5C4, also bound to the newly identified site of vulnerability, which we named antigenic site Ø. These studies should enable design of improved vaccine antigens and define new targets for passive prevention of RSV-induced disease.


Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts Clive James. New York: W.W. Norton Co., 2007. This is a browse about book, written by a gifted stylist who is very widely read and who has a clear sense of what (or whom) should be considered important. Consider, for example, his elegy to F. Scott Fitzgerald, which makes the expected comparison with Ernest Hemingway (a writer not considered important enough to deserve an entry of his own in this book, by the way), a writer whose style could be and was imitated, unlike Fitzgerald's, which was, quite simply, too exquisite and too unreachable for imitation or parody. An unexpected comparison found in this entry is made with Booth Tarkington, certainly a secondary talent to Fitzgerald, but one who, like Fitzgerald, was fascinated by the wealthy and the reckless, and, like Fitzgerald, certainly caught the spirit of his times. By no means are the entries in this book confined to celebrity writers as famous as Fitzgerald, however. At another extreme is Alfred Polgar, born in Vienna in 1873, and destined to become "the unsurpassable exemplar of German prose in modern times, even though he never, strictly speaking, wrote a book" (561), but how many Americans would be aware of his stylistic achievements? And, by no means are all of the figures in this carpet writers. Filmmaker Federico Fellini is here, for example, as is the enigmatic "Chris Marker" (born 1921 as Christian Francois Bouche-Villeneuve), whom James considers the "best mind" of the nouvelle vague. (James dismisses Jean-Luc Godard as "an obvious featherbrain" politically and compliments Truffaut for having the good sense to avoid overt political statements.) The Marker entry quickly moves to a consideration of the nature of documentary filmmaking, praising Marker's work at the expense of the more famous (though far more facile) Michael Moore. The book is a constant delight because of its surprises, as Terry Gilliam bumps up against Edward Gibbon, Miles Davis against Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929, "born in Novgorod and buried in Venice"). Decadent poet and dramatist Jean Cocteau against G. K. Chesterton, also a poet and writer, but of an entirely dierent stripe. You'll find Chaplin here (but not Keaton), Marcel Proust (but not Joyce), Alfred Einstein, the musicologist (!), not "his physicist cousin," Albert. There is a certain Germanic predisposition throughout the selections, as is announced by the book's "Overture," devoted to "Vienna." Here one finds an admitted nostalgia for Old Vienna cafe society, a world in which "You didn't complete your education and then start your career. Your education was your career, and it was never completed" (1). …


Abstract The article addresses a conflicting encounter of two ideologies of kinship, 'natural' and 'religious', among the newly established Evangelical communities of Nenets in the Polar Ural and Yamal tundra. An ideology of Christian kinship, as an outcome of 'spiritual re-birth', was introduced through Nenets religious conversion. The article argues that although the born-again experience often turned against ancestral traditions and Nenets traditional kinship ties, the Nenets kinship system became a platform upon which the conversion mechanism was furthered and determined in the Nenets tundra. The article examines missionary initiatives and Nenets religiosity as kin-based activities, the outcome of which was twofold. On one side, it was the realignment of Nenets traditional kinship networks. On other side, it was the indigenisation of the Christian concept of kinship according to native internal cultural logic. Evangelical communities in the tundra were plunged into the traditional practices of Nenets kinship networks, economic exchanges, and marriage alliances. Through negotiation of traditional Nenets kinship and Christian kinship, converted Nenets developed new imaginaries, new forms of exchanges, and even new forms of mobility.


Can the new investable hedge fund indices (IHF) enhance the performance of optimal passive portfolios made of equities and bonds? How do they compare to funds of hedge funds (FoHF) as well as to other alternative investments such as commodities and volatility? The conclusions depend crucially on forecasts of future expected excess returns for all assets as well as a careful conditioning of the data to reflect trading costs and remove unrealistic serial correlations. A naive forecast based on recent historical performance leads to no allocations to either IHF or FoHF, a result explained by the performance of equities and commodities and limited diversification effects from hedge funds. Yet a forecast based on market equilibrium returns for all main asset classes but hedge funds, which are kept at their historical level, leads to the opposite result with optimal portfolios almost exclusively invested in hedge funds. Both conclusions are unrealistic and unstable. More reasonable allocations are obtained with the Black-Litterman (BL) approach to combining subjective views with equilibrium returns. Then both hedge funds instruments play a significant role in optimal passive portfolios if their expected excess returns are at least 1%. Long volatility positions are also likely to be attractive. However the BL approach can also be criticised.


ABSTRACT This article analyses the institutional categorization of people who lead transnational lives but are clients of a national welfare system. Based on institutional ethnography, the article explores the standpoint of bureaucrats who work in the Norwegian welfare system and deal with clients receiving Norwegian welfare benefits abroad. The analysis reveals an inclusive albeit ambiguous attitude towards these clients, whose cross-border living is seen as a new norm, carried out by all segments of the population. When describing people who lead transnational lives, the bureaucrats move beyond migrant labels, citing a broad array of formal and informal categories and stereotypes. The blurring conceptualization of who is considered transnational signals institutional incertitudes about how to adapt to increasing cross-border mobility. The study's findings add substance to the plea for a "de-migranticization" of migration research.


Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a predominant plant pathogen, with host crops of agricultural and economic importance internationally. South African host crops of importance include canola, soybean and sunflower, which contribute significantly to the South African economy. This significance emphasises the importance of effective disease management strategies, including rotation with non-host crops, planting cultivars with a degree of tolerance, and using relevant cultural and chemical practices. The sporadic nature of disease outbreaks caused by Sclerotinia spp. can complicate fungicide application timing as a result of the pathogen's interaction with the host and environment. The use of prediction modelling for diseases caused by Sclerotinia spp. can contribute to increased fungicide application efficacy and a reduction in the number of unnecessary sprays. Predictive modelling is based upon the collection and statistical analysis of multi-locality and multi-seasonal, pathogen, disease and weather data. Incorporating the complexity of disease initiation and development into such models is dependent on selecting the correct statistical tools to interpret appropriate data, which can be used to develop a model that is accurate, precise and reliable. Internationally, forecasting models for diseases caused by Sclerotinia spp. exist and are applied commercially for multiple Sclerotinia spp. on important agricultural crops. The application of these models in a South African context has been limited but provides promise for effective disease intervention technologies. This review provides a platform to raise awareness of the potential applications of plant disease epidemiology and the use of statistics and mathematical modelling in agricultural systems. Plant disease forecasts are an important part of the future for sustainable and economically viable agronomic decisions.
 Significance:

Optimisation of plant disease management through ensuring that fungicide applications coincide with disease-favourable conditions, thus targeting the disease more strategically.
The use of mathematical and statistical models to quantify the interactions among the host, pathogen and environment and predict future outbreaks of the disease.
The study of temporal and spatial interactions among the host, pathogen and environment on plant disease behaviour.


K. Kubesova, J. balIK, o. sedlar, l. PeKlova, o. KozlovsKy and z. PeKlova, 2013. The evaluation of nitrogen plant nutrition by CulTaN method under conditions of Czech republic a review. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 19: 625-634 Fertilization of a range of agricultural crops by CulTaN method has been carried out with success for several years in Germany. In the Czech Republic, nitrogenous plant nutrition by this method is still being tested, only by some basic field crops in the frame of several field experiments at stations with various soil climatic conditions. CulTaN method (Controlled uptake long Term ammonium Nutrition) is based on long-term nutrition of plants by ammonium form of nitrogen. Fertilizer applied by a special injection machine (GFI 3a, Maschinen und antriebstechnik GmbH Güstrow, Germany) creates points in the soil with a high concentration of ammonium, so called depot. The result is stabilization of the nitrogen source in the soil, therefore reduction of its loss by leaching and consequential contamination of the water sources. The acceptance of ammonium by a plant is conditioned by its immediate implementation into the organic compounds directly in the roots. Phytotoxicity of loose ammonium in the root cells leads to directed acceptance of nitrogen and its right use by the plant. development of a bigger root system results in a higher production of aboveground matter in later phases of vegetation and, consequently, also in bigger crops of the main product. another advantage of placing the fertilizer into depots is lesser influence of antagonism of ammonium to accept other cations by the plant. In this review, we are going to look at the principles of this method, phytohormonal system and reception of nutrients by plants fertilized through CulTaN method. another part of the review is dedicated to the technology of fertilization through CulTaN method and to conclude, we are going to summarize up-to-date results achieved with plants fertilized by this method in various soil climatic conditions in the Czech republic.


