W. Y. Evans Wentz, great Buddhist scholar and translator of such now familiar works as the "Tibetan Book of the Dead" and the "Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation," spent his final years in California. There, in the shadow of Cuchama, one of the Earth s holiest mountains, he began to explore the astonishing parallels between the spiritual teaching of America s native peoples and that of the deeply mystical Hindus and Tibetans. "Cuchama and Sacred Mountains," a book completed shortly before his death in 1965, is the fruit of those explorations. To Cuchama, Exalted High Place, came the young Cochimi and Yuma boys for initiation into the mystic rites for their people. In solitude they sought and received guidance and wisdom. In this same way, the peoples of ancient Greece, the Hebrews, the early Christians, and the Hindus had found access to inner truth on their own holy mountains: and in this same way must the modern person find the path to inner knowing. Surveying many of the most Sacred Mountains in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, Evans Wentz expresses the belief that the secret power of these high places has not passed away but only awaits the coming of a New Age. This new age, in accord with the oldest prophecies of our continent, will be a time of renaissance, the long waited era of harmony and peace among all peoples. This renaissance shall be uniquely American, a renewal based on the values so long honored by the Americans before Columbus, and so ruthlessly trampled by the civilized Europeans who overran them. No other race of people has been as spiritual in their way of life than the original Americans, notes Evans Wentz. Perhaps none other has known such martyrdom. Yet the secret greatness of the Indian religion still lives, ancient as the Earth itself, yet ageless in its power to renew."


A minor subset of immature (CD4-,8-) thymocytes that lack expression of the B2A2 antigen was found to express low levels of surface TCR protein as detected by mAbs F23.1 and KJ16 (reacting with protein products of the V beta 8 gene family). Interestingly, F23.1/KJ16 determinants were expressed on a two- to three-fold higher proportion of B2A2- thymocytes than mature lymph node T cells in four independent haplotypes. When expanded in short-term culture with PMA and calcium ionophore, B2A2- thymocytes retained their overexpression of F23.1/KJ16 determinants and showed a fivefold elevated level (relative to lymph node) of V beta 8- specific mRNA. Taken together, these findings suggest that expression of TCR V beta genes, like Ig genes, is developmentally regulated.


Obtaining bone mechanical properties from clinical resolution quantitative computed tomography (QCT)-derived localized apparent density presents the most attractive, available tool for developing subject-specific finite element (FE) bone models. While QCT density is a good predictor of the mechanical properties of HVTB [1, 2], knowledge of the fabric tensor (anisotropy ratio) can substantially improve prediction [3] and accuracy of CT-based continuum FE models [4]. Unfortunately, resolution of currently available clinical CT scanners is inadequate for mapping the fabric tensor of HVTB, which is known to be at least transversely isotropic [5]. Furthermore, trabecular bone mechanical anisotropy ratio has been shown to vary with density [2].Copyright © 2013 by ASME


There is a growing interest in taking advantage of possible patterns and structures in data so as to extract the desired information and overcome the curse of dimensionality. In a wide range of applications, including computer vision, machine learning, medical imaging, and social networks, the signal that gives rise to the observations can be modeled to be approximately sparse and exploiting this fact can be very beneficial. This has led to an immense interest in the problem of efficiently reconstructing a sparse signal from limited linear observations. More recently, low-rank approximation techniques have become prominent tools to approach problems arising in machine learning, system identification and quantum tomography. In sparse and low-rank estimation problems, the challenge is the inherent intractability of the objective function, and one needs efficient methods to capture the low-dimensionality of these models. Convex optimization is often a promising tool to attack such problems. An intractable problem with a combinatorial objective can often be "relaxed" to obtain a tractable but almost as powerful convex optimization problem. This dissertation studies convex optimization techniques that can take advantage of low-dimensional representations of the underlying high-dimensional data. We provide provable guarantees that ensure that the proposed algorithms will succeed under reasonable conditions, and answer questions of the following flavor: For a given number of measurements, can we reliably estimate the true signal? If so, how good is the reconstruction as a function of the model parameters? More specifically, i) Focusing on linear inverse problems, we generalize the classical error bounds known for the least-squares technique to the lasso formulation, which incorporates the signal model. ii) We show that intuitive convex approaches do not perform as well as expected when it comes to signals that have multiple low-dimensional structures simultaneously. iii) Finally, we propose convex relaxations for the graph clustering problem and give sharp performance guarantees for a family of graphs arising from the so-called stochastic block model. We pay particular attention to the following aspects. For i) and ii), we aim to provide a general geometric framework, in which the results on sparse and low-rank estimation can be obtained as special cases. For i) and iii), we investigate the precise performance characterization, which yields the right constants in our bounds and the true dependence between the problem parameters.


Smoking is a traditional preserving method used for both fish and meat products around the world. Smoked fish products have wide acceptance today due to their accustomed taste and aroma as well as their extended shelf-life. In this study, we aimed to determine quality changes and shelf-life of wild hot-smoked Mediterranean horse mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus, Steindachner, 1868) during frozen storage (-20±2°C) in comparison with its cultured counterparts. After gutting, cleaning and draining the samples, they were salted in 10% brine solution for 1 h and hot smoked within the same day. The samples were placed in styrofoam plates covered with a stretched film and frozen at -40C for 24 h. Then, all samples were stored at -20±2°C until spoilage. Chemical, microbiological and sensory analyses were performed monthly to investigate their quality changes and the shelf stability of the products. The results of total volatile basic-nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid and trimethylamine were obtained within the acceptable levels. Histamine values were found well below the permitted limits set by Food and Drug Administration and European Union. Sensory results showed that both storage groups (wild and cultured) had 7 months of shelf-life. This study showed that hot-smoked wild and cultured horse mackerel can be stored at -20±2°C for 7 months. Culturing did not make any significant differences (P<0.05) in sensory quality despite of differences in chemical and microbiological changes between wild and cultured groups during storage. On the other hand, better consumer acceptance was observed for cultured samples indicating the advantage of culturing this species for a better market value. We also observed that frozen storage can retard the formation of biogenic amine contents and therefore, it is suggested to apply for such products to avoid histamine health risk.


We study the possibility to detect extrasolar planets in M31 through pixel-lensing observations. Using a Monte Carlo approach, we select the physical parameters of the binary lens system, a star hosting a planet, and we calculate the pixel-lensing light curve taking into account the finite source effects. Indeed, their inclusion is crucial since the sources in M31 microlensing events are mainly giant stars. Light curves with detectable planetary features are selected by looking for significant deviations from the corresponding Paczy´ nski shapes. We find that the timescale of planetary deviations in light curves increase (up to 3–4 d) as the source size increases. This means that only few exposures per day, depending also on the required accuracy, may be sufficient to reveal in the light curve a planetary companion. Although the mean planet mass for the selected events is about 2 MJupiter, even small mass planets (M P < 20 M⊕) can cause significant deviations, at least in the observations with large telescopes. However, even in the former case, the probability to find detectable planetary features in pixel-lensing light curves is at most a few per cent of the detectable events, and therefore many events have to be collected in order to detect an extrasolar planet in M31. Our analysis also supports the claim that the anomaly found in the candidate event PA-99-N2 towards M31 can be explained by a companion object orbiting the lens star.


Abstract In the GAMMA 10 central ECRH experiments, the electron heating estimated from the soft X-ray (SX) measurement was observed with any X-mode ratio. As increasing X-mode ratio from 0% to 100%, the SX power signal increased from about 2 times to about 3 times. And the Diamagnetic signal at the central cell (DMCC) increase is the maximum (+5%) with 100% X-mode. That is, 100% X-mode is the appropriate injecting polarization as expected. The DMCC decrease was observed except with 100% X-mode though electron heating was observed. And as decreasing X-mode ratio, the peak intensity of SX radial profile shifted from the center to the South and the asymmetric electron heating was observed. And as decreasing X-mode ratio, the peripheral ion loss seems to increase.


The effect of fermented milk supplemented with whey protein concentrate on the serum lipid level of rats was investigated. The serum total cholesterol level for the group fed fermented milk with both Lactobacillus casei TMC0409 and Streptococcus thermophilus TMC 1543 was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05) in rats. Furthermore, the effect of the longterm intake of this fermented milk on the serum lipid level of twenty healthy adult men was investigated. During the 8-wk study, the volunteers consumed 200 ml of fermented milk or placebo in the morning and evening. Blood samples were drawn for analysis three times, just before taking the experimental diet, and after 4 wk and 8 wk of consumption. After 8 wk, the high density lipoprotein cholesterol level for the fermented milk group showed a significant rise after 4 wk (P<0.05), whereas that of the placebo group showed no change even after 4 wk (P>0.05). The triglyceride level for the fermented milk group lowered significantly after 4 wk (<0.05), whereas that of the placebo group showed no change even after 4 wk (P>0.05). The atherogenic index [(total cholesterol - high density lipoprotein cholesterol)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol] for the fermented milk group decreased significantly from 4.24 to 3.52 (P<0.05). The systolic blood pressure lowered significantly by the intake of fermented milk (P<0.05) On the other hand, such effect was not observed in the placebo group (P>0.05). These results indicate potential of the development of fermented milk with multiple therapeutic effects.


