This paper reports the results of a survey of young people with physical disabilities in Scotland and compares the results with the few other surveys of such groups. The survey investigates the barriers to inclusion facing the young people in their search for post-16 education, training and employment appropriate to their abilities and ambitions. Young people were either interviewed or they completed paper questionnaires about their transport, education and employment experiences and needs. Respondents were mostly still involved in some form of education or training. Very few had moved to employed status although many had ambitions to do so. Most seemed to have found their educational experiences positive, with the exception of careers guidance which seemed to be unambitious and even possibly ill-informed in some cases. Most had had work-experience of some form although for some young people in special schools the work placement was within the school. There were also cases of insufficient provision in the courses demanded by the young people, resulting in them missing opportunities at crucial stages. The paper will argue that low expectations from service providers and insufficient provision may be holding young disabled people back from appropriate education and employment opportunities, in contravention both of legal requirements and also of stated government policy to move towards full employment for all sectors of society. This research was part of a project supported by the Leonardo agency, to aid decision-making relevant to this group of the disabled community.


From the Proceedings of the 1990 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Association and the Hydrology Section - Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science - April 21, 1990, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona


In times of rising partisan polarization and increasing disenchantment with political elites, everyday political talk could constitute an important venue for citizen deliberation. Everyday political discussions offer ordinary people opportunities to strengthen deliberative skills, form considered preferences ,and hone political identities in relation to others. However, informal political discussions seldom follow the norms of formal deliberative fora, calling into question how often such everyday talk really enables democratic deliberation in the broader public. The answer is essential to assess the deliberative potential of everyday political talk and thus to understand its role in the deliberative system. Focusing on the democratic and deliberative standards of reason-giving, mutual respect, equality, and inclusion, we develop a multi-step model of democratic deliberation in everyday political talk, in which the potential for democratic deliberation depends on the presence of all four core standards. As individuals' propensity for democratic deliberation is likely to vary with their level of political involvement, both in terms of how much they care about politics and how strongly they identify with political groups, we consider both dimensions when modeling democratic deliberation in individuals' everyday political discussions. We test all steps of the model with data from a large panel survey tracing the informal political discussion networks of 18,079 German voters during the year leading up to the national elections in 2017. Our findings indicate that everyday political talk is more deliberative than expected, as the three core standards of democratic deliberation we can measure are largely upheld in people's political exchanges.


Several studies have demonstrated that methane production from hydrate-bearing porous media by means of depressurization-induced dissociation can be a promising technique. In this study, a 2D axisymmetric model for simulating the gas production from hydrates by depressurization is developed to investigate the gas production behavior with different depressurizing approaches. The simulation results showed that the depressurization process with depressurizing range has significant influence on the final gas production. On the contrary, the depressurizing rate only affects the production lifetime. More amount of cumulative gas can be produced with a larger depressurization range or lowering the depressurizing rate for a certain depressurizing range. Through the comparison of the combined depressurization modes, the Class 2 (all the hydrate dissociation simulations are performed by reducing the initial system pressure with the same depressurizing range initially, then to continue the depressurization process conducted by different depressurizing rates and complete when the system pressure decreases to the atmospheric pressure) is much superior to the Class 1 (different depressurizing ranges are adopted in the initial period of the gas production process, when the pressure is reduced to the corresponding value of depressurization process at the different depressurizing range, the simulations are conducted at a certain depressurizing rate until the pressure reaches the atmospheric pressure) for a long and stable gas production process. The parameter analysis indicated that the gas production performance decreases and the period of stable production increases with the initial pressure for the case of depressurizing range. Additionally, for the case of depressurizing range, the better gas production performance is associated with higher ambient temperature for production process, and the effect of thermal conductivity on gas production performance can be negligible. However, for the case of depressurizing rate, the ambient temperature or thermal conductivity is dominant in different period of gas production process.