The purpose of this paper is to examine decision-making in project management, and the considerations which project managers need to take into account in order to make informed evidence-based decisions. The specific aim of this paper is to present an understanding of how project managers use experiences, recalled through reflection and facilitated by storytelling, to make decisions. The paper provides an insight into how project managers may utilize decision-making approaches to accommodate a balance between factual observation, other evidence, a project manager's recollection and reconstruction of facts, and facts imbedded within experiences. The drive to embed formal, structured approaches to decision-making is discussed against a background of unstructured and informal interpretation of experiences. The research conducted by the author used an action research methodology to gather and analyze data through four interventions conducted with experienced project managers in Australia. The examination reveals that through reflecting on experiences relating to past projects, project managers make considered decisions. This approach to decision-making may be seen as paradoxical and interpreted as biased. Perhaps this is a valuable bias which may provide an opportunity to extend the premise of an evidence-based management approach where the aim is to reduce bias.


This paper compares two theoretical accounts of developmental delay in children's acquisition of verbal passives. First, Borer and Wexler (1987) and subsequent works attempt to explain the delay by proposing that young children lack the ability to form an A-chain (A-chain Deficit Hypothesis (ACDH)). Second, Fox and Grodzinsky (1998) suggest an alternative explanation by proposing that young children have difficulty with θ-transmission (θ-transmission Difficulty Hypothesis). I will examine the empirical predictions of the ACDH with two kinds of Japanese data: the comparison between long passive and 'long passive-unaccusative amalgam' and the comparison between long passive and short passive. I will show that the predictions of the ACDH are not borne out and suggest that the observed new data can be accounted for by the θ-transmission Difficulty Hypothesis. Keywords: A-chain Deficit Hypothesis; by-phrase; passive; theta-transmission; unaccusative


When deciding whether or not to regulate a chemical, regulatory bodies often evaluate the degree to which the public may be exposed by evaluating the chemical's occurrence in food and drinking water. As part of its decision-making process, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) evaluated the occurrence of perchlorate in public drinking water by sampling public water systems (PWSs) as part of the first implementation of the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 1) between 2001 and 2005. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the current representativeness of the UCMR 1 dataset. To achieve this objective, publicly available sources were searched to obtain updated perchlorate data for the majority of large PWSs with perchlorate detections under UCMR 1. Comparison of the updated and UCMR 1 perchlorate datasets shows that the UCMR 1 dataset is no longer representative because the extent and degree of occurrence has decreased since implementation of UCMR 1. Given this finding, it seems appropriate for regulatory bodies engaged in decision-making processes over several years to periodically re-evaluate the conditions that prompted the regulatory effort, thereby ensuring that rules and regulations address actual conditions of concern.


New blood vessels that form within tumors undergo repeated irregular divergence, joining, and twisting, resulting in blood vessels with abnormal tissue distribution, structure, and function. Tumor vessels exhibit increased spatially uneven permeability and oxygen delivery, characteristics that may reduce the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Therefore, it is vital to establish technologies for quantitatively mapping hypoxia and vessel permeability within tumors to clarify tumor mechanisms. However, existing methods can only acquire mean measurements within a given region or the entire tissue, and there have been no reports of technologies for measuring permeability at multiple points in individual vessels or for simultaneously performing oxygen partial pressure mapping. Here, new blood vessels formed within tumors were detected on fluorescent blood flow images, and measurement points were set at fixed intervals across individual blood vessels. Fluorescent dye that leaked out over time was excited with a continuous wave optical laser to calculate the permeability distribution of individual vessels. On the other hand, an oxygen probe dye was excited with a pulse laser and oxygen concentration-dependent light emission was analyzed to map oxygen partial pressure. Oxygen partial pressure imaging in tumors transplanted onto the backs of mice showed that tissue regions surrounding minute tumor vessels were generally hypoxic. Furthermore, compared with the normal dermal vasculature, there was greater variation in vessel permeability, and sites with very high vessel permeability were detected. We designed a system for high-resolution spatial mapping of blood vessel permeability and tissue oxygenation in tumor microvasculatures, thereby clarifying the relationship between local hypoxia and vessel permeability. It is anticipated that these findings could be applied to improve anticancer drug delivery and radiotherapy by identifying the dependence of local tissue oxygenation on the vessel structure and hemodynamics.


Multidisciplinarity is one of the salient features of contemporary science. This seems to be congruent with the globalization process as the globalized world will need a "global" science that is able to integrate and to unite various fields in order to solve fundamental problems. It may be said that, in some sense, the History & Mathematics almanac is "genetically" interdisciplinary as it was initially designed as a means to contribute to the construction of a bridge between the humanities, social, natural, and mathematical sciences (see the Introduction to its first Russian issue [Гринин, Коротаев, Малков 2006: 4–11]). That time this very combination of words – History and Mathematics – might have looked a bit artificial. However, it gradually becomes habitual; what is more, it becomes to be recognized as quite an organic and important scientific phenomenon. This appears to be supported by the point that the recent two years have evidenced the publication of eight issues of the History & Mathematics almanac in Russian and two issues in English. Various conferences in this direction are held now quite regularly, and, what is especially promising, they bring together representatives of very diverse fields of human knowledge. One of the most recent conferences of this kind was held in December 2009 in the Institute of History and Archaeology (Ekaterinburg, Russia). The conference has confirmed the existence of a critical mass of researchers within the world science that apply mathematical and quantitative methods to the study of history. Against this background the current discussions on the establishment of the Mathematical History academic journal do not appear coincidental. The present issue is the third collective monograph in the series started by almanacs History & Mathematics: Analysing and Modeling Global Development (Grinin, de Munck, and Korotayev 2006) and History & Mathematics: Historical Dynamics and Development of Complex Societies (Turchin, Grinin, de Munck, and Korotayev 2006). As one can see, every issue has its own subtitle. This issue is not an exception. Its subtitle is Processes and Models of Global Dynamics.


The results reported in this paper are part of a comprehensive cross-sectional study carried out in Basrah governorate-Southern Iraq to quantify specific aspects of fertility. The study covered 2670 ever married women aged 15-60 years. The studied women were interviewed regarding demographic characteristics and detailed history of their pregnancy experience. The results showed that the crude birth rate was 36.4 per 1000 population, the general fertility rate was 139.3 per 1000 women, the average number of pregnancies per woman was 4.3 and the average number of live births was 3.4 per woman. About 37.9% of women had at least one lost pregnancy (abortion or still birth) and pregnancy wastage accounted for 14.1% of all reported pregnancies. The total fertility rate was 6.4 per woman and showed some degree of decline over the last two decades. About 70% (R2=0.70)of fertility variation among women could be explained by variables related to envisaged ideal family size, duration of use of family planning methods, pregnancy wastage, number of women siblings, duration of couple separation, education of woman father, education of woman and education of husband.


Behind the lectern stands the professor, deploying course management systems, online quizzes, wireless clickers, PowerPoint slides, podcasts, and plagiarism-detection software. In the seats are the students, armed with smartphones, laptops, tablets, music players, and social networking. Although these two forces seem poised to do battle with each other, they are really both taking part in a war on learning itself. In this book, Elizabeth Losh examines current efforts to "reform" higher education by applying technological solutions to problems in teaching and learning. She finds that many of these initiatives fail because they treat education as a product rather than a process. Highly touted schemes -- video games for the classroom, for example, or the distribution of iPads -- let students down because they promote consumption rather than intellectual development. Losh analyzes recent trends in postsecondary education and the rhetoric around them, often drawing on first-person accounts. In an effort to identify educational technologies that might actually work, she looks at strategies including MOOCs (massive open online courses), the gamification of subject matter, remix pedagogy, video lectures (from Randy Pausch to "the Baked Professor"), and educational virtual worlds. Finally, Losh outlines six basic principles of digital learning and describes several successful university-based initiatives. Her book will be essential reading for campus decision makers -- and for anyone who cares about education and technology.