Constant amplitude and narrow-band Gaussian loadings are applied to extruded 6063 aluminum crack-growth specimens in an effort to characterize the effective stress intensity levels during random loading. Crack-growth rates are determined for constant amplitude loadings at stress ratios (R) of 0.09, 0.3 and 0.5, and for a variable amplitude loading simulated to match a narrow-band Gaussian spectrum. Crack-opening stress levels measured by the compliance method during the constant amplitude loading are found to differ substantially for -T5 and -T6 heat treatments due to a change from intergranular to transgranular crack growth. Crack-opening load ratios correlate well with the maximum applied stress intensity factor, K{sub max}, for the -T5 material. The K{sub max} dependence leads to an effective halving of the crack-growth exponent. Calculated variable amplitude lives are much shorter when this correlation is taken into account (an acceleration effect) and show a greater difference between loading blocks condensed by racetrack filtering at threshold levels of two and four standard deviations, similar to what was observed in the tests. Crack-opening-load measurements in one specimen with the narrow-band Gaussian (variable amplitude) loading failed to detect any closure. A substantial difference in the closure behavior of nominally identical R = .3 tests indicatesmore » that closure may occur irregularly in the extruded aluminum. Calculated crack-growth lives, assuming no closure in the variable amplitude tests, are much shorter than the test results. Including closure in the variable amplitude loadings greatly improves the predictions. 14 refs., 16 figs.« less


This article identifies a research gap on expatriate students attending international branch campuses in their country of residence, and presents evidence that they are insufficiently distinguished from international students in research on student mobility and choice-making. It finds that the priorities and enrollment choices of expatriates are often understood using the same analytical language as for students who migrate for the purpose of education, particularly through the use of rationalist "push-pull" models and agent-centric frameworks that approach choice and mobility as inherent to all international students. The study suggests that the enrollment choices of expatriates studying at fee-charging international institutions are better understood through research discourses typically applied to non-mobile, domestic students, such as access, affordability and opportunity. Using a mixed-methods research design combining questionnaires and interviews, the author examines the pathways and obstacles experienced by expatriate residents studying at international institutions in the Northern Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. It finds that expatriate student choices are often constrained by structural factors that limit their mobility, including costs and family commitments, and are informed by senses of belonging and familiarity in their adoptive country of residence. Findings are contextualized through a discussion of an international education market which capitalizes on immobility and commercializes access to expressions of global citizenship. It concludes with implications for mobility research and calls for greater nuance in discussions on students attending international institutions of higher education. The full text of the article can be found at 10.18275/fire201603021092


Abstract. The technical steps involved in configuring a regional ocean model are analogous for all community models. All require the generation of a model grid, preparation and interpolation of topography, initial conditions, and forcing fields. Each task in configuring a regional ocean model is straightforward – but the process of downloading and reformatting data can be time-consuming. For an experienced modeller, the configuration of a new model domain can take as little as a few hours – but for an inexperienced modeller, it can take much longer. In pursuit of technical efficiency, the Australian ocean modelling community has developed the Web-based MARine Virtual Laboratory (WebMARVL). WebMARVL allows a user to quickly and easily configure an ocean general circulation or wave model through a simple interface, reducing the time to configure a regional model to a few minutes. Through WebMARVL, a user is prompted to define the basic options needed for a model configuration, including the model, run duration, spatial extent, and input data. Once all aspects of the configuration are selected, a series of data extraction, reprocessing, and repackaging services are run, and a "take-away bundle" is prepared for download. Building on the capabilities developed under Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System, WebMARVL also extracts all of the available observations for the chosen time–space domain. The user is able to download the take-away bundle and use it to run the model of his or her choice. Models supported by WebMARVL include three community ocean general circulation models and two community wave models. The model configuration from the take-away bundle is intended to be a starting point for scientific research. The user may subsequently refine the details of the model set-up to improve the model performance for the given application. In this study, WebMARVL is described along with a series of results from test cases comparing WebMARVL-configured models to observations and manually configured models. It is shown that the automatically configured model configurations produce a good starting point for scientific research.


Altogether 40 patients with stable angina of effort were investigated in a long-term period after roentgenovascular dilatation of one or two coronary arteries. Control coronarography was performed in 22 patients with lowered exercise tolerance. A reliable feature in the development of hemodynamically significant restenosis and/or "new" coronary stenosis in 11 patients was a combination of average and low exercise tolerance with its negative dynamics. For patients with I functional class, a sign of restenosis and/or "new" stenosis was the appearance of the ischemic shift of the CT-segment on ECG during bicycle testing. An efficient selection of patients resulted in increased sensitivity and specificity of noninvasive tests.


Mining large graphs has now become an important aspect of multiple diverse applications and a number of computer systems have been proposed to provide runtime support. Recent interest in this area has led to the construction of single machine graph computation systems that use solid state drives (SSDs) to store the graph. This approach reduces the cost and simplifies the implementation of graph algorithms, making computations on large graphs available to the average user. However, SSDs are slower than main memory, and making full use of their bandwidth is crucial for executing graph algorithms in a reasonable amount of time. In this paper, we present PrefEdge, a prefetcher for graph algorithms that parallelises requests to derive maximum throughput from SSDs. PrefEdge combines a judicious distribution of graph state between main memory and SSDs with an innovative read-ahead algorithm to prefetch needed data in parallel. This is in contrast to existing approaches that depend on multi-threading the graph algorithms to saturate available bandwidth. Our experiments on graph algorithms using random access show that PrefEdge not only is capable of maximising the throughput from SSDs but is also able to almost hide the effect of I/O latency. The improvements in runtime for graph algorithms is up to 14× when compared to a single threaded baseline. When compared to multi-threaded implementations, PrefEdge performs up to 80% faster without the program complexity and the programmer effort needed for multi-threaded graph algorithms.


Agonists of dopamine receptors can lower blood pressure by vasodilation through action on dopamine1 receptors, inhibition of sympathetic nerve activity by action on dopamine2 receptors, or actions in the central nervous system. Fenoldopam, a selective dopamine1 agonist, piribedil, a selective dopamine2 agonist, and dipropyl dopamine, a mixed dopamine1 and dopamine2 agonist, were injected intravenously in pentobarbital-anesthetized, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The mechanism for the antihypertensive effect was evaluated by administration of the selective dopamine1 antagonist SCH 23390 and the selective dopamine2 antagonist domperidone. While SCH 23390 only antagonized the hypotensive effects of fenoldopam, domperidone abolished the fall in blood pressure produced by dipropyl dopamine and piribedil but not by fenoldopam. Increments in heart rate and plasma norepinephrine levels accompanied the hypotensive effects of fenoldopam. The increase in heart rate was abolished by a dose of SCH 23390 sufficient to completely block the hypotensive effects and was significantly attenuated by the ganglionic blocking agent hexamethonium, which suggests that the increase in heart rate was due to a baroreceptor reflex. Fenoldopam does not cross the blood-brain barrier, which suggests that its hypotensive effect was mediated by peripheral dopamine1 receptors. Since domperidone does not cross the blood-brain barrier and significantly antagonized the hypotensive and bradycardic effects of dipropyl dopamine and piribedil, these effects were mediated primarily by peripheral dopamine2 receptors. These results indicate that SCH 23390 and domperidone are useful agents to identify the receptor subtype mediating the action of dopamine agonists in SHR.


Empowerment is a term which is used by organisations as diverse as the World Bank and grassroots community groups. This book examines the various meanings given to the concept, and the many ways in which power can be expressed, in personal relationships and in wider social interactions. It focuses on two development projects in Honduras, comparing their different approaches and assessing the extent to which the women involved were empowered as a result of their experiences.


The purpose of the study is to identify the factors affecting awareness of mobile tagging on social media. The study assumes that the mobile tagging awareness levels of social media consumers are high. As a result of the literature review made in the scope of the purpose and assumption of the study, it was identified that the variables used in the measurement of brand awareness levels are recognition, remembering, being first in remembering, brand dominance, brand knowledge and brand opinion. A conceptual model showing the relation between these variables and mobile tagging awareness levels of social media consumers and hypotheses connected to this model were developed and a survey form, loyal to the relevant literature, was prepared in order to obtain the data necessary for the analyses. The universe of the study covers the consumers who are members of social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Linked In. For the analysis of the data obtained as a result of the survey conducted, descriptive statistics containing percentages and frequencies, factor analysis and Pearson's Correlation Coefficient was used in the analysis of the hypotheses.