Introduction: Evaluation of microscopic images of lymphatic nodes is time consuming and is usually based on assessment of images stained with multiple types of dyes. Materials and Methods: Herein, we propose a supportive method for segmentation of follicles, medulla and cortex in H+DAB-stained microscopic images of lymphatic nodes. The method is based on sampling of pixels intensities distribution in the RGB space of the original microscopic image and calculating the feature maps for further segmentation. All calculations are performed in MATLAB and results are compared to regions manually segmented by pathologist. Results: Based on 9 sample images of a lymphatic node, our algorithm achieved in average 0.96, 0.45 and 0.47 accuracy in localization of the follicles, cortex and the medulla, respectively. Conclusions: Our algorithm achieved good performance in segmentation of follicular regions and moderate performance in segmentation of cortex and medulla in the images of lymphatic node. Ongoing works are aimed to improve segmentation of cortical and medullar regions. These regions are difficult to distinguish without hematoxilinand eosin-stained images. Validation of our algorithm is planned on a larger data set. Key-Words: pixels intensity distribution, RGB space, segmentation, lymph nodes, biopsy


Pharmacokinetic variability is an important consideration in pharmacotherapy to ensure safety and efficacy of medications, thus the understanding of the sources of variability in drug concentrations in the body is imperative. The goals of this dissertation were: (1) To use in vitro drug metabolism tools to characterize the influence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on Cytochrome P450 2B6 (CYP2B6)-mediated hydroxylation of bupropion in human liver microsomes; and (2) To use population pharmacokinetics to characterize the pharmacokinetics of PF5190457, an inverse agonist of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (hGHSR1a). This work has been organized in two parts. Part one is made up of manuscripts I-III; and addresses the first objective. Part two, on the other hand, is made up of manuscript IV, and addresses the second objective. The manuscripts are briefly described below: Manuscript I: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a spectrum of liver disorders. It is defined by the presence of steatosis in more than 5 % of hepatocytes with little or no alcohol consumption. The physiological and biochemical changes associated with NAFLD may result in altered expression and activity of drug metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) or transporters. Existing evidence suggests that the effect of NAFLD on CYP3A4, CYP2E1 and MRP3 are more consistent across rodent and human studies. CYP3A4 activity is down-regulated in NASH whereas the activity of CYP2E1 and the efflux transporter MRP3 are up-regulated. However, it is not clear how the majority of CYPs, UGTs, SULTs and transporters are influenced by NAFLD either in vivo or in vitro. The alterations associated with NAFLD could be a potential source of drug variability in patients and could have serious implications for the safety and efficacy of xenobiotics. In the first manuscript, we reviewed the effects of NAFLD on the regulation, expression and activity of major drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters. We also discussed the potential mechanisms underlying these alterations. Manuscript II: Diabetes is strongly associated with NAFLD. However, tools for predicting the diabetic status of human liver tissues (HLTs) is lacking. Manuscript II was aimed to establish a model-based approach for predicting the diabetic status of donors of HLTs. The liver tissue as well as demographic and anthropometric information were supplied by Xenotech LLC. Histopathological examination was conducted to characterize NAFLD lesions. HLTs were homogenized and levels of feeding-related hepatic neuroendocrine peptides (active amylin, insulin, c-peptide, glucagon, ghrelin, active GLP-1, GIP, PP, PYY, leptin and MCP-1) determined. The association between diabetes, and these covariates was modeled using multiple logistic regression. The statistically validated model was used to predict new diabetic classes of HLTs. A multiple logistic regression model adequately described the association between diabetes, NAFLD lesions and the neuroendocrine peptides. Liver weight, cpeptide, leptin, PYY, Amylin (active) and steatosis were significant predictors of diabetes. The final model had an AROC curve of 0.89, accuracy of 80%, sensitivity of 82.4% and specificity of 77%. The new diabetic classes showed that hepatic GLP-1 (active) level was 1.4 higher in non-diabetic livers compared to diabetic ones. In addition, the logistic regression model can be used as a tool to verify the diabetic status of HLTs which are used for drug metabolism studies. Manuscript III: Despite the initial belief that Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2B6 is of minor significance, it is now recognized as a clinically relevant drug metabolizing enzyme. The impact of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on drug metabolism has been identified; however, it is still unclear how it influences CYP2B6. We used in vitro approaches in human liver microsomes (HLM) and HepaRG cells to investigate the effect of NAFLD on CYP2B6-mediated formation of hydroxybupropion. The presence of NAFLD increased the km significantly (p < 0.04) and reduced CYP2B6 intrinsic clearance by 2-fold. The results from the HepaRG cells qualitatively recapitulated findings in the HLMs. Fatty acid accumulation in hepatocytes seems to be involved with the alteration. This investigation contributes to our current knowledge on the influence of NAFLD on CYP2B6 in vitro kinetics and offers a basis for clinical trial in this patient population. Manuscript IV: PF-5190457 is an inverse agonist of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (hGHS-R1a), that is undergoing clinical trial for treatment of alcohol use disorder. The purpose of this study was to describe the population pharmacokinetics (PK) of PF-5190457 and to identify demographic and biochemical characteristics that influence its PK variability. Data on drug dosage, sampling times and plasma concentrations were collected retrospectively from two studies: Phase 1a and Phase 1b. Thirty five (35) healthy volunteers were enrolled in the Phase 1a, and 12 non-treatment seeking alcoholic subjects in the Phase 1b trial. The log-transformed concentration and time points were modeled in NONMEM. The influence of patients' demographic and biochemical characteristics were evaluated; and the accuracy and precision of the model parameters determined using bootstrapping. The predictive performance of the final model was checked using percentile visual predictive checks. The pharmacokinetics of PF-5190457 was best described by a one-compartmental model with first order absorption after oral administration. The estimated typical pharmacokinetic parameters included the absorption rate constant (ka, 3.6 h), oral clearance (CL/F, 80 Lh) and apparent volume of distribution (V/F, 575 L). Inclusion of body weight and serum albumin as covariates on V/F reduced the interindividual variability (IIV) associated with V/F by ~28%. Increasing body weight increased V/F, whereas increasing serum albumin levels reduced it. We anticipate that this model would serve as a guide in designing dosage regimen for future clinical trials with PF5190457. Conclusion. This work demonstrates that in vitro drug metabolism in human liver microsome has the potential to explain the effect of NAFLD on CYP2B6-mediated hydroxybupropion formation. Similarly, population pharmacokinetic modeling in NONMEM has the capability to elucidate the influence of body weight and serum albumin on the pharmacokinetics of PF-5190457.