Rationale: Vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin localized at adherens junctions (AJs) regulates endothelial barrier function. Because WNT (wingless) signaling-induced activation of the transcription factor Krüppel-like factor (KLF)4 may have an important role in mediating the expression of VE-cadherin and AJ integrity, we studied the function of KLF4 in regulating VE-cadherin expression and the control of endothelial barrier function. Objective: The goal of this study was to determine the transcriptional role of KLF4 in regulating VE-cadherin expression and endothelial barrier function. Methods and Results: Expression analysis, microscopy, chromatin immunoprecipitation, electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and VE-cadherin–luciferase reporter experiments demonstrated that KLF4 interacted with specific domains of VE-cadherin promoter and regulated the expression of VE-cadherin at AJs. KLF4 knockdown disrupted the endothelial barrier, indicating that KLF4 is required for normal barrier function. In vivo studies in mice showed augmented lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury and pulmonary edema following Klf4 depletion. Conclusion: Our data show the key role of KLF4 in the regulation of VE-cadherin expression at the level of the AJs and in the acquisition of VE-cadherin–mediated endothelial barrier function. Thus, KLF4 maintains the integrity of AJs and prevents vascular leakage in response to inflammatory stimuli.


Many antiarrhythmic drugs are known to prolong ventricular repolarisation and provoke torsades de pointes. Recently, an increasing number of non-cardiac drugs have also been reported to have the same effects. These drugs share the same ability to block the rapid component of the delayed rectifier potassium channel (IKr), resulting in inhomogeneous lengthening of action potential, T wave abnormality, and QT interval prolongation. Depolarisation current at the tail of a prolonged action potential induces early after depolarisations, which in the setting of inhomogeneous ventricular recovery provokes torsades de pointes. Many doctors are unaware of the proarrhythmic risk associated with some non-cardiac drugs. With few exceptions, most papers published in scientific journals are anecdotal case reports. Notifications to regulatory authorities, the World Health Organisation, and pharmaceutical companies thus constitute much of the evidence base.

Two non-sedating antihistamines, terfenadine and astemizole, attracted regulatory attention in the early 1990s and have since been restricted to prescription only in the United Kingdom because of their unexpected association with QT prolongation, torsades de pointes, and sudden death.1–2 The adverse effects of terfenadine appeared to depend on concentration, occurring at supraclinical doses or at normal doses in patients also …


Cambrian–Ordovician strata of the North China block, one of China's main tectonic provinces, are a thick (up to 1800 m) succession of mixed carbonate and siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. Sedimentological, biostratigraphic, and chemostratigraphic analysis of strata that straddle the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary at the Subaiyingou section in the present-day western part of Inner Mongolia (northwest China) indicate the presence of a significant unconformity between mixed carbonate–fine-siliciclastic strata of the Cambrian Series 3 Abuqiehai Formation, and dominantly carbonate strata of the early Middle Ordovician Sandaokan Formation. The latter is a transgressive systems tract with retrogradationally stacked parasequences that include lowstand shoreline quartz sandstone deposits. The Abuqiehai strata have similar sedimentological characteristics to those of the Cambrian Laurentian inner detrital belt, including slightly bioturbated lime mudstone and marlstone/shale, grainstone, flat-pebble conglomerate, and microbialite. The lower part of the Sandaokan Formation records the rising limb of the middle Darriwilian positive isotopic excursion, recognized herein for the first time in the western North China block. A Cambrian-Ordovician unconformity is developed in many successions globally, and our section in Inner Mongolia records a hiatus of similar timing and duration to a regionally extensive unconformity recorded along the ancient northern Indian continental margin. Other parts of the North China block record a hiatus of much shorter duration but show a similar record of input of siliciclastic sediment above the unconformity. We interpret the western margin of the North China block to have been affected by a regionally significant tectonic event that occurred on the northern margin of east Gondwana, the Kurgiakh or Bhimphedian orogeny. The Inner Mongolian region was, therefore, likely an along-strike continuation of the northern Indian margin, in contrast to most recent paleogeographic reconstructions.


Purpose One of the major issues faced by academic health science centers (AHSCs) is the need for mechanisms to foster the integration of research, clinical, and educational activities to achieve the vision of evidence-informed decision making (EIDM) and optimal client care. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This paper synthesizes literature on organizational learning and collaboration, evidence-informed organizational decision making, and learning-based organizations to derive insights concerning the nature of effective workplace learning in AHSCs. Findings An evidence-informed model of collaborative workplace learning is proposed to aid the alignment of research, clinical, and educational functions in AHSCs. The model articulates relationships among AHSC academic functions and sub-functions, cross-functional activities, and collaborative learning processes, emphasizing the importance of cross-functional activities in enhancing collaborative learning processes and optimizing EIDM and client care. Cross-functional activities involving clinicians, researchers, and educators are hypothesized to be a primary vehicle for integration, supported by a learning-oriented workplace culture. These activities are distinct from interprofessional teams, which are clinical in nature. Four collaborative learning processes are specified that are enhanced in cross-functional activities or teamwork: co-constructing meaning, co-learning, co-producing knowledge, and co-using knowledge. Practical implications The model provides an aspirational vision and insight into the importance of cross-functional activities in enhancing workplace learning. The paper discusses the conceptual and empirical basis to the model, its contributions and limitations, and implications for AHSCs. Originality/value The model's potential utility for health care is discussed, with implications for organizational culture and the promotion of cross-functional activities.


Evaluating the terrestrial climate record provides a critical test of the roles of Chicxulub impact and Deccan Traps volcanism during the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction. Most evidence came from marine records, but our new clumped isotopes data from paleosol carbonates in the Songliao Basin provide a terrestrial climate history from northern China. This reveals there was a pre-impact warming caused by the onset of Deccan Traps volcanism, whereas the following short-term cooling then another warming episode were likely caused by Chicxulub impact and post-boundary volcanism. Our study suggests that the pCO₂ levels were probably the main control on the latest Cretaceous cooling and the climatic fluctuations across the K-Pg boundary interval in northern China. In the Songliao Basin, the pre-impact Deccan Traps volcanism links to losses of half of the lacustrine algae species (charophytes) and almost all of the lacustrine ostracodes; this suggests that the Deccan Traps volcanism had already destabilized the ecosystem and caused extinctions prior to the Chicxulub impact.


Anomaly detection focuses on modeling the normal behavior and identifying significant deviations, which could be novel attacks. The previously proposed LERAD algorithm can efficiently learn a succinct set of comprehensible rules for detecting anomalies. We conjecture that LERAD eliminates rules with possibly high coverage, which can lead to missed detections. This study proposes weights that approximate rule confidence and are learned incrementally. We evaluate our algorithm on various network and host datasets. Compared to LERAD, our technique detects more attacks at low false alarm rates with minimal computational overhead.


The partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) provides a principled general framework for robot planning under uncertainty. Leveraging the idea of Monte Carlo sampling, recent POMDP planning algorithms have scaled up to various challenging robotic tasks, including, real-time online planning for autonomous vehicles. To further improve online planning performance, this paper presents IS-DESPOT, which introduces importance sampling to DESPOT, a state-of-the-art sampling-based POMDP algorithm for planning under uncertainty. Importance sampling improves DESPOT's performance when there are critical, but rare events, which are difficult to sample. We prove that IS-DESPOT retains the theoretical guarantee of DESPOT. We demonstrate empirically that importance sampling significantly improves the performance of online POMDP planning for suitable tasks. We also present a general method for learning the importance sampling distribution.


Despite the importance of cell fusion for mammalian development and physiology, the factors critical for this process remain to be fully defined1. This lack of knowledge has severely limited our ability to reconstitute cell fusion, which is necessary to decipher the biochemical mechanisms driving plasma membrane merger. Myomaker (Tmem8c) is a muscle-specific protein required for myoblast fusion2,3. Expression of myomaker in fibroblasts drives their fusion with myoblasts, but not with other myomaker-fibroblasts, highlighting the requirement of additional myoblast-derived factors for fusion. Here, we demonstrate that Gm7325, named myomerger, induces the fusion of myomaker-expressing fibroblasts. Cell mixing experiments reveal that while myomaker renders cells fusion-competent, myomerger induces fusogenicity. Thus, myomaker and myomerger confer fusogenic activity to normally non-fusogenic cells. Myomerger is skeletal muscle-specific and only expressed during developmental and regenerative myogenesis. Disruption of myomerger in myoblast cell lines through Cas9-mutagenesis generated non-fusogenic myocytes. Genetic deletion of myomerger in mice results in a paucity of muscle fibers demonstrating a requirement for myomerger in normal muscle formation. Myomerger deficient myocytes exhibit an ability to differentiate and harbor organized sarcomeres, however remain mono-nucleated. These data identify myomerger as a fundamental myoblast fusion protein and establishes a system that begins to reconstitute mammalian cell fusion.