The bacterium Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) meliloti is a member of the Rhizobiaceae family and can enter a mutualistic, diazotrophic relationship with most plants of the genera Medicago, Melilotus, and Trigonella. Medicago sativa (alfalfa) is an agriculturally important legume that hosts S. meliloti and allows the bacterium to invade the plant root and begin fixing nitrogen. Prior to invasion, S. meliloti exists as a free living bacterium and must navigate through the soil to find alfalfa, using chemical signals secreted by the root. Alfalfa is the 4 most cultivated crop in the United States, therefore, identification of plant host signals that lure S. meliloti, and identification of the bacterium's chemoreceptors that perceive the signals can aid in propagating the symbiosis more efficiently, thus leading to greater crop yields. Investigations here focus on discovering alfalfa derived attractant signals and matching them to their respective chemoreceptors in S. meliloti. We have determined the chemotactic potency of alfalfa seed exudate and characterized and quantified two classes of attractant compounds exuded by germinating alfalfa seeds, namely, amino acids and quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs). At all points possible, we have compared alfalfa with the closely related non-host, spotted medic (Medicago arabica). The chemotactic potency of alfalfa seed exudate is the same as spotted medic seed exudate, however, the attractant compositions are chemically different. The amount of each proteinogenic amino acid (AA) exuded by spotted medic is slightly greater than the amounts exuded by alfalfa. In addition, the five QACs studied are exuded in various amounts between the two Medicago species. In comparison, the total amount of proteinogenic AAs exuded be alfalfa and spotted medic are 2.01 μg/seed and 1.94 μg/seed respectively, and the total amount of QACs exuded are 249 ng/seed and 221 ng/seed respectively. By performing a chemotaxis assay with synthetic AA mixtures mimicking the amounts exuded from the medics, it was found that the AA mixtures contribute to 23% and 37% of the responses to alfalfa and spotted medic exudates, respectively. The chemoreceptor McpU was found to be the most important chemoreceptor of the eight for chemotaxis to the whole exudates and the AA mixtures. Furthermore, McpU is shown to mediate chemotaxis to 19 of 20 AAs excluding aspartate. McpU directly interacts with 18 AAs and indirectly mediates chemotaxis to glutamate. Through single amino acid residue substitutions, it is determined that McpU directly binds to amino acids in the annotated region called the Cache_1 domain, likely utilizing residues D155 and D182 to interact with the amino group of AA ligands. In all, McpU is a direct sensor for AAs except for the acidic AAs aspartate and glutamate. Work is presented to show that the QACs betonicine, choline, glycine betaine, stachydrine, and trigonelline are potent attractants for S. meliloti, McpX is the most important chemoreceptor for chemotaxis to these QACs, and we demonstrate the binding strength of McpX to the QACs with dissociation constants ranging from low millimolar to low nanomolar, thus making McpX the first observed bacterial MCP that mediates chemotaxis to QACs. Overall, we match medic derived AAs with McpU and QACs with McpX. These results can aid in optimizing chemotaxis to the host derived attractants in order to propagate the symbiosis more efficiently resulting in greater crop yields. Chapter 2 characterizes the function of the S. meliloti Methyl accepting Chemotaxis Protein U (McpU) as receptor for the attractant, proline. A reduction in chemotaxis to proline is observed in an McpU deletion strain, but the defect is restored in an mcpU complemented strain. Single amino acid substitution mutant strains were created, each harboring a mutant mcpU gene. The behavioral experiments with the mutants display a reduction in chemotaxis to proline when aspartate 155 and aspartate 182 are changed to glutamates. The periplasmic region of wild type McpU was purified and demonstrated to directly bind proline with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 104 μM. The variant McpU proteins show a reduction in binding affinity confirming McpU as a direct proline sensor. Chapter 3, describes the development of a high-throughput technique that is able to observe chemotaxis responses in ten separate chemotaxis chambers all at once. This procedure also allows for real time observations at intervals of two minutes for however long the experiment is scheduled. Using this new method it was found that McpU and the Internal Chemotaxis Protein A (IcpA) are the most involved with chemotaxis to seed exudates followed by McpV, W, X, and Y. The amounts of each proteinogenic amino acid (AA) in host and non-host seed exudates are quantified, which reveals that similar amounts are exuded from each species. It is shown that McpU is the most important receptor for chemotaxis toward synthetic mixtures that mimic the amounts seen in the exudates. Chapter 4 further investigates the role of McpU in sensing amino acids using the highthroughput technique developed in Chapter 3. It is shown that McpU is important for chemotaxis to all individual proteinogenic amino acids except the acidic AA, aspartate. In vitro binding experiments confirm that McpU directly interacts with all AAs except the acidic AAs aspartate and glutamate. Binding parameters are determined for aspartate, glutamate, phenylalanine and proline. In Chapter 5, five quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are quantified from the host and non-host seed exudates, which reveals distinctive QAC profiles. S. meliloti is found to display strong chemotaxis to all QACs, which is further shown to be mediated mostly by McpX. McpX is then established as a direct binder to all QACs as well as proline, with dissociation constants ranging from nanomolar to millimolar. These studies have increased our knowledge of how chemoreceptors sense attractants, and they have contributed to the bank of known attractant molecules for bacteria. Our new understandings of chemotaxis and how it relates to the Sinorhizobium-alfalfa model can allow for manipulations of the system to enhance chemotaxis to the host, thus propagating the symbiosis more efficiently, ultimately leading to greater crop yields. Elucidation of the Specificity of S. meliloti Chemoreceptors for Host


Background: Clinical development of radical Radiotherapy (RT) in NSCLC is currently constrained by a paucity of data on the oesophageal maximum tolerated dose (MTD) when treating with a 20 fraction (#) regimen. Phase I was designed to establish the oesophageal MTD. The primary objective of phase II was to investigate whether this RT regimen is tolerable, safe and sufficiently active to justify inclusion as an experimental arm in future trials. We report toxicity data from the trial. Methods: Patients were sequentially allocated to cohorts of 58Gy, 61Gy and 63Gy to the oesophagus where the oesophagus was within the Planning Target Volume (PTV). Phase I and II recruited concurrently from centres across the UK who had undergone a national RT Quality Assurance process. Patients received 52Gy to 65Gy in 20# over 4 weeks to the PTV, planned according to predefined organ at risk (OAR) constraints (normalised mean lung dose ≤ 17Gy, spinal cord maximum 48Gy to 0.1cm3, Heart 100% < 36Gy, brachial plexus maximum 55Gy to 0.1cm3). Results: Data reported have been grouped according to oesophageal dose. Group Y (48 patients) had an oesophageal dose of ≥55Gy and Group Z (32 patients) < 55Gy (55Gy is a standard UK NSCLC prescription dose). Rates of Grade 3/4 toxicities were highest following treatment in both groups (Y = 6 patients, Z = 2 patients). Fatigue, Cough and Dyspnoea were the most common reported toxicities. One G3 oesophagitis occurred at the end of treatment (patient received 62Gy to the PTV, 61Gy to the oesophagus). 3/80 (3.8%) patient reported pneumonitis (2 at G3, one G5 in a patient with interstitial lung disease diagnosed post enrolment/treatment). Conclusions: Escalation of the prescription dose to 65Gy is safe and feasible if dose volume constraints are met. The rates of G3+ oesophagitis and G3+ pneumonitis were very low. We conclude that the dose to oesophagus is not a limiting factor when considering dose prescription in this setting and this treatment strategy warrants further investigation in a future randomised trial. I-START was developed on behalf of the NCRI Lung CSG, funded by Cancer Research UK (A11535), sponsored by Velindre NHS Trust and run by the Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University. Clinical trial information: ISRCTN74841904.


At the 2005 World Summit, states unanimously acknowledged their responsibilities to protect people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, and declared their readiness to use collective force to that end if necessary. This endorsement of the "responsibility to protect" (RtoP) represents an important step on the road to developing a norm of legitimate humanitarian intervention. However, there is a critical flaw in the way states framed RtoP at the World Summit: they equated the just cause threshold for humanitarian intervention with the commission of international crimes. This was a mistake because just cause for intervention should depend on the gravity of actual or threatened harm, not on whether that harm constitutes a crime, let alone an international crime. This Article argues that there are three deleterious consequences of framing RtoP in this way: (1) it excludes situations of catastrophic, unintentional harm where intervention may be morally justified; (2) it impedes efforts to prevent all levels of harm by requiring a finding that crimes are occurring or threatened before RtoP applies; and (3) it threatens to undermine the international criminal law regime by encouraging people to think of international crimes exclusively as "atrocities" and by obscuring the difference between humanitarian intervention and aggression.


There is a vast amount of Linked Data on the web spread across a large number of datasets. One of the visions behind Linked Data is that the published data is conveniently reusable by others. This, however, depends on many details such as conformance of the data with commonly used vocabularies and adherence to best practices for data modeling. Therefore, when an expert wants to reuse existing datasets, he still needs to analyze them to discover how the data is modeled and what it actually contains. This may include analysis of what entities are there, how are they linked to other entities, which properties from which vocabularies are used, etc. What is missing is a convenient and fast way of seeing what could be usable in the chosen unknown dataset without reading through its RDF serialization. In this paper we describe use cases based on this problem and their realization using our Linked Data Visualization Model (LDVM) and its new implementation. LDVM is a formal base that exploits the Linked Data principles to ensure interoperability and compatibility of compliant analytic and visualization components. We demonstrate the use cases on examples from the Czech Linked Open Data cloud.


High-quality thin Nb and NbN films (60-100 A) are grown on (100) n + -InAs (n = 10 1 9 cm - 3 ) substrates by dc-magnetron sputter deposition. Studies of the electronic properties of interfaces between the superconductor and the semiconductor are done by Raman scattering measurements. The superconducting proximity effect at superconductor-semiconductor interfaces is observed through its impact on inelastic light scattering intensities originating from the near-interface region of InAs. The InAs longitudinal optical phonon LO mode (237 cm - 1 ) and the plasmon-phonon coupled modes L_ (221 cm - 1 ) and L + (1100 to 1350 cm - 1 ), for n + =1×10 1 9 - 2×10 1 9 cm - 3 are measured. The intensity ratio of the LO mode (associated with the near-surface charge accumulation region, in InAs) to that of the L_ mode (associated with bulk InAs), is observed to increase by up to 40% below the superconducting transition temperature. This temperature-dependent change in light scattering properties is only observed with high quality superconducting films and when the superconductor and the semiconductor are in good electrical contact. A few possible mechanisms of the observed effect are proposed.