This paper presents results of searches for the electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in models with compressed mass spectra. The searches use 139 fb − 1 of ffiffiffi s p ¼ 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with missing transverse momentum and two same-flavor, oppositely charged, low-transverse-momentum leptons are selected, and are further categorized by the presence of hadronic activity from initial-state radiation or a topology compatible with vector-boson fusion processes. The data are found to be consistent with predictions from the Standard Model. The results are interpreted using simplified models of R -parity-conserving supersymmetry in which the lightest supersymmetric partner is a neutralino with a mass similar to the lightest chargino, the second-to-lightest neutralino, or the slepton. Lower limits on the masses of charginos in different simplified models range from 193 to 240 GeV for moderate mass splittings, and extend down to mass splittings of 1.5 to 2.4 GeV at the LEP chargino bounds (92.4 GeV). Similar lower limits on degenerate light-flavor sleptons extend up to masses of 251 GeVand down to mass splittings of 550 MeV. Constraints on vector-boson fusion production of electroweak SUSY states are also presented.


The employment rate of older workers in Belgium is low, compared to other European countries. For some years now, international organizations have been concerned about the viability of pension systems and their ability to achieve their objectives. In Belgium, as in the European Union, the government introduced (at the beginning of 2000) a series of measures aimed at encouraging older people to remain in or to re-enter the labour market.The aim of this paper is to show how transformations of public policy as regards retirement are contrary to both individuals' aspirations and changing professional constraints. The low employment rate of older workers is explained by public policy initiatives of the State at a given time and by the situation of individuals. Early retirement from the labour market is analysed using data from a more micro-sociological perspective, that is, either a desire to leave professional life to pursue other aspirations or other projects outside the professional sphere, or because of deteriorating working conditions in their professional life.This paper clearly shows how reducing working time at the end of a career can be an interesting alternative to the policies that are currently in force.