Medication use in the perioperative setting presents unique patient safety challenges compared with other hospital settings. For example, perioperative medication prescribing and administration often bypasses standard safety checks, such as electronic physician order entry with decision support, pharmacy verification of specific drugs before administration, and multiple nursing checks at the time of medication administration. A total of 1,137 medication error events associated with the perioperative settings (e.g., operating room, anesthesia, postanesthesia care unit) were identified by analysts in event reports to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority that occurred during calendar year 2017. More than half (54.6%, n = 621) of reported events reached the patient. Nearly three-quarters (74.9%, n = 852) of events were attributed to a breakdown in the communication process during transitions of care or handoff procedures. Other common contributing factors involved problems with the medication ordering process, as well as improper handling of medications leading to mix-ups and accidental administration of high-alert medications. Organizations may use this data to inform proactive efforts to standardize protocols in the perioperative setting and prevent similar errors from occurring.


Cardiovascular disease, mostly atherosclerosis, is responsible for one third of all deaths globally, rising to more than 50% in the Western World. Risk factors include smoking, diet, and familial history. Doppler ultrasound can provide estimates of blood velocity and wall shear rate. Clinically, maximum velocity is used to categorise patients for surgery, although Doppler velocity measurement is prone to errors and in need of validation. Wall shear stress—which can be derived from wall shear rate—plays a role in disease initiation and progression, although its clinical utility is unclear due to difficulties associated with its measurement. This thesis investigates the use of Doppler ultrasound as a tool to estimate blood velocity and wall shear rate. A simplified method for estimation of wall shear rate in healthy arteries is developed that uses spectral Doppler ultrasound. This method is based upon the theory of oscillatory flow in rigid pipes, requiring two measurements that are readily available with clinical ultrasound machines. This method is compared to a similar method based on colour flow imaging. The spectral Doppler method underestimated the theoretic value of wall shear rate by between 7 and 22%, with results varying between phantoms. Errors for the colour method were on average 35% greater. Test measurements from one healthy volunteer demonstrated that this method can be applied in-vivo. In more advanced stages of disease, peak velocity distal to a stenosis is of clinical interest and the simplified method for wall shear rate estimation is invalid. Steady flow in a series of simplified stenosis geometries was studied using a dual-beam Doppler system to obtain velocity vectors. These measurements were compared with data from an equivalent system that used particle image velocimetry (PIV) and was considered the gold standard. For Reynolds numbers at the stenosis throat of less than 800, flow remained laminar over the region studied, although distal flow separation did occur. For higher throat Reynolds numbers—corresponding to more severe stenoses or increased flow rates—asymmetric recirculation regions developed; the transition to turbulence occurred more proximally, with a corresponding reduction in stenotic jet and recirculation length. Qualitative agreement was observed in the velocity profile shapes measured using ultrasound and PIV at throat Reynolds numbers less than 800. Above this threshold the qualitative agreement between the velocity profiles became poorer as both downstream distance and the degree of stenosis increased. Peak axial velocity distal to the stenosis was underestimated, on average, by 15% in the ultrasound system. Estimation of shear rate remained difficult with both experimental techniques. Under a Newtonian approximation, the normalised wall shear stresses agree qualitatively. Under pulsatile flow conditions using an idealised flow waveform, superior qualitative agreement was observed in the velocity profiles at diastole than at systole. Similar to the steady flow behaviour, this agreement deteriorated with stenosis severity. The current generation of clinical ultrasound machines are capable of estimating the wall shear rate in healthy arteries. In the presence of significant arterial disease, errors in the peak velocity may result in mis-selection of patients for surgery, while estimation of the wall shear stress remains extremely problematic; particularly with identifying the wall location and measuring velocities close to the wall. Declaration of originality I hereby declare that the research recorded in this thesis, and the thesis itself, was composed and originated entirely by myself in the Department of Medical Physics, and the Institute of Materials and Processes, at The University of Edinburgh.


Low power has emerged as a principal theme in today's world of electronics industries. Power dissipation has become an important consideration as performance and area for VLSI Chip design. With shrinking technology reducing power consumption and over all power management on chip are the key challenges below 100nm due to increased complexity. For many designs, optimization of power is important as timing due to the need to reduce package cost and extended battery life. For power management leakage current also plays an important role in low power VLSI designs. Leakage current is becoming an increasingly important fraction of the total power dissipation of integrated circuits. This paper describes about the various strategies, methodologies and power management techniques for low power circuits and systems. Future challenges that must be met to designs low power high performance circuits are also discussed.


Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of a large number of tiny sensor nodes. Hence, a cluster-based architecture can be used to deal the self-organization issues of large networks. This cluster-based organization can prolong network lifetime and reduce broadcast overhead. In this paper, we propose an efficient self- organization algorithm for clustering (ESAC), which uses a weight-based criterion for cluster-head's election. This weight relies on the combination of k-density, residual energy and mobility. In ESAC, the node having greatest weight in its 2-hop neighborhood is chosen as cluster-head for a fixed period. ESAC enables to generate a low number of stable and balanced clusters. Simulation results show that ESAC provides better results when compared with WCA (weight clustering algorithm), and with the algorithms proposed respectively by Lin et al., and Chu et al. in terms of the number of clusters formed. On the other hand, it outperforms LCC (least cluster- head changes) algorithm in terms of the number of cluster-heads changes.


A large number of mound-shaped structures that originated from mud extrusions is present along the convergent continental margin off Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Active fluid venting is indicated by the existence of CH4- and H2S-rich pore fluids as well as associated benthic fauna and authigenic carbonates. End-member fluid samples from all mounds are significantly depleted in dissolved Cl and other major elements, suggesting a general process of freshwater addition and thus a common source of the fluids. Our data clearly rule out dilution by gas hydrate dissociation as a dominant source of the freshwater. Enrichments of the fluids in B (up to 2 mmol/L) and inversely correlated δ18O vs. δD values point to clay-mineral dehydration as the cause for these anomalies. Calculations assuming a δ18O vs. δD equilibrium between the pore fluid and clay minerals at depth of formation indicate temperatures of dehydration between 85 and 130 °C. This temperature range is in agreement with the B enrichments and the presence of thermogenically formed CH4. Because temperatures above 50 °C are not reached within the sediment cover of the upper plate, the fluids most likely form within the subducted sediments and flow upward along deep-seated faults from ≥12 km depth. Mound-related fluid expulsion may contribute significantly to the recycling of mineral-bound water.


Exploitation of natural mineral deposits and subsequent re-deposition in aquatic environments at levels potentially harmful to biota necessitate regulation of environmental discharge of metals. Proper environmental regulation of metals requires adequate knowledge on the bioavailability and effects of metals on aquatic organisms. Moreover, the need to better understand biological effects of metals has given impetus for studies on the homeostatic physiology of metals because the root cause of toxicity is the breakdown of homeostasis. In this paper we review recent advances in the understanding of the environmental chemistry, toxicology, and physiological homeostasis of copper (Cu) in freshwater systems. Present water quality criteria do not adequately consider bioavailability and metal homeostasis. We show that consideration and incorporation of recent knowledge on bioavailability, homeostatic physiology, and acute and chronic toxic effects of Cu greatly improve the predictive precision of models, such as the Biotic Ligand Model, for ecological risk assessment and environmental regulation of Cu, and reduces the need for reliance on the Precautionary Principle. Furthermore, we highlight present gaps in knowledge of environmental physiology, homeostasis, and toxicology of Cu and suggest directions for future research.


2012 Mechanisms of the animal reproductive development are an important research field in life sciences. The study of the reproductive development and regulatory mechanisms in fishes is important for elucidating the mechanisms of animal reproduction. This paper summarizes recent advances in the mechanisms of fish sex determination and differentiation, of fish gonad development and maturation, and of fish germ cell development, as well as the according regulating strategies. Fishes comprise an evolutionary stage that links invertebrates and higher vertebrates. They include diversiform species, and almost all vertebrate types of reproduction have been found in fishes. All these will lead to important advances in the regulatory mechanisms of animal reproduction by using fishes as model organisms. It will also enable novel fish breeding techniques when new controllable on-off strategies of reproduction and/or sex in fishes have been


The March 23, 2010, enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the companion Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 ushered in landmark reform of the American health care system. Along with sweeping overhauls of the health care system generally, PPACA also provides a new regulatory challenge for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A subtitle within PPACA, the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA), bestows upon FDA broad authority to implement an abbreviated approval route to market for biological products (also known as biologics) that are "biosimilar" to an existing marketed product. This brief article will provide a basic comparison of biologics and conventional pharmaceutical drugs that will prove central to the FDA's development of this follow-on biologic pathway as well as specifically examine the content and scope of the BPCIA provisions and identify future challenges for the FDA. It will conclude by highlighting details of presentations during the roundtable held at the Seton Hall University School of Law and introduce the two resulting articles contained within Volume 41 of the Seton Hall Law Review.