This article examines the regulation of Latina youth sexualities in the context of sexual and reproductive health care provision. In-depth interviews with health care providers working in two Latino-serving community health centers are analyzed for how they interpret and respond to the sexual and reproductive practices of their low-income Latina teen patients. The author finds that providers emphasize teenage pregnancy as a social problem among this population to the exclusion of other dimensions of youth sexualities and encourage Latina girls' adherence to a life course trajectory that conforms to middle-class, heteronormative ideals as a solution to this problem. By relying on such understandings, providers construct meanings of sexual citizenship that require participation in bourgeois heteronormativity. These findings suggest that Latino-serving community health centers, their providers, and their teen patients could benefit from questioning the assumptions that inform providers' appraisals of Latina youth and developing a more inclusive approach to Latina youth sexualities beyond a discourse of pregnancy prevention. Such efforts could allow community health centers to actively participate in disrupting the structural inequalities that shape their young patients' lives.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to determine the success rate of myringoplasty surgery performed at Groote Schuur Hospital and to evaluate some of the presumed prognostic factors.

DESIGN
The study design was a retrospective analytical cohort. Setting. Groote Schuur Hospital (tertiary medical centre), Cape Town. Subjects. This study assessed the success rate of 341 myringoplasty operations performed by surgeons in the Department of Otolaryngology from January 2005 to December 2009.

OUTCOME MEASURES
An unsuccessful operation was classified as a residual perforation seen at the 3-month follow-up visit that remained present at all subsequent visits. Presumed prognostic factors such as the rank of the surgeon, size of the perforation, location of the perforation, graft used and whether it was a revision procedure, were also evaluated. Where possible, the audiometric gain following surgery was calculated.

RESULTS
The overall success rate in terms of an intact tympanic membrane following myringoplasty was 71%. The average improvement in pure tone average following myringoplasty was 12.4 dB. In 64% of patients, socially acceptable hearing levels were present postoperatively (air-conduction of less than 30 dB). None of the presumed prognostic factors was a statistically significant determinant (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION
The success rate for myringoplasty (in terms of perforation closure) of 71% at Groote Schuur Hospital compares well with that quoted in the literature. There is no ethical dilemma from a surgical outcomes perspective of registrars performing myringoplasties.


The paper is focused on numerical studies of electromagnetic properties of composite materials used for the construction of small airplanes. Discussions concentrate on the genetic homogenization of composite layers and composite layers with a slot. The homogenization is aimed to reduce CPU-time demands of EMC computational models of electrically large airplanes. First, a methodology of creating a 3-dimensional numerical model of a composite material in CST Microwave Studio is proposed focusing on a sufficient accuracy of the model. Second, a proper implementation of a genetic optimization in Matlab is discussed. Third, an association of the optimization script and a simplified 2-dimensional model of the homogeneous equivalent model in Comsol Multiphysics is proposed considering EMC issues. Results of computations are experimentally verified.


The traditional family - a married woman and man and their biological children - is under siege from several directions. The percentage of American children born outside of marriage has climbed sharply, and the rise seems to be continuing inexorably. For traditional families that are formed, divorce rates remain close to the unprecedented level they reached a few years ago, though they have abated slightly. In America, and across much of the globe, fertility rates have plummeted. As a result, both the percentage and absolute number of children born and raised within a traditional family have fallen precipitously.These trends pose grave social problems. Children fare best within the traditional family - both illegitimacy and divorce inflict great damage on children. The declining fertility rate threatens a future in which there are too few workers to pay for government commitments to older citizens. These trends pose even greater threats to the extended family. If every couple has only one child, for instance, no one has any aunts, uncles, or cousins, and four grandparents have only one grandchild. The extended family is intrinsically beneficial and also instrumentally beneficial in that the extended family helps to cosset the natural family. Accordingly, public policy should also seek to promote the extended family as well as the traditional family.However, the law has great difficulty here combating the underlying problems. At least in liberal societies, the state has limited tools to deal with couples who bear children and cohabit without marrying or who never live together at all and with parents who cease to live together. It has even less capacity to raise the birth rate. Nonetheless, government can do much to promote marriage and the traditional family.Part I of this article explains the social value of marriage and the natural family (i.e., a woman and a man and their biological children). Part II addresses claims that the problems of illegitimacy and rampant divorce are insoluble. Part III discusses the challenge of how to frame the message to the public about the benefits of marriage. Part IV proposes some steps for transmitting this message.


How can ambitious forest restoration targets be implemented on the ground? Recent initiatives at regional, national, and global scales have called for unprecedented levels of forest restoration to counteract decades of rapid deforestation (1, 2). Thus far, 30 countries have committed to restore 91 million hectares (ha) of deforested landscapes, an area the size of Venezuela, by 2020; at the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit, a global target of 350 million ha was set for 2030 (1). These bold targets are motivated by diverse goals, including conserving biodiversity, sequestering carbon, improving the water supply, and sustaining human livelihoods (2, 3). How can these challenging targets be met, given competing land uses and limited funds for restoration?


Despite their obvious functional and stylistic differences, hedge mazes and English landscape gardens have salient symbolic and structural similarities which make them fruitful objects of comparative analysis. Both invert the norms expected of interior and exterior spaces, of human cultivation and "wilderness", creating landscapes of semiotic uncertainty. Being at once natural and cultural, both types of space present a "problem to be solved" either by reaching a centre or understanding a layout. Both "play" with the notion of boundary by constructing uncrossable and at times oppressive walls from seemingly fragile plant matter or by hiding their boundaries. At the same time there are important differences which make this comparison of boundary spaces even more interesting: hedge mazes and landscape gardens are distinguishable by their respective structural levels, the presence or absence of a centre, their relation to other parts of gardens and connected human habitations. Using Juri Lotman's notion of hybrid and transitional objects characteristic of boundary mechanisms, this paper explores the semiotically dense nature-culture boundary which these mazes and gardens both inhabit and create. The objects of our analysis are 17th-century English mazes and early English gardens dating from the beginning of the 18th century: mazes at Longleat and Hampton Court, and landscape gardens such as Rousham and Stowe.


Containing Charles Ferguson's papers on Arabic linguistics, this volume addresses issues of continuing concern in phonology, syntax, historical linguistics, and sociolinguistics. The introduction provides a biographical sketch, including excerpts from interviews with Ferguson in which he discusses his career and dealings with Arabic. A critical overview precedes each of the four sections (Diachronica, Phonology, Register and Genre, and General). This work fills an important gap in the history of linguistics in documenting much of the career and contributions of a formative figure in American linguistics. In addition to updating Ferguson's articles, the volume preserves Ferguson's reflections on the events, personalities, relationships, and issues at the time he wrote the articles, as well as on subsequent developments. A unique and fascinating picture of a pioneer linguist.


Imag(in)ing Otherness explores relationships between film and religion, aesthetics and ethics. The volume examines these relationships by viewing how otherness is imaged in film and how otherness alternately might be imagined. Drawing from a variety of films from differing religious perspectives-including Chan Buddhism, Hinduism, Native American religions, Christianity, and Judaism-the essays gathered in this volume examine the particular problems of "living together" when faced with the tensions brought out through the otherness of differing sexualities, ethnicities, genders, religions, cultures, and families.


In 2013 the World Bank set itself two ambitious goals: to end extreme poverty within a generation and to boost the prosperity of the bottom 40 percent of the population worldwide. In Latin America, the significance of both goals cannot be overstated. Indigenous people account for about 8 percent of the population, but represent 14 percent of the poor and over 17 percent of all Latin Americans living on less than United States (U.S.) $2.50 a day. Though the World Bank has chosen two general indicators for measuring progress toward its twin goals - the proportion of people living on less than U.S. $1.25 a day (purchasing power parity, 2005) and the growth of real capital income among the bottom 40 percent of the population - this report acknowledges that these indicators offer only a partial view of the obstacles preventing many indigenous peoples from achieving their chosen paths of development. The report notes that in Bolivia, Quechua women are 28 percent less likely to complete secondary school than a nonindigenous Bolivian woman, while Quechua men are 14 percent less likely to complete secondary school than non-indigenous men. This report seeks to contribute to these discussions by offering a brief, preliminary glance at the state of indigenous peoples in Latin America at the end of the first decade of the millennium. The authors believe that this is the first, necessary step to start working on a concerted and evidence-based agenda for subsequent work in critical areas of development such as education, health, and land rights. The report makes a critical analysis of the many inconsistencies present in much of the data, which in many cases are intrinsic to the difficulties of approaching indigenous issues with tools and data sets not originally intended to account for or include indigenous peoples' voices and special needs. The report is divided into six sections. The first part, how many and where they are provides a demographic overview of indigenous people in the region, including population, geographic distribution, number of ethnic groups, and indigenous languages. The second section, mobility, migration, and urbanization describes a growing tendency among indigenous people to migrate to Latin American cities, which are becoming critical, though largely ignored, areas for political participation, and market articulation. The third section, development with identity briefly discusses the concept of poverty and reflects on how the use of predominantly Western indicators of well-being might condition the understanding of indigenous peoples' situations and needs. The fourth and fifth sections broaden this argument by focusing on two particular instances of exclusion - the market and education.


Unethical Decision Making: Understanding the Role of Leadership and Gender Laura A. Poatsy Committee members: Dr. George M. Goethals, Dr. Terry L. Price This study examined the effects leadership role and gender have on unethical decision making and the engagement in unethical behaviors. 64 undergraduate students were exposed to both hypothetical and behavioral measures that tested their willingness to engage in unethical behaviors. The results indicate a significant effect of leadership role on unethical decision making. Furthermore, goal importance and self-efficacy are driving factors in leaders' propensity to engage in unethical behaviors. These findings demonstrate the different circumstances that drive individuals who associate with different gender-roles and are placed in various leadership-roles to act in unethical ways."