This article describes a robust approach to measure monomer reactivity ratios from surface-initiated copolymerization, by measuring composition of statistical copolymer brush surfaces using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Statistical copolymer brushes were prepared from various monomer feeds by surface-initiated radical copolymerization at room temperature under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The copolymer brush composition data were fit to the terminal copolymerization kinetic model resulting in point estimates for the monomer reactivity ratios that are in good agreement with values measured under bulk reaction conditions. Additionally, a high-throughput approach was demonstrated to measure reactivity ratios using a single substrate exhibiting a gradient in copolymer brush composition. This high-throughput approach significantly reduces the time and effort required to generate reliable and reproducible point estimates of reactivity ratios, and these values are in good agreement with values obtained from both the discrete sample surface measurements and classical bulk analytical methods.


This paper reexamines the empirical basis for two "facts" that seem to be found in most cross-section studies of immigrant earnings: (1) the earnings of immigrants grow rapidly as they assimilate into the United States; and (2) this rapid growth leads to many immigrants' overtaking the earnings of the natives within 10-15 years after immigration. Using the 1970 and 1980 U.S. censuses, this paper studies the earnings growth experienced by specific immigrant cohorts during the period 1970-80. It is found that within-cohort growth is significantly smaller than the growth predicted by cross-section regressions for most immigrant groups. This differential is consistent with the hypothesis that there has been a secular decline in the "quality" of immigrants admitted to the United States.


Background: Coronary heart disease is a major contributor to women's health problems. Design: Self-perceived social support, well-being and health-related quality of life (HRQL) were documented in the cross-sectional HeartQoL survey of European women one and six months after a myocardial infarction. Methods: European women were recruited in 18 European countries and grouped into four geographical regions (Southern Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe and Eastern Europe). Continuous socio-demographic variables and categorical variables were compared by age and region with ANOVA and χ2, respectively; multiple regression models were used to identify predictors of social support, well-being and HRQL. Results: Women living in the Eastern European region rated social support, well-being and HRQL significantly lower than women in the other regions. Older women had lower physical HRQL scores than younger women. Eastern European women rated social support, well-being and HRQL significantly lower than women in the other regions. Prediction of the dependent variables (social support, well-being and HRQL) by socio-demographic factors varied by total group, in the older age group, and by region; body mass index and managerial responsibility were the most consistent significant predictors.


Adequate physical facilities such as furniture and lighting systems are essential for any meaningful academic work to be achieved in a university library. This paper assesses the adequacy and level of physical facilities in federal university libraries in Nigeria to determine the extent to which they affect undergraduate students' use of the university libraries. The study population was 1,453 undergraduates from across Arts, Education, Engineeing, Law, Science, and Social Science faculties in the selected universities and the survey research method was used for the study. The main instrument used for the data collection was a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage tabulation were used in analyzing the data. Results revealed that the reading chairs and tables in Nigerian university libraries are comfortable for reading purposes, though, they are inadequate in number. The result equally revealed that the lighting systems of the university libraries are not bright enough for reading. To enhance the use of the university libraries by the undergraduate students, majority of the respondents indicated the need to improve the number of the reading chairs and tables available in Nigerian university libraries as well as provision of bright lighting systems in the university libraries.