Sleeping with low carbohydrate (CHO) availability is a dietary strategy that may enhance training adaptation. However, the impact on an athlete's health is unclear. This study quantified the effect of a short-term "sleep-low" dietary intervention on markers of iron regulation and immune function in athletes. In a randomized, repeated-measures design, 11 elite triathletes completed two 4-day mixed cycle run training blocks. Key training sessions were structured such that a high-intensity training session was performed in the field on the afternoon of Days 1 and 3, and a low-intensity training (LIT) session was performed on the following morning in the laboratory (Days 2 and 4). The ingestion of CHO was either divided evenly across the day (HIGH) or restricted between the high-intensity training and LIT sessions, so that the LIT session was performed with low CHO availability (LOW). Venous blood and saliva samples were collected prior to and following each LIT session and analyzed for interleukin-6, hepcidin 25, and salivary immunoglobulin-A. Concentrations of interleukin-6 increased acutely after exercise (p < .001), but did not differ between dietary conditions or days. Hepcidin 25 increased 3-hr postexercise (p < .001), with the greatest increase evident after the LOW trial on Day 2 (2.5 ± 0.9 fold increase ±90% confidence limit). The salivary immunoglobulin-A secretion rate did not change in response to exercise; however, it was highest during the LOW condition on Day 4 (p = .046). There appears to be minimal impact to markers of immune function and iron regulation when acute exposure to low CHO availability is undertaken with expert nutrition and coaching input.


Abstract. Over recent decades there have been moves away from traditional forms of government towards broader practices of "governance". These moves are as relevant to the handling of natural hazards as they are to other societal concerns. Key characteristics of such changes include the emergence of multi-level governance processes, shifts away from the exercise of centralised authority towards the involvement and collaboration of a multiplicity of actors, the creation of new forms of authority and control, and changing distributions of responsibilities between the state and other actors. However, the extent to which these shifts have taken place across the varied national contexts in Europe and can be observed specifically in relation to the governance of natural hazards is not at all clear. Such developments may also be evaluated in different ways; where some might see progressive reforms, others might see damaging undermining of established arrangements. In this paper, we propose a risk governance profiling framework that can be used to draw out the key characteristics of the ways in which natural hazards are governed in a particular governance setting. The framework can be flexibly applied in relation to a specific hazard and national, regional or local context, and enables qualitative profiling across a spectrum of eight key governance characteristics. Past trends and likely future changes can also be represented. We discuss the formulation of this framework as well as giving examples of profiles for different hazards in different parts of Europe. We suggest ways in which comparisons can be made between governance profiles, providing a stimulus and focus for debate and discussion around the trends of change in governance practice that have been, and are continuing, to take place.


We report a simple technique that allows obtaining mid-infrared absorption spectra with nanoscale spatial resolution under low-power illumination from tunable quantum cascade lasers. Light absorption is detected by measuring associated sample thermal expansion with an atomic force microscope. To detect minute thermal expansion we tune the repetition frequency of laser pulses in resonance with the mechanical frequency of the atomic force microscope cantilever. Spatial resolution of better than 50 nm is experimentally demonstrated.


The operation of electric vehicles from renewable energy systems is an environmentally compatible technology. In general this method however has in practical applications today several significant limitations. In this paper a specific combination of electric vehicles with photovoltaic systems is considered. Electric scooters, which are mainly used for home to work or home to education transports, are operated from a grid connected photovoltaic system. For this application two strategies for a smart charging of the electric scooters are investigated. The results are showing that this application allows already today an operation of electric scooters against fuel scooters with no higher costs and with significant lower CO2-ejections.


Edge localized modes (ELMs) are routinely observed in H-mode plasma regimes of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). Due to the explosive nature of the instability, only diagnostics with high temporal and spatial resolution could provide a detailed insight into the dynamics associated with the ELMs. Gas-puff imaging at NSTX provides 2D measurements of the magnetic field aligned fluctuations (e.g., ELM filaments) in the scrape-off layer and at the plasma edge with 2.5 μ s temporal and 10 mm optical resolution. A novel analysis technique was developed to estimate the frame-by-frame velocities and the spatial parameters of the dominant structures associated with the ELMs. The analysis was applied to single ELM events to characterize the ELM crash dynamics and then extended to a database of 159 ELM events. Statistical analysis was performed in order to find the characterizing dynamics of the ELM crash. The results show that on average, an ELM crash consists of a filament with a circular cross section, which is propelled outward with a characterizing peak radial velocity of ∼3.3 km/s. The radial velocity was found to be linearly dependent on the distance of the filament from the separatrix, which has never been seen before. The ELM filament is characterized by propagation in the ion-diamagnetic direction poloidally with a peak velocity of 11.4 km/s. The ELM crash lasts for approximately 100 μ s until the radial propulsion settles back to the pre-ELM level. The experimental findings were compared with analytical theory. Two possible mechanisms were identified for explaining the observations: the curvature interchange model and the current–filament interaction model.


Hydrothermal synthesis is an efficient method of making nanosized functional oxide materials, and it has also been used to synthesize KxNa1−xNbO3 solid solution, a promising lead-free piezoelectric material. However, the control of nucleation and growth during synthesis to tailor the properties of materials is challenging and this work aimed to solve the challenges reported regarding the stoichiometry and size of KxNa1−xNbO3 formed by hydrothermal synthesis by in situ X-ray diffraction. KxNa1−xNbO3 crystallites of 18–65 nm with a controlled stoichiometry were produced by varying the Na/K ratio in the precursor solution, the solvent type and the final reaction temperature. The reaction proceeds via rapid formation of a potassium sodium hexaniobate intermediate phase during heating, which converts to KxNa1−xNbO3 at the reaction temperature. The Na occupancy in KxNa1−xNbO3 was found to correlate with the Na content in the intermediate phase and decreases by using a mix of ethanol and water as a solvent instead of only water. We show that in situ techniques are powerful for providing insight into the determining factors when preparing oxide nanoparticles with a designed composition, structure and size.


The Arctic as a booming oil and gas province has been a predominant geopolitical representation of the region. However, the shale gas revolution in the United States and the drop in oil prices since late 2014 has reduced the viability of many high-cost Arctic oil and gas prospects. Little scholarly attention has been paid to the consequences of pursued but unrealized natural resource-based projects. This article brings literature from geography and science and technology studies into conversation to map out a preliminary research agenda for understanding how these "shelved futures" are still likely to matter in Arctic communities and policymaking. This conceptual argument is bolstered with a short exploratory case study of Murmansk, Russia. The qualitative-interview based case study illustrates two ways in which the Shtokman gas project retained regional significance, even three years after the project was suspended. Specifically, these are 1) a comparatively negative assessment of the broader socio-economic prospects of the region, and 2) expanded and possibly changed understandings on the part of the different stakeholders (business, government, civil society/the public) about their own and others' potential roles. The semi-structured interviews with stakeholders primarily focused on recollections of petroleum companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, as these efforts were a concrete harbinger of the much-trumpeted oil and gas future. (Published: January 2017) Citation: E.W. Rowe. "Promises, promises: The unbuilt petroleum environment in Murmansk." Arctic Review on Law and Politics, Vol. 8, 2017, pp. 1–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v8.504


AIM
To investigate pre- and postpartum levels of childbirth fear in a cohort of childbearing women and explore the relationship to birth outcomes.

BACKGROUND
While results are mixed, there is evidence that fear of childbirth is associated with mode of birth. Limited theoretical work around childbirth fear has been undertaken with Australian women.

DESIGN
A prospective correlation design. Method. Women (n = 401) completed the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) version A at 36 weeks gestation, with 243 (61%) women also completing version B at six weeks postpartum. Scores were summarised with means and standard deviations. Content analysis of the free statements identified nine issues of concern.