The increased importance of heat sinks in electronic cooling applications has resulted in a revived interest in extended surfaces, or fins. Also, space and cost constraints provide impetus for optimizing thermal performance for a given, or least, amount of material. The current research focuses on a pin fin design of least material, where the diameter of the pin fin varies axially to maintain the axial heat flux constant; thus all fin material is utilized equally. Although such fins have been studied in the past, the convective heat transfer coefficient was assumed to be constant, which is not entirely true since it is known to be a function of diameter for cylindrical bodies. The current research shows that an optimal fin based on a variable convective heat transfer coefficient yields a true optimal profile, and utilizes material better; that is, it uses a lower volume of material to achieve the same heat dissipation rate. This improvement in material utilization is show to be anywhere from approximately 3% to 14%.


Nowadays are Taxes a Key Amount of Income of each Country's Budget. Taxes are
compulsory Payments determined by State, which Taxpayers have to pay according to
predetermined Conditions. Article is focused on th
e Impact of Taxes on Legal entities, which
are Companies operating in Agriculture and Food Producing Industry. Defined Goal of the
Paper is to assess the Impact of selected direct Taxes on Economy of these Companies. The
Companies have selected according t
o specified Criteria. We assess Initial Data gathered
directly from assessed Companies during the Examination of selected matter. Primary Source
of Data are Financial Statements and Tax Returns of selected Companies. We assess Period of
2008
-
2012. The Anal
ysis is based on the given Terms by the Law for settling of the assessed
Taxes. The Attention is also paid to Other Economic Indicators, which are reported in the
Income Statement in the Slovak Republic.


This study explores therapists' spiritual experience, personally and within the therapeutic relationship. It focuses on the lived experience of therapists and the different meanings made of what is experienced. The purpose of this research is to bring into the light spiritual experiences of therapists and how they are experienced in the therapeutic process. It contributes to current debate about spiritual experience in the daytoday practice of psychotherapy. The methodology of phenomenological hermeneutics is chosen as it provides the means to study therapists' lived experience. The study is guided by the philosophical thinking of Heidegger, Gadamer and Van Manen. The findings of this study reveal different types of spiritual experience. These include nonordinary states of consciousness where there is a feeling sense of being beyond the boundaries of linear time and space. Experiences involve noticing subtle body feelings before they manifest in everyday consciousness. They include hearing and seeing phenomena that may normally be overlooked or disavowed in psychotherapy. The findings show therapists' ability to notice, explore and utilize subtle body phenomena was a combination of their own capabilities, their spiritual practice, and years of experience as therapists. The therapist's body appeared to be like a doorway into experiences that had transformative effects on both therapists and clients. The meanings made of experiences reflected therapists' spiritual and cultural beliefs. These beliefs meant that therapists are attuned to something bigger than everyday identity that gave meaning and purpose to the work and was a rich source of wisdom and guidance, comfort and a sense of being held in the work. Specific attitudes and qualities of presence are revealed that reflect therapists' spiritual beliefs. Participants described experiences that emerged out of the context of the therapeutic relationship but could not be explained clinically. The findings show therapists' world views, their spiritual and cultural beliefs and capacity to experience the unknown, bring a richness and diversity of meanings to the therapeutic relationship that includes the wider contexts of culture and the environment. This study explores current thinking about spiritual experience in psychotherapy and its effects on the therapist. It raises issues for further discussion relating to the role of therapists' spiritual experience in contemporary psychotherapy.


Changes in rocky shore community composition as responses to climatic fluctuations and anthropogenic warming can be shown by changes in average species thermal affinities. In this study we derived thermal affinities for European Atlantic rocky intertidal species by matching their known distributions to patterns in average annual sea surface temperature. Average thermal affinities (the Community Temperature Index, CTI) tracked patterns in sea surface temperature from Portugal to Norway, but CTI for communities of macroalgae and plant species changed less than those composed of animal species. This reduced response was in line with the expectation that communities with a smaller range of thermal affinities among species would change less in composition along thermal gradients and over time. Local-scale patterns in CTI over wave exposure gradients suggested that canopy macroalgae allow species with ranges centred in cooler than local temperatures ("cold-affinity") to persist in otherwise too-warm conditions. In annual surveys of rocky shores, communities of animal species in Shetland showed a shift in dominance towards warm-affinity species ("thermophilization") with local warming from 1980 to 2018 but the community of plant and macroalgal species did not. From 2002 to 2018, communities in southwest Britain showed the reverse trend in CTI: declining average thermal affinities over a period of modest temperature decline. Despite the cooling, trends in species abundance were in line with the general mechanism of direction and magnitude of long-term trends depending on the difference between species thermal affinities and local temperatures. Cold-affinity species increased during cooling and warm-affinity ones decreased. The consistency of responses across different communities and with general expectations based on species thermal characteristics suggests strong predictive accuracy of responses of community composition to anthropogenic warming.


Introduction: We examined the role of hemodynamic dysfunction in cognition by relat-ing cerebral blood flow (CBF), measured with arterial spin labeling (ASL), to cognitive functioning, in patients with heart failure (HF), carotid occlusive disease (COD), and patients with cognitive complaints and vascular brain injury on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; ie, possible vascular cognitive impairment [VCI]). Methods: We included 439 participants (124 HF; 75 COD; 127 possible VCI; 113 reference participants) from the Dutch multi-center Heart–Brain Study. We used pseudo-continuous ASL to estimate whole-brain and regional partial volume-corrected CBF. Neuropsychological tests covered global cognition and four cognitive domains. Results: CBF values were lowest in COD, followed by VCI and HF, compared to reference participants. This did not explain cognitive impairment, as we did not find an association between CBF and cognitive functioning. Discussion: We found that reduced CBF is not the major explanatory factor underlying cognitive impairment in patients with hemodynamic dysfunction along the heart–brain axis.


Fresh water snails of genus Biomphlaria, Bulinus and Ocomelinia are important vectors for human schistosomiasis. Human contact patterns with water infested with cercaria are important factors in transmission of schistosomiasis and these conditions are associated with tropical climate wetlands. However, some snail strains within the genera that transmit cercaria are resistant to infection, providing means where these traits can be harnessed for biological control. PCR rDNA probes were used to determine miracidia/cercaria infected Biomphalaria snail isolates within Kenya. The derived sequences together with similar Genbank datasets were applied in phylogenetic analysis. PCR results showed that susceptibility/resistance trait occurs in proportion of the field sampled snails and also those maintained in laboratory culture. Phylogenetic analysis of sampled snails in this study together with composite dataset of similar rDNA sequences across Africa showed that Biomphalaria spp population structure is composed of distinct monophyla lineages and clusters of closely related isolates or clones. Further, the analysis indicated that nomenclature of Biomphalaria spp. classification needs revision. This provides evidence for resistance to cercaria transmission in some isolates of Biomphalaria spp. within Kenya but the trait does not cluster together in phylogenetics that is based on rDNA gene.


We integrate two established modeling methods from disparate fields: mechanisms from the philosophy of science literature and intrusion kill chain modeling from the computer security literature. The result demonstrates that model accuracy can be improved by incorporating methods from philosophy of science. Modeling security accurately is a key function in the science of security. Mechanistic modeling of computer security incidents clarifies the existing model and points toward areas for substantive improvement for computer security professionals. Additional models of computer security incidents are translated mechanistically to compare results and to demonstrate such modeling can be applied in multiple situations. This integration of philosophy of science and computer security is sensible only by integrating new adaptations to mechanistic modeling, specifically conceived to enable better modeling of engineered systems such as computers. The results indicate continued integration of the fields of philosophy of science and information security will be fruitful.


Background Parenteral Nutrition (PN) is a technique of Artificial Nutrition used to feed patients who cannot or should not get their nutrition through eating. Preparation is complicated because it involves mixing, with aseptic technique, nutritional substrates with different chemical-physical features (water, glucose, amino acids, electrolytes, trace elements and vitamins) to obtain a sterile nutritional emulsion that must be stable during preparation, storage and administration. Purpose To check the stability of nutritional formulae for parenteral nutrition. Material and methods Six nutritional formulae were prepared, three variations for each, using three kinds of lipid emulsion. Also added: long chain triglycerides (LCT) emulsion from soybean oil and middle chain triglycerides (MCT) emulsion from coconut oil; enriched lipid emulsion (LCT + MCT) from soybean, olive, coconut and fish oils; omega-3 emulsion from refined fish oil. Each formula was prepared with different calcium concentrations, which, together with viscosity, is the critical parameter that affects Zeta potential and consequently stability. Analysis was performed using a helium-neon laser granulometer on diluted samples at time 0 and after 24, 48, 72 and 96 h in order to reproduce normal storage conditions and clinical use. Results The results of the analyses of lipid particles established different stabilities, depending on the different kind of lipids and concentration of calcium: nutritional formulae prepared with LCT + MCT have proved 96 h stability, independently of calcium concentration; nutritional formulae with enriched lipids and/or LCT/MCT and lipids from refined fish oil have been proved stable only if the calcium concentration is less than 9 mEq/litre. Conclusion The results suggest a 96 h shelf life from preparation for nutritional formulae prepared with LCT + MCT. Stability is maintained only if the calcium concentration is less than 9 mEq/litre in nutritional formulae prepared with enriched lipids or with the addition of LCT + MCT and fish oil. Reference SINPE Guidelines for Hospital Artificial Nutrition 2002; RINPE Year 20, S5: Update October 2003 No conflict of interest.


geologic sequestration has been recognized as a potential greenhouse gas mitigation strategy. Regional geologic storage in deep saline formations will likely involve the injection of to 100 million metric tons (11 to 110 million tons) of per year using a network of to 50 wells over an area covering sq. miles (). Some of the wells will be injecting into closed volumes because of symmetry, thus providing the bounding case in terms of pressurization and brine efflux. This study describes a parametric analysis of the problem using characteristics typical of the Arches Province in the United States Midwest where Paleozoic rocks form broad arch and platform structures. Two-dimensional radial-cylindrical models developed with the numerical simulator STOMP (Subsurface Transport Over Multiple Phases) are utilized to investigate the impact of well spacing, injection depth, and reservoir characteristics of the injection zone (Mount Simon) and cap rock (Eau Claire) on system performance. Multiple linear regression analysis is then used to develop correlation equations between these design variables and performance metrics, such as cumulative -mass injected and -plume extent. The correlations are tested on new synthetic test sites, and are found to predict the performance metrics quite accurately. These results serve as a proxy simulator to quickly evaluate various design options, instead of having to run time-consuming numerical simulations, and can therefore be applied for developing optimal injection strategies for regional storage in the Arches Province.