RESULTS
Twenty-six per cent of pregnant women reported low levels of childbirth fear, 48% were moderately fearful and 26% were highly fearful. Fear decreased after birth for those women in the high antenatal fear group, however surgical intervention at birth (n = 238, anova, F(1,230) = 12.39, p = 0.001) and suspected fetal compromise (F(1,230) = 4.33, p = 0.039) increased levels of postpartum fear. Univariately, high antenatal fear was associated with emergency caesarean delivery (n = 324, Wald 5.05, p = 0.025) however after adjustment for nulliparity and fetal compromise the association disappeared. Australian-born women were more likely to report higher levels of fear and experience higher rates of caesarean section than participants of non-Australian origin.

CONCLUSIONS
Results support those from earlier studies in showing that nulliparous women experience more fear than parous women before birth and that there is no difference in levels of postpartum fear between these two groups. Fear levels were higher in Australian women when compared to a Swedish sample.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
The results of this study add to our preliminary understanding of the phenomena of childbirth fear within an Australian context and are particularly useful in profiling women for whom secondary fear of childbirth is more likely to occur.


ABSTRACT Lophodiplosis trifida Gagné, an Australian gall midge on paperbark, Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae), is a recent release in southern Florida for the biological control of that host. The larval stage is described for the first time and compared to that of other Lophodiplosis species. Photos of galls and illustrations of larvae are provided. Second and third instars of L. trifida are unusual among Cecidomyiidae for the lack of setae on most papillae.


Background: Craniosynostosis is the premature fusion of cranial sutures early in development. Mice are commonly used to study the mechanisms driving both normal and pathologic cranial suture development. Despite their frequency of use as a model, the time course of bone formation and mineralization during fusion of mouse posterior frontal suture is not well defined. Methods: To address this, C57Bl/6J mice were euthanized at ages ranging from 6 to 107 days, and the posterior frontal sutures were imaged using micro–computed tomography. Scans were analyzed with an image-processing algorithm that was previously validated with serial histology to quantify both suture fusion and mineral content. The expression profile of genes associated with key developmental time points was examined using real-time polymerase chain reaction in both the bone and the dura. Results: Results demonstrate that the bones of the posterior frontal suture come together during days 10 to 20 and then increase in mineral content and volume between days 21 and 45. The onset of posterior frontal suture fusion was associated with an increase in cartilage-associated genes on day 12. Later mineralization of the suture was associated with an increase in mRNAs for osteoblast differentiation markers, bone morphogenetic proteins, and bone morphogenetic protein inhibitors. Conclusions: Complete analysis fusion posterior frontal suture shows that it occurs in a discontinuous biphasic manner. The first phase is from days 10 to 20 and involves production of cartilage. A second mineralization phase from days 21 to 45 was seen with both the imaging algorithm and changes in gene expression.


Achieving a "sustainable food future" (the title of one of the three priorities identify by the government of Argentina for the 2018 G20 presidency) requires building food systems that, in line with the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), support growth and employment, ensure social inclusiveness and equity, promote climate resilience and environmental sustainability, protect biodiversity, and generate healthy diets for all. Many policy, institutional, technological and investment innovations are needed to build such food systems. This paper focuses on the financing of the utilization of adequate technologies and innovations in agricultural production, including the ones related to soils, land, water, ecosystems, and, in general, those that have been called Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) or Climate-friendly Sustainable Agriculture (CFSA). It explores several options to mobilize financial resources to support investments in those technologies and sustainable food systems at the scale needed to have some meaningful global impact. In particular, it argues that the creation of a project preparation and financial structuring facility of appropriate scale would help leverage scarce public-sector funds to mobilize the much larger pool of private financial funds that may be interested in participating in these investments but now lack adequately structured projects and investment vehicles to do so.


In the turning operation chatter or vibration is a frequent problem affecting the result of the machining, and, in particular, the surface finish. Tool life is also influenced by vibration. Severe acoustic noise in the working environment frequently occurs as a result of dynamic motion between the cutting tool and the workpiece. These problems can be reduced by active control of machine-tool vibration. However, machine-tool vibration control systems are usually not applicable to a general lathe and turning operation. The physical features and properties of the mechanical constructions or solutions involved regarding the introduction of secondary vibration usually limit their applicability. An active control solution for a general lathe application has been developed. It is based on a standard Industry tool holder with an embedded piezo ceramic actuator and an adaptive feedback controller. The adaptive controller is based on the well known filtered-x LMS-algorithm. It enables substantial reduction of the vibration level by up to 40 dB at 3.4 kHz.


State Phobia draws extensively upon the work of Michel Foucault to argue for the necessity of the concept of the state in political and social analysis. In so doing, it takes on not only the dominant view in the human sciences that the concept of the state is outmoded, but also the large interpretative literature on Foucault, which claims that he displaces the state for a de-centered analytics of power. Understanding Foucault means understanding all his interlocutors-whether Marxists, Maoists, neoliberals, or social democrats. It requires turning to Foucault's colleagues, including Deleuze and Guattari, Francois Ewald, and Blandine Kreigel, in relation to whom he carved out a position. And it entails an examination of his legacy in Hardt and Negri, the theorists of Empire, or in Nikolas Rose, the influential English sociologist. Foucault's own view is highly ambiguous: he claims to be concerned with the exercise of political sovereignty, yet his work cannot make visible the concept of the state. Moving beyond Foucault, the authors outline new ways of conceiving the state's role in establishing social order and in mediating between an inequality-producing capitalist economy and the juridical equality and political rights of individuals. Arguing that states and their cooperation remain of vital importance to resolving contemporary crises, they demonstrate the interdependence of state and civil society and the necessity of social forms of governance.


Aromatic hydroxylation and formation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances occurred in a mixture of isonicotinic acid hydrazide (isoniazid) and catalase. Since these reactions were stimulated by phytic acid (a potent metal chelator), rather than inhibited, transition metal-catalysed hydroxyl radical generation was not implicated. Hydroxylation also occurred with isoniazid and phytic acid in the absence of catalase, albeit to a lesser extent. The independent effects of catalase and phytic acid are related to their abilities to catalyse isoniazid oxidation. In the presence of tyrosine, both the isoniazid/phytic acid system and authentic peroxynitrite generated dityrosine. Authentic peroxynitrite, as well as a phytic acid-mediated isoniazid oxidation product, have absorbance maxima at 302 nm. The yield of this isoniazid-derived product increased with pH and in the presence of a superoxide-generating system. A good correlation existed between absorbance at 302 nm and aromatic hydroxylation. Acid-induced decomposition of the 302 nm absorbance in the presence of superoxide dismutase led to the formation of a product absorbing in the same region as peroxynitrite-modified superoxide dismutase (350 nm at acid pH). Catalase catalysed peroxynitrite-mediated, as well as isoniazid/phytic acid-mediated tyrosine nitration, which was accompanied by Compound II formation (ferryl-catalase) in both cases. We postulate that peroxynitrite or a similar species is formed during isoniazid oxidation.


In this paper, we introduce Counterpoint, a zooming presentation tool. CounterPoint supports the construction of slide show style presentations with content arrangement in a 2.5D space. As with other Zoomable User Interfaces, CounterPoint provides animated navigations as transitions through this space. Our tool also supports both automated sequential paths and interactive navigation through the presentation. Multiple paths may also be defined within a single presentation space. This paper describes the functionality of our tool, some implementation details, and potential benefits of CounterPoint over more traditional slide show tools.


This and a companion paper examine a new and fast-growing geographical research literature about neoliberal approaches to governing human interactions with the physical environment. This literature, authored by critical geographers for the most part, is largely case study based and focuses on a range of biophysical phenomena in different parts of the contemporary world. In an attempt to take stock of what has been learnt and what is left to do, the two papers survey the literature theoretically and empirically, cognitively and normatively. They are written for the benefit of readers trying to make some sense of this growing literature and for future researchers of the topic. Specifically, they aim to parse the critical studies of nature's neoliberalisation with a view to answering four key questions posed, variously, in many or most of them: what are the main reasons why all manner of qualitatively different nonhuman phenomena in different parts of the world are being 'neoliberalised'? what are the principal ways in which nature is neoliberalised in practice? what are the effects of nature's neoliberalisation? and how should these effects be evaluated? Without such an effort of synthesis, this literature could remain a collection of substantively disparate, theoretically informed case studies unified only in name (by virtue of their common focus on 'neoliberal' policies). Though all four questions posed are answerable in principle, in practice the existing research literature makes questions two, three, and four difficult to address substantively and coherently between case studies. While the first question can, from one well-established theoretical perspective, be answered with reference to four 'logics' at work in diverse contexts (the focus of this paper), the issues of process, effects, and evaluations are currently less tractable (and are the focus of the next paper). Together, the two pieces conclude that critical geographers interrogating nature's neoliberalisation will, in future, need to define their objects of analysis more rigorously and/or explicitly, as well as their evaluative Schemas. If the new research into neoliberalism and the nonhuman world is to realise its full potential in the years to come, then some fundamental cognitive and normative issues must be addressed. These issues are not exclusive to the literature surveyed and speak to the 'wider' lessons that can be drawn from any body of case study research that focuses on an ostensibly 'general' phenomena like neoliberalism.


Writing well and effectively helps our students achieve three important objectives. Firstly, it reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary. Secondly, writing provides opportunities for our students to be more adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they have learnt and to take risks with the effects of writing. And, finally, the importance of writing lies in the ability to develop language skills in terms of fluency, accuracy and appropriateness, in the communication of meanings and messages. This paper attempts to investigate a comparative study on the undergraduates' writing performance and the problems that hinder students' perception of good writing skills. As English Language is used in all the subjects taught in their degree performance, these students should acquire and also achieve some kind of satisfactory level of writing proficiency. Lecturers expect them to use and write daily tasks, assignments and answer examination questions using English proficiently and effectively. In this study, the students from the Diploma Programme acquired better writing skills than the Matriculation students. The Diploma students performed better in all the five writing components like content, vocabulary, organization, language use and mechanics. This was because the Diploma students had more exposure in English as all the subjects were taught in English Language. Therefore, the Matriculation students were slightly less proficient in their writing performance compared with the Diploma students. Nevertheless, the component like mechanics in writing did not contribute greatly to their writing proficiency and both groups of students scored almost the same percentage. The most significant component in writing that hindered their writing proficiency was language use. Both the Diploma and Matriculation students scored very low percentage in this component. Firstly, because ESL students faced more problems than the first language students as they have to acquire or consciously learn the grammar, syntactic structure, vocabulary, rhetorical structure and idioms of a new language. Secondly, composing and writing is already a difficult task for them and the acquisition of grammar and other language structures make it even more difficult. Finally, students who do not read and write well in their first language need to work harder on the new creative activity of forming ideas and thoughts in English for the readers to understand. Therefore, it is recommended that writing lecturers to provide our students ample time and opportunities for them to write and form ideas clearly. Next, choosing topics for students to write with care can also nurture the development of composing abilities. It can be concluded that lecturers should focus on helping students to become aware of how and why they write, and on encouraging them to write freely, fluently and well.

 Key words: Writing, English language, performance, undergraduates, effective communication.


Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) has already been demonstrated as a promising technique for metallic nanoparticle tagged bioassays due to its high sensitivity, wide dynamic linear range, and more importantly multiplex and absolute quantification ability. Besides, single nanoparticle analysis by ICPMS has also recently been applied for many metal nanoparticles. Moreover, its short data acquisition dwell times (serval hundred microseconds) lead to an extremely high signal to noise ratio for metal nanoparticles (i.e., low detection limits). This perspective focuses on single nanoparticle analysis-based ICPMS bioassays, which provide high sensitivity without any sophisticated signal amplification procedures. Herein, the recent development of single nanoparticle analysis, ICPMS instrument design, and single molecule analysis is discussed. Considering the vast types of metallic nanoparticles currently available and simultaneous multiplex detection capability of TOF-ICPMS, single nanoparticle analysis-based bioassays may open a new avenue for multiplex single molecule analysis.


Currently, same-sex couples that are legally married in a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage may not be able to divorce if they move to Texas. Of the few cases tried in Texas, most courts refused to grant the samesex divorce because the courts refused to recognize the underlying marriage. Because these couples cannot simply return to the granting state due to most states' divorce residency requirements, they cannot divorce and face untold issues due to this inability. While Texas does offer the opportunity for the couple to declare the marriage void, declaring the marriage void is not an adequate legal remedy and may not prevent property and other legal issues. Instead, Texas should analyze divorce as implicating rights separate from those implicated by marriage. Based on such analysis, Texas should grant same-sex divorces. While several authors have addressed this issue from a national standpoint, this Comment addresses the issue as it stands in Texas, where a jurisdictional split between the courts of appeals makes it ripe for discussion.


Abstract. Early yield assessment at local, regional and national scales is a major requirement for various users such as agriculture planners, policy makers, crop insurance companies and researchers. Current study explored a remote sensing-based approach of predicting the yield of Wheat, Kharif Rice and Rabi Rice at district level, using Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), under the FASAL programme. In order to make the estimates 14-years' historical database (2003–2016) of NDVI was used to derive the VCI. The yield estimation was carried out for 335 districts (136 districts of Wheat, 23 districts of Rabi Rice and 159 districts of Kharif Rice) for the period of 2016–17. NDVI products (MOD-13A2) of MODIS instrument on board Terra satellite at 16-day interval from first fortnight of peak growing period of crop were used to calculate the VCI. Stepwise regression technique was used to develop empirical models between VCI and historical yield of crops. Estimated yields are good in agreement with the actual district level yield with the R2 of, 0.78 for Wheat, 0.52 for Rabi Rice and 0.69 for Kharif Rice. For all the districts, the empirical models were found to be statistically significant. A large number of statistical parameters were computed to evaluate the performance of VCI-based models in predicting district-level crop yield. Though there was variation in model performance in different states and crops, overall, the study showed the usefulness of VCI, which can be used as an input for operational crop yield forecasting, at district level.


Astaxanthin has been demonstrated to exhibit a wide range of beneficial effects that include anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C (XPC) protein is an important DNA damage recognition factor in nucleotide excision repair and is involved in regulating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell proliferation and viability. Erlotinib (TarcevaR) is a selective epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has demonstrated clinical activity in NSCLC cells. However, whether astaxanthin and erlotinib could induce synergistic cytotoxicity in NSCLC cells through modulating XPC expression is unknown. In this study, we found that p38 MAPK activation by astaxanthin decreased XPC expression in two human lung adenocarcinoma A549 and H1975 cells. Inactivation of p38 MAPK by pharmacological inhibitor SB203580 or the specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) rescued the astaxanthin-reduced XPC mRNA and protein levels. Enforced expression of XPC cDNA or inhibiting the p38 MAPK activity reduced the cytotoxicity and cell growth inhibition of astaxanthin. In contrast, knockdown of XPC using siRNA enhanced the cytotoxic effects of astaxanthin. Moreover, astaxanthin synergistically enhanced cytotoxicity and cell growth inhibition of erlotinib in NSCLC cells, which were associated with the down-regulation of XPC expression and activation of p38 MAPK. Our findings suggested that the astaxanthin induced p38 MAPK mediated XPC down-regulation enhanced the erlotinib-induced cytotoxicity in A549 and H1975 cells.


This article compares two cases of securitization along South Sudan's border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By comparing how a security concern – the presence of the Lord's Resistance Army – was interpreted and responded to, the article shows that border security practices in two borderscapes are improvised, contradictory and contested, and serve to establish authority rather than actually securing the border. This is apparent on three levels: (a) through the multiplicity of security actors vying for authority; (b) in how they interpret security concerns; and (c) in terms of what practice follows. The article argues that by allowing authority at the border to be taken by actors that are not under direct control of the central government, the South Sudanese state is developing as one that controls parts of the country in absentia, either by granting discretionary powers to low-level government authorities at the border or through tactical neglect. Processes of securitization by both state and non-state actors in the borderland are largely disconnected from the South Sudanese central government, which does not claim authority over this border and thus seemingly does not consider the lack of security for its citizens, and the parallel authorities, as a threat to central stability.