The adenovirus major late transcription unit (MLTU) encodes for most of the mRNAs that are translated into the structural proteins of the virus capsid. Transcription from the MLTU is directed by the major late promoter (MLP), which is highly activated during the late phase of infection. This thesis discusses how the adenovirus-encoded L4-22K protein regulates the MLP at both the level of transcription and pre-mRNA splicing. The study shed new light on the complex regulation of the early to late shift of adenoviral gene expression.Here we show that the L4-22K protein has opposing effects on MLP transcription, functioning both as an activator and a repressor protein. The stimulatory effect mainly depends on the direct interaction of the L4-22K protein with the downstream element (DE element) located approximately 100 nucleotides downstream of the transcription initiation site. In addition to the DE element we also show that the promoter-proximal upstream element (UPE) acts as an L4-22K responsive enhancer element in the MLP. Preliminary data suggests that the activation of MLP transcription via DE and UPE differs mechanistically. The transactivation domain of the L4-22K protein is localized to the conserved carboxy-terminus of the protein.Our results also defined a novel low affinity L4-22K binding site, the R1 region, which functions as a repressor element in MLP transcription. At high concentrations L4-22K binds to R1 and recruits the cellular transcription factor Sp1 to a DNA segment covering the major late first leader 5´ splice site that is embedded in the R1 region. Sp1 binding to R1 results in a suppression of L4-22K-mediated activation of MLP transcription. This self-limiting effect on MLP transcription might have a function to fine-tune the MLTU gene expression.Interestingly, the L4-22K protein binds with the same sequence specificity to both the R1 double-stranded DNA and R1 single-stranded RNA (ssRNA). L4-22K binds to the R1 ssRNA with the same polarity as the MLTU nascent RNA. This binding results in the recruitment of U1 snRNA to the major late first leader 5´ splice site. This enhanced U1 snRNA recruitment leads to a suppression of MLP transcription and simultaneously an increase of major late first intron splicing.


Change defines the solar industry today. Photovoltaic (PV) panels have become far more prevalent globally; prices have fallen precipitously; and the rise of solar is causing shock waves throughout the electricity sector, with advocates pushing for "grid parity" and incumbents fearing a utility "death spiral." Much attention has been paid to these shifts. Much less focus has been put on the dramatic changes now taking place in the legal instruments used to promote solar power. These changes are just as critical — and are intrinsically intertwined with — the evolution of the solar energy industry itself. As one set of commentators has observed, we may now be observing the "emergence of the next generation of renewable electricity policies."This Article aims to make sense of the myriad changes in solar energy support policies worldwide. It identifies the four primary mechanisms used to promote solar to date and traces the key changes that these laws are rapidly undergoing. In so doing, the Article offers a critical roadmap for understanding the recent past of solar support laws, and their potential future. Specifically, the Article observes that the rapid changes to solar support mechanisms derive directly from a fundamental tension at the center of how these laws interface with the electricity system, and that because of this tension, the recent changes to these laws are likely only to continue. Three case studies — of Germany, Japan, and Nevada — are used to highlight the broader lessons the Article offers.


This paper addresses a lack of evidence on the impact of performance pay in the public sector by evaluating a pilot scheme of incentives in a major government agency. The incentive scheme was based on teams and covered quantity and quality targets, measured with varying degrees of precision. We use data from the agency's performance management system and personnel records plus matched labour market data. We focus on three main issues: whether performance pay matters for public service worker productivity, what the team basis of the scheme implies, and the impact of the differential measurement precision. We show that the use of performance pay had no impact at the mean, but that there was significant heterogeneity of response. This heterogeneity was patterned as one would expect from a free rider versus peer monitoring perspective. We found that the incentive scheme had a substantial positive effect in small teams, and a negative response in large teams. We found little impact of the scheme on quality measures, which we interpret as due to the differential measurement technology. We show that the scheme in small teams had non-trivial effects on output, and our estimates suggest that the use of incentive pay is much more cost effective than a general pay rise.


This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.


Although the dynamics of telomeres during the life expectancy of normal cells have been extensively studied, there are still some unresolved issues regarding this research field. For example, the conditions required for telomere shortening leading to malignant transformation are not fully understood. In this work, we mass analyzed DNA of normal and cancer cells for comparing telomere isotopic compositions of white blood cells and cancer cells. We have found that the 1327 Da and 1672 Da characteristic telomere mass to charge cause differential mass distributions of about 1 Da for determining isotopic variations among normal cells relative to cancer cells. These isotopic differences are consistent with a prior theory that replacing primordial isotopes of 1H, 12C, 14N, 16O, 24Mg, 31P and/or 32S by nonprimordial, uncommon isotopes of 2D, 13C, 15N, 17O, 25Mg and/or 33S leads to altered enzymatic dynamics for modulating DNA and telomere codons towards transforming normal cells to cancer cells. The prior theory and current data are consistent also with a recently observed non-uniform methylation in DNA of cancer cells relative to more uniform methylation in DNA of normal cells.


Objective To investigate the feasibility of testing for prostate cancer and the prevalence and characteristics of the disease in unselected young men. Design Prospective cohort nested within a randomised controlled trial, with two years of follow-up. Setting Eight general practices in a UK city. Participants 1299 unselected men aged 45-49. Intervention Prostate biopsies for participants with a prostate specific antigen level of 1.5 ng/ml or more and the possibility of randomisation to three treatments for those with localised prostate cancer. Main outcome measures Uptake of testing for prostate specific antigen; positive predictive value of prostate specific antigen; and prevalence of prostate cancer, TNM disease stage, and histological grade (Gleason score). Results 442 of 1299 men agreed to be tested for prostate specific antigen (34%) and 54 (12%) had a raised level. The positive predictive value for prostate specific antigen was 21.3%. Ten cases of prostate cancer were detected (2.3%) with eight having at least two positive results in biopsy cores and three showing perineural invasion. One tumour was of high volume (cT2c), Gleason score 7, with a positive result on digital rectal examination; nine tumours were cT1c, Gleason score 6, and eight had a negative result on digital rectal examination. Five of the nine eligible participants (55%) agreed to be randomised. No biochemical disease progression in the form of a rising prostate specific antigen level occurred in two years of follow-up. Conclusions Men younger than 50 will accept testing for prostate cancer but at a much lower rate than older men. Using an age based threshold of 1.5 ng/ml, the prevalence of prostate cancer was similar to that in older men (3.0 ng/ml threshold) and some cancers of potential clinical significance were found. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN20141297


Knowledge resources are the source of competitive advantages for organizations, unless we have apt security measures in place we risk losing them to acts of theft, misuse, espionage, and disasters. Securing knowledge assets is important given the current economic, social, and political conditions, such as the surge in terrorist and industrial espionage activities. The problem of managing knowledge security gets compounded when we have to work in a distributed and heterogeneous setting. While private sector organizations have long taken knowledge security for granted, this is not the case in the intelligence and defense sectors of the government, especially those involved with issues of national security. In this paper, we will draw on key insights from investigating knowledge security protocols in five such organizations. Our findings provide insights on how private organizations should secure their most valuable resource - "knowledge".


A prototype micro Sun sensor has been developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. It consists of a thin piece of silicon coated with a layer of chrome and a layer of gold with hundreds of small pinholes, placed on top of an Active Pixel Sensor (APS) image detector at a distance of 900 microns. Images of the Sun are formed on the APS image detector when the Sun illuminates the mask. Sun angles are derived by determining the precise location of the Sun images on the detector-just like a sundial. The packaged micro sun sensor has a mass of 11 grams, a volume of 4.2 cm/sup 3/ and a power consumption of 30 mW. The accuracy of the micro sun sensor is better than 1 arcminute and the maximum field of view is 160/spl deg/.