Abstract. We report on HCFC-22 data acquired by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) in the reduced spectral resolution nominal observation mode. The data cover the period from January 2005 to April 2012 and the altitude range from the upper troposphere (above cloud top altitude) to about 50 km. The profile retrieval was performed by constrained nonlinear least squares fitting of modelled spectra to the measured limb spectral radiances. The spectral ν4-band at 816.5 ± 13 cm−1 was used for the retrieval. A Tikhonov-type smoothing constraint was applied to stabilise the retrieval. In the lower stratosphere, we find a global volume mixing ratio of HCFC-22 of about 185 pptv in January 2005. The rate of linear growth in the lower latitudes lower stratosphere was about 6 to 7 pptv year−1 in the period 2005–2012. The profiles obtained were compared with ACE-FTS satellite data v3.5, as well as with MkIV balloon profiles and cryosampler balloon measurements. Between 13 and 22 km, average agreement within −3 to +5 pptv (MIPAS – ACE) with ACE-FTS v3.5 profiles is demonstrated. Agreement with MkIV solar occultation balloon-borne measurements is within 10–20 pptv below 30 km and worse above, while in situ cryosampler balloon measurements are systematically lower over their full altitude range by 15–50 pptv below 24 km and less than 10 pptv above 28 km. MIPAS HCFC-22 time series below 10 km altitude are shown to agree mostly well to corresponding time series of near-surface abundances from the NOAA/ESRL and AGAGE networks, although a more pronounced seasonal cycle is obvious in the satellite data. This is attributed to tropopause altitude fluctuations and subsidence of polar winter stratospheric air into the troposphere. A parametric model consisting of constant, linear, quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and several sine and cosine terms with different periods has been fitted to the temporal variation of stratospheric HCFC-22 for all 10°-latitude/1-to-2-km-altitude bins. The relative linear variation was always positive, with relative increases of 40–70 % decade−1 in the tropics and global lower stratosphere, and up to 120 % decade−1 in the upper stratosphere of the northern polar region and the southern extratropical hemisphere. Asian HCFC-22 emissions have become the major source of global upper tropospheric HCFC-22. In the upper troposphere, monsoon air, rich in HCFC-22, is instantaneously mixed into the tropics. In the middle stratosphere, between 20 and 30 km, the observed trend is inconsistent with the trend at the surface (corrected for the age of stratospheric air), hinting at circulation changes. There exists a stronger positive trend in HCFC-22 in the Southern Hemisphere and a more muted positive trend in the Northern Hemisphere, implying a potential change in the stratospheric circulation over the observation period.


Increased melt rates under floating ice shelves around Antarctica have been suggested as a dominant cause for observed acceleration of marine
ice sheets that feed these ice shelves. The associated melt rates are difficult to observe directly. We present first steps towards estimating the melt rates underneath floating ice shelves from accessible hydrography data and optimal control methods. We address to which extent ocean hydrographic observations away from the ice-ocean boundary can be used to constrain sub-ice shelf melt rates. We derive sensitivity patterns of sub-ice shelf melt rates to changes in ocean circulation underneath the Pine Island Ice-Shelf in the Amundsen Sea Embayment. The sensitivity patterns are computed with an adjoint model of a full-fledged ocean general circulation model that resolves the sub-ice shelf circulation and includes a thermodynamic melt rate parameterization. The adjoint state can be used to identify dominant water mass pathways and time scales that affect melt rates, provide guidance for oceanographic field campaigns.


Case studies and small trials suggest that acupuncture may effectively treat hypertension, but no large randomized trials have been reported. The Stop Hypertension with the Acupuncture Research Program pilot trial enrolled 192 participants with untreated blood pressure (BP) in the range of 140/90 to 179/109 mm Hg. The design of the trial combined rigorous methodology and adherence to principles of traditional Chinese medicine. Participants were weaned off antihypertensives before enrollment and were then randomly assigned to 3 treatments: individualized traditional Chinese acupuncture, standardized acupuncture at preselected points, or invasive sham acupuncture. Participants received ≤12 acupuncture treatments over 6 to 8 weeks. During the first 10 weeks after random assignment, BP was monitored every 14 days, and antihypertensives were prescribed if BP exceeded 180/110 mm Hg. The mean BP decrease from baseline to 10 weeks, the primary end point, did not differ significantly between participants randomly assigned to active (individualized and standardized) versus sham acupuncture (systolic BP: −3.56 versus −3.84 mm Hg, respectively; 95% CI for the difference: −4.0 to 4.6 mm Hg; P=0.90; diastolic BP: −4.32 versus −2.81 mm Hg, 95% CI for the difference: −3.6 to 0.6 mm Hg; P=0.16). Categorizing participants by age, race, gender, baseline BP, history of antihypertensive use, obesity, or primary traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis did not reveal any subgroups for which the benefits of active acupuncture differed significantly from sham acupuncture. Active acupuncture provided no greater benefit than invasive sham acupuncture in reducing systolic or diastolic BP.


We propose a method to perform automatic document summarisation without using reference summaries. Instead, our method interactively learns from users' preferences. The merit of preference-based interactive summarisation is that preferences are easier for users to provide than reference summaries. Existing preference-based interactive learning methods suffer from high sample complexity, i.e. they need to interact with the oracle for many rounds in order to converge. In this work, we propose a new objective function, which enables us to leverage active learning, preference learning and reinforcement learning techniques in order to reduce the sample complexity. Both simulation and real-user experiments suggest that our method significantly advances the state of the art. Our source code is freely available at https://github.com/UKPLab/emnlp2018-april.


Extensive regulatory overhaul changed the money market fund (MMF) industry considerably, especially for institutional clients. Nonetheless, MMFs continue to be an important cash management tool for institutions even though their asset allocations are now much more restricted to preserve the feature of a constant share price. This article shows how regulatory changes to MMFs correctly remove unviable promises of immediate liquidity at a constant share price while holding asset portfolios with varying risk exposures. We emphasize the importance of allowing price signals to reveal the impact of changes in the risk environment on asset holdings. We also believe that quantitative restrictions (e.g., withdrawal fees and gates) are counterproductive for preventing runs – they do not aid price discovery, and incentivize investors to circumvent the restrictions to access their otherwise liquid assets in times of heightened liquidity demand. These shifts in the money market and related channels of short-term financing should act as a reminder that regulatory pressure on one part of financial markets has repercussions throughout the financial system, leading to unexpected adaptation by market participants.


Long-lived radiation chimeras were produced in mice diflering at the major histocompatibility locus. Survival occurred in lethally irradiated recipients inoculated with allogeneic fetal liver and allogeneic fetal thymus cells in combination. The survival rate was equal or superior to that of mice with transplanted syngeneic fetal, neonatal, or adult hematopoietic cells.


Although there is a wide diversity of labor laws among the industrialized democracies of the world, two common purposes behind these laws are the fostering of employees' right to collectively bargain and the promotion of industrial peace. Certainly these are shared purposes behind the laws of the United States and the Republic of Korea. The question of whether to determine employee representation through exclusive representation or plural unionism is a one that touches on both of these fundamental issues in the development of a system of industrial relations. Exclusive representation can improve a union's bargaining power relative to the employer, helping to ensure that the employees can make meaningful contributions to collective bargaining. Exclusive representation can also simplify the problem of collective bargaining, promoting cooperation between the parties by focusing the employer's attention on one set of employee representatives and discouraging strategic behavior by subsets of employees at the expense of overall cooperation. However, exclusive representation can also pose a barrier to employee organization, a problem that has plagued the American industrial relations system. Furthermore, lumping employees with disparate interests together in one unit with one representative can complicate the union politics of collective negotiations and leave minority interests unrepresented. Indeed, in the United States we have found it important and necessary that the grant of exclusive representation to a union be accompanied by a duty to fairly represent all employees in the designated bargaining unit. In this essay we will examine the policy choice between a system of industrial relations based on exclusive representation and one based on plural unionism. We undertake this examination by presenting the American law and experience with respect to exclusive representation, and discussing the relevance of that experience to the question of plural unionism. In the first section we discuss the American law with respect to exclusive representation, including a brief overview of our election procedure, the doctrine of the duty of fair representation and recent developments with respect to the recognition of minority unions and members only contracts in the United States. In the second section we discuss the American experience with exclusive representation and multiple units in one employer and the decline of the American labor movement. In the final section we discuss the implications of the American experience for the issue of plural unions in the Republic of Korea. The United States is an interesting case study on the question of exclusive representation or plural unionism because perhaps no other country has as formal a system for determining questions of representation or clings so closely to the exclusive representation model. On the other hand the United States also has ample experience with multiple unions within one employer. We conclude that there is wisdom in Korea's move to plural unionism with one channel bargaining, although we emphasize the importance of a duty of fair representation, the possible need for workers to organize in multiple channels when they do not share common interests and the possibility of letting the parties determine how they conduct collective negotiations.