Model evaluations are commonly undertaken using relatively sparce data, and the criteria for such evaluations are often not fully addressed. For instance, less effort has been made to evaluate models based on their prediction capability. In this study we compared several chemically and physically based nonequilibrium models for their predictions of atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) transport in a uniformly packed Sharkey soil (Vertic Haplaquept). The models compared were a nonlinear multireaction model (MRM), a second-order model (SOM), and their coupled versions with a mobile-immobile model (MIM), MRM-MIM and SOM-MIM. Model parameters were derived from kinetic batch experiments and were used to predict atrazine column breakthrough curves (BTCs) for different pore water velocities (0.52-2.17 cm h -1 ), aggregate sizes (0-2, 2-4, and 4-6 mm), flow interruptions (0, 4, and 16 d), and soil column lengths (10 and 15 cm). For each model, nine formulations reflecting various adsorption sites were evaluated Based on root mean squared errors and sums of squared errors, considerable improvement in atrazine BTC predictions was achieved using SOM compared with MRM. Furthermore, SOM was more sensitive to different model formulations than MRM. Coupled MRM-MIM did not improve atrazine BTC prediction. Although goodness of model predictions varied with individual columns, we concluded that SOM-MIM with four parameters and a time-dependent mass transfer coefficient (α) best described atrazine retention and transport in Sharkey soil.


We present a connection between two seemingly disparate fields: VC-theory and graph theory. This connection yields natural correspondences between fundamental concepts in VC-theory, such as shattering and VC-dimension, and well-studied concepts of graph theory related to connectivity, combinatorial optimization, forbidden subgraphs, and others.
In one direction, we use this connection to derive results in graph theory. Our main tool is a generalization of the Sauer-Shelah Lemma. Using this tool we obtain a series of inequalities and equalities related to properties of orientations of a graph. Some of these results appear to be new, for others we give new and simple proofs.
In the other direction, we present new illustrative examples of shattering-extremal systems - a class of set-systems in VC-theory whose understanding is considered by some authors to be incomplete. These examples are derived from properties of orientations related to distances and flows in networks.


This paper describes the outcomes of a qualitative investigation into the range of different approaches that students use to solve open-ended, context rich problems. The study involved a small cohort of students individually solving open-ended, context-rich problems using a think aloud protocol. The problems required the students to develop a strategy, to identify data required and to make estimations. The problems did not lead to a single correct answer but rather a range of acceptable answers. Analysis of the transcripts and recordings of the sessions resulted in a limited number of categories of approaches to solving the problems. Applications of these approaches to individual students showed that there were three different types of problem-solver, described here as novice, expert and transitional. The results provide insight that will help tutors change how they, and subsequent students, approach problem solving.


In a world where pastors are expected to complete an infinite number of tasks and do all of them to the highest degree, these expectations can affect a pastor both mentally and physically. The pressures pastors experience are due in part not because of the many tasks, but rather the souls who are impacted by the tasks. The pastor feels additional stress and pressure because he knows the time of grace for these souls is running out. The expectations and pressures may lead a pastor to perfectionism. The primary goal of this thesis is to reveal what perfectionism is and how it impacts the pastor. It also encourages the pastor as both sinner and saint to wrestle with the daily struggle against perfectionism and to strive for excellence instead. Though this thesis is directed toward the pastor, the information that is spoken of in this thesis can be applied to all called workers. The thesis intends to encourage conversation about the impact of perfectionism on the ministry of pastors, teachers, and staff ministers in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).


Estimating a scene's lighting is a very important task when compositing synthetic content within real environments, with applications in mixed reality and postproduction. In this work we present a data-driven model that estimates an HDR lighting environment map from a single LDR monocular spherical panorama. In addition to being a challenging and ill-posed problem, the lighting estimation task also suffers from a lack of facile illumination ground truth data, a fact that hinders the applicability of data-driven methods. We approach this problem differently, exploiting the availability of surface geometry to employ image-based relighting as a data generator and supervision mechanism. This relies on a global Lambertian assumption that helps us overcome issues related to pre-baked lighting. We relight our training data and complement the model's supervision with a photometric loss, enabled by a differentiable image-based relighting technique. Finally, since we predict spherical spectral coefficients, we show that by imposing a distribution prior on the predicted coefficients, we can greatly boost performance. Code and models available at vcl3d.github.io/DeepPanoramaLighting


With the publication of his best-selling books "Competitive Strategy (1980) and "Competitive Advantage (1985), Michael E. Porter of the Harvard Business School established himself as the world's leading authority on competitive advantage. Now, at a time when economic performance rather than military might will be the index of national strength, Porter builds on the seminal ideas of his earlier works to explore what makes a nation's firms and industries competitive in global markets and propels a whole nation's economy. In so doing, he presents a brilliant new paradigm which, in addition to its practical applications, may well supplant the 200-year-old concept of "comparative advantage" in economic analysis of international competitiveness. To write this important new work, Porter and his associates conducted in-country research in ten leading nations, closely studying the patterns of industry success as well as the company strategies and national policies that achieved it. The nations are Britain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. The three leading industrial powers are included, as well as other nations intentionally varied in size, government policy toward industry, social philosophy, and geography. Porter's research identifies the fundamental determinants of national competitive advantage in an industry, and how they work together as a system. He explains the important phenomenon of "clustering," in which related groups of successful firms and industries emerge in one nation to gain leading positions in the world market. Among the over 100 industries examined are the German chemical and printing industries, Swisstextile equipment and pharmaceuticals, Swedish mining equipment and truck manufacturing, Italian fabric and home appliances, and American computer software and movies. Building on his theory of national advantage in industries and clusters, Porter identifies the stages of competitive development through which entire national economies advance and decline. Porter's finding are rich in implications for both firms and governments. He describes how a company can tap and extend its nation's advantages in international competition. He provides a blueprint for government policy to enhance national competitive advantage and also outlines the agendas in the years ahead for the nations studied. This is a work which will become the standard for all further discussions of global competition and the sources of the new wealth of nations.


Much correlational research has reported on the relationship that exists between clinically verified trauma symptoms in returning soldiers and self-reports of distress in their civilian partners. Subclinical trauma, despite being much more prevalent in returning military personnel, however has rarely been examined in relation to civilian partners' psychological functioning; the role of mediating variables has also been scarcely considered. This study aimed to fill this gap. A sample of (N=26) soldiers that had returned from a tour of duty in the last three years completed questionnaires assessing: (a) military variables (e.g., total tours of duty, exposure to active combat) and (b) subclinical trauma symptoms. Soldiers' civilian partners completed questionnaires assessing: (c) problem focused (PF) and disengaged (DS) coping behaviours, and (d) psychological distress. Civilian partners of returning soldiers experiencing greater subclinical trauma used fewer PF coping behaviours, thus resulting in elevated distress scores. These findings provide a clearly definable target for clinical intervention; by increasing the use of PF coping behaviours, civilian partners of trauma affected military husbands might be relatively protected against psychological distress.


Emergence of the bi-subunit topoisomerase I in the kinetoplastid family (Trypanosoma and Leishmania) has brought a new twist in topoisomerase research related to evolution, functional conservation and preferential sensitivities to the specific inhibitors of type IB topoisomerase family. In the present study, we describe that naturally occurring flavones baicalein, luteolin and quercetin are potent inhibitors of the recombinant Leishmania donovani topoisomerase I. These compounds bind to the free enzyme and also intercalate into the DNA at a very high concentration (300 µM) without binding to the minor grove. Here, we show that inhibition of topoisomerase I by these flavones is due to stabilization of topoisomerase I–DNA cleavage complexes, which subsequently inhibit the religation step. Their ability to stabilize the covalent topoisomerase I–DNA complex in vitro and in living cells is similar to that of the known topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin (CPT). However, in contrast to CPT, baicalein and luteolin failed to inhibit the religation step when the drugs were added to pre-formed enzyme substrate binary complex. This differential mechanism to induce the stabilization of cleavable complex with topoisomerase I and DNA by these selected flavones and CPT led us to investigate the effect of baicalein and luteolin on CPT-resistant mutant enzyme LdTOP1Δ39LS lacking 1–39 amino acids of the large subunit [B. B. Das, N. Sen, S. B. Dasgupta, A. Ganguly and H. K. Majumder (2005) J. Biol. Chem. 280, 16335–16344]. Baicalein and luteolin stabilize duplex oligonucleotide cleavage with LdTOP1Δ39LS. This observation was further supported by the stabilization of in vivo cleavable complex by baicalein and luteolin with highly CPT-resistant L.donovani strain. Taken together, our data suggest that the interacting amino acid residues of topoisomerase I may be partially overlapping or different for flavones and CPT. This study illuminates new properties of the flavones and provide additional insights into the ligand binding properties of L.donovani topoisomerase I.


Background: About one-third of all pregnancies that occur in low income countries are unin- tended. An estimated 1.2 million unwanted pregnancies occur in Uganda annually. The majority of the unwanted pregnancies end in unsafe abortion which is one of the five direct causes of mater- nal mortality. Abortion related complications are responsible for 26% of all maternal deaths in Uganda. Abortion complications can be avoided if women appropriately use contraception to avoid unwanted pregnancy. However, in Uganda the contraceptive prevalence is low at 30% and less than 4% of women rely on long acting reversible contraceptives. Aim: We aimed to explore post-abortion women's perceptions of using of long acting reversible contraception (LARC). Me- thods: A qualitative research design was used for data collection and analysis. Thirty in-depth in- terviews with post abortion women in Mulago hospital were carried out using an interview guide. Interviews were transcribed and coded using nodes and subsequently through query, we derived themes. Results: Emergent themes regarding women perceptions of using LARC methods were myths and misinformation, fear of side effects, women's lived experiences, relatives' influence, health providers' perceptions, lack of knowledge and women desire for spacing children for a long time. Conclusion and recommendations: The majority of women were skeptical about using LARC. There is a need to educate women to dispel myths, misinformation and quality counseling to ad- dress the benefits and side effects of LARC. There is also a need to revamp the knowledge and * Corresponding author.


Analysis of employer-sponsored health insurance costs in 41 U.S. metropolitan areas shows a 61 percent average increase in premiums for family coverage from 2003 to 2011, and a 21 percent increase over the past three years. Growth in family coverage premiums ranged from 35 percent in Sacramento, Calif., to 87 percent in Columbia, S.C. A similar trend was observed for individual insurance coverage: in 20 of the metro areas, single-person premiums increased at least 50 percent. If the average rate of growth seen over the past eight years continues to the year 2020, the cost of family coverage in 18 of these 41 metro areas will exceed $25,000.


This article raises some questions concerning the significance of the family in human life as well as family-related dysfunctions.The author discusses the conditions for the formation of the Adult Children of Alcoholics Syndrome which are associated with the childhood and growing up in a family with alcohol problems. The adult life of such children is often based on a series of irrational and destructive beliefs that allowed them to survive childhood trauma. They tend to found their lives on three basic rules: do not tell, do not feel, do not trust. This group of people is characterized by a series of specific traits and behaviors that have an important influence on their social functioning. Moreover, problems with interpersonal relationships and the self-image affecting Adult Children of Alcoholics make it difficult for them to build intimate relationships. Among people touched with this Syndrome we can distinguish three models (children of iron, children of plastic and children of glass) with three associated patterns of behaviour.


Summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) plants were grown in pots with high (290% capacity) or low (45% to 70% of capacity) soil moisture. The plants were exposed or not exposed to sweetpotato whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci Genn.). Only the plants exposed to whiteflies developed leaf silvering. Silvering was more severe in plants subjected to low soil moisture.


Reforming the personal income tax legislation in Angola has been under preparation since 2011. There are many challenges related to creating an effective and fair tax system in a highly unequal society that the Angolan Government will have to take into consideration. This Insight examines the proposal for personal income tax reform in light of the current government's campaign slogan of growing more and distribute better, which are two areas that can be directly influenced through the tax system. The purpose of this Insight is to contribute to the public debate about the tax reform in Angola. Reforming the personal income tax system in Angola: An alternative proposal June 2014 No 3


Abstract Underwater acoustic recordings of a group of seven to nine killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) were made opportunistically along a lead within the fast-ice in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica in early December 1979. At the time of the record-ings, the killer whale group was chasing Adelie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ); however, no pre-dation events were observed. A total of 87 min and 39 s were recorded and examined, with 506 sounds analyzed. The animals produced echolocation clicks, buzz sequences, pulsed signals, and whis-tles. Seven previously undocumented call types were described from these killer whales based on consistent aural and spectrographic analysis of signals. Acoustic measurements were made in the frequency and time domains using spectrographic and power spectrum analysis. This preliminary study is the first quantitative report on the acous-tic features of underwater sounds produced by a specific group of killer whales in Antarctic waters. The acoustic characteristics are similar to sounds described from killer whale populations through-out the world, and the consistent repetition of call types suggests a pod-specific repertoire. Three different ecotypes of killer whales have been described in Antarctic waters based on their color pattern, habitat use, and prey preference. The group of animals recorded in this study is believed to be Type C killer whales based on photographs as well as behavioral observations at the surface. In order to compare vocal repertoires and acoustic behavior with analogous sympatric ecotypes from, for example, the Northeast Pacific, it will be nec-essary to analyze calls made from the other known Antarctic ecotypes. Acoustic analyses could very likely be a reliable diagnostic tool for identifying sympatric ecotypes in Antarctic waters.


The National Security Agency (NSA) revelations leaked by Edward Snowden on June 6, 2013 regarding the digital surveillance tactics of the United States government were a series of profoundly disruptive discursive events that signaled an uncomfortably cozy relationship between US technology companies and the US government for the maintenance of US national security. Leaked internal NSA slides revealed a host of domestic and foreign clandestine spying programs, including PRISM and MUSCULAR, which suggested the unscrupulous collection of data from US technology giant Google's cloud servers and private networks, among other technology companies. Google's cloud computing services particularly became implicated in a crisis of global proportions, as the technology giant and US technology industry writ large faced a global loss of confidence and future revenue from cloud computing customers unhappy with the implications the NSA revelations had for the security of their personal and corporate data.
This paper conducts a multi-layer critical discourse analysis about the effect the NSA revelations had on US cloud computing with a specific focus on Google's cloud computing services. By focusing on the sociopolitical and economic functions of surveillance as established within surveillance literature, this project examines how the crisis was discursively constructed in order to paint a larger picture about how popular press coverage framed the NSA revelations and the relationship of this rhetoric to the technology companies it implicates.


Childhood exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a major risk factor for the development of melanoma later in life. However, it is challenging to accurately determine personal outdoor exposure to UVR, specifically erythemally weighted UVR (UVEry), due to technological constraints, variable time–activity patterns, and the influence of outdoor environmental design. To address this challenge, this study utilized mobile and stationary techniques to examine the UVEry exposures of 14 children in a schoolyard in Lubbock, TX, in spring 2016. The aims of the study were to examine the influence of artificial shade on personal UVEry exposures and to assess full sun exposure ratios (ERs) within the same playground microenvironment. On average, personal wrist dosimeters worn during play in the sun measured 18% of the total onsite UVEry measured by a stationary UV pyranometer. Shade was found to significantly reduce the personal UVEry exposures by 55%, UVB280–315 nm exposures by 91%, and the overall solar radiation by 84%. Substantial benefits can be garnered through focused design of children's recreational space to utilize shade—both natural and artificial—to reduce UVR exposures during play, and to extend safe outdoor stays. Finally, although the wrist is a practical location for a dosimeter, it often underestimates full exposures, particularly during physical activity.


Stanley and Min discuss how propaganda works in liberal
democratic societies. Stanley observes that the inability to address the crisis
of liberal democracies can be partially explained by contemporary political
philosophy's penchant for idealized theorizing about norms of justice over
transitions from injustice to justice. Whereas ancient and modern political
philosophers took seriously propaganda and demagoguery of the elites
and populists, contemporary political philosophers have tended to theorize
about the idealized structures of justice. This leads to a lack of theoretical
constructs and explanatory tools by which we can theorize about real-life political
problems, such as mass incarceration. Starting with this premise, Stanley
provides an explanation of how propaganda works and the mechanisms
that enable propaganda. Stanley further theorizes the pernicious effects that
elitism, populism, authoritarianism, and "post-truth" have on democratic
politics.


The development of methods for detecting and manipulating matter at the level of individual macromolecules represents one of the key scientific advancements of recent decades. These techniques allow us to get information that is largely unobtainable otherwise, such as the magnitudes of microscopic forces, mechanistic details of catalytic processes, macromolecular population heterogeneities, and time-resolved, step-by-step observation of complex kinetics. Methods based on optical, mechanical, and ionic-conductance signal transduction are particularly developed. However, there is scope for new approaches that can broaden the range of molecular systems that we can study at this ultimate level of sensitivity and for developing new analytical methods relying on single-molecule detection. Approaches based on purely electrical detection are particularly appealing in the latter context, since they can be easily combined with microelectronics or fluidic devices on a single microchip to create large parallel assays at relatively low cost. A form of electrical signal transduction that has so far remained relatively underdeveloped at the single-molecule level is the direct detection of the charge transferred in electrochemical processes. The reason for this is simple: only a few electrons are transferred per molecule in a typical faradaic reaction, a heterogeneous charge-transfer reaction that occurs at the electrode's surface. Detecting this tiny amount of charge is impossible using conventional electrochemical instrumentation. A workaround is to use redox cycling, in which the charge transferred is amplified by repeatedly reducing and oxidizing analyte molecules as they randomly diffuse between a pair of electrodes. For this process to be sufficiently efficient, the electrodes must be positioned within less than 100 nm of each other, and the analyte must remain between the electrodes long enough for the measurement to take place. Early efforts focused on tip-based nanoelectrodes, descended from scanning electrochemical microscopy, to create suitable geometries. However, it has been challenging to apply these technologies broadly. In this Account, we describe our alternative approach based on electrodes embedded in microfabricated nanochannels, so-called nanogap transducers. Microfabrication techniques grant a high level of reproducibility and control over the geometry of the devices, permitting systematic development and characterization. We have employed these devices to demonstrate single-molecule sensitivity. This method shows good agreement with theoretical analysis based on the Brownian motion of discrete molecules, but only once the finite time resolution of the experimental apparatus is taken into account. These results highlight both the random nature of single-molecule signals and the complications that it can introduce in data interpretation. We conclude this Account with a discussion on how scientists can overcome this limitation in the future to create a new experimental platform that can be generally useful for both fundamental studies and analytical applications.


Purpose – Whilst the debate rages between progressive and destructive considerations of economic development, this paper aims to develop thinking around the sustainable event and its contribution to competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approach – The paper defines the sustainable event and considers different position that might be adopted by private and public sector organisations when addressing the triple bottom line of sustainable development.Findings – Cost leadership strategies are unlikely to work and the event organiser must address competitive advantage via differentiation and focus strategies.Practical implications – Event managers must gain a better understanding of the motivations of their audience in relation to sustainability and work towards clearer means to demonstrate that their event meets these sustainable development needs.Originality/value – The intention being that if event organisers can see a competitive advantage in the sustainable event, their contribution to sustainable deve...