Nitrogen element is preponderant in Nature. Found in its simplest form as diatomic gas in the air, as well as in elaborated molecules such as the double helix of DNA, this element is indisputably essential for life. Indeed, nitrogen is omnipresent in all metabolic pathways.
With the advent of green chemistry, researchers attempt to functionalize arenes without pre-functionalization of the later for the establishment of C-C bond formation. Why not C-N bond formation?
We investigated new oxidative amination reactions by cross-dehydrogenative-coupling. Concerned by atom economy and green processes, our objectives were: 1) to obviate pre-activation or pre-oxidation of both C-H coupling partner and N-aminating agent. 2) to avoid the use of chelating directing group.
We achieved C-N bond formation for some classes of amines. Thus, we will describe the reactivity of cyclic secondary amines: carbazole, in presence of catalytic amount of ruthenium (II) and copper (II) to build the challenging C-N bond between two carbazoles. The initial mechanistic experiments will be present and discuss.
Then, we will describe more challenging hetero-coupling formation between diarylamines and carbazoles. The new ruthenium (II)/ copper (II) catalytic system allowed forming the ortho-N-carbazolation of diarylamines. This reaction performed under mild conditions (O2 as terminal oxidant) displays an unusual intramolecular N-H••N interaction in the novel class of compounds.
Finally, we will present a surprising metal free C-N bond formation between the ubiquitous phenols and the phenothiazines. Initially conducted in the presence of transition metals (RuII/CuII), this reaction proved to be efficient with the only effect of cumene and O2. Those components suggest a mechanism initiated by a Hock process. An initial infra-red analysis might point out a strong intramolecular O-H••N interaction in the resulting products.
These first elements of reactivity, developed within the laboratory for "modern dehydrogenative amination reactions", will be presented and discussed.


A 6-year-old desexed female German Shepherd dog was referred to the Murdoch University Veterinary Hospital for assessment and management of acute onset vomiting, diarrhoea, polydipsia and lethargy of 2 days duration. Surgical, microbiological and histological findings were consistent with necrotising cholecystitis secondary to gall bladder torsion, resulting in gall bladder rupture and secondary non-septic bile peritonitis. A chronic peritoneopleural perforation resulting from an abdominal cavity foreign body and congenital peritoneopericardial hernia were also present. The dog made a full recovery following cholecystectomy, foreign body removal, repair of the peritoneopleural perforation and peritoneopericardial herniorrhaphy. This is the first recorded case of gall bladder torsion in the dog.


Some commentators charge that the federal Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) spurred the mortgage crisis and the financial fallout that has followed. Born out of the Civil Rights Movement, Congress adopted the CRA at a time when many low- and moderate-income communities, often communities of color, were denied basic banking services such as home lending and small business investment. Advocates argued that when the federal government guaranteed bank deposits through federal deposit insurance, it created a social compact that served as a justification for expecting that institutions accepting such insurance should have to meet the needs of the communities making those deposits. Federal deposit insurance made bank customers confident in their bank's holdings, which in turn made the business of banking - lending - possible and became a justification for the adoption of the CRA. In the thirty years since the CRA's adoption, the banking industry has been transformed. Banks are global in their reach and their outlook. Banks, in all of their forms, are no longer brick-and-mortar institutions on Main Street that take deposits from the grocer and lend to the baker. The CRA, which Congress designed to ensure that banks would meet the credit needs of the low- and moderate-income communities from which those banks take their deposits proved a weak bulwark against the subprime mortgage crisis; unsafe and unsound lending practices carried out by mortgage companies (i.e., entities not covered by the CRA because they are not depository institutions) have decimated the same communities that the CRA was supposed to protect. The argument that the CRA is to blame for the financial crisis is hard to reconcile under any reading of the statute's terms and after any assessment of the CRA's true reach. As this article explains, the CRA was not too strong, but rather too weak. Designed to fight the last war, the CRA became the financial equivalent of the Maginot Line: easily circumvented, lightly defended, and quickly overrun. An appreciation for the true causes of the financial crisis, together with the fact that the federal government has expended billions to bail out the financial industry, offer strong justifications for expanding the reach of the CRA to cover all financial institutions, not just those that take deposits. This Article begins with a brief overview of the subprime mortgage crisis and its impacts. Following this overview, it outlines the legislative history and structure of the CRA as well as the enforcement mechanisms Congress adopted to carry out the CRA's core purpose. Next is an assessment of whether the manner in which the Act was enforced may have contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis followed by an examination of the failure of the courts to serve as a check on weak regulatory enforcement of the CRA. It concludes with the development of a series of principles to inform efforts to modernize the CRA to bring it in line with the nature of banking in the twenty-first century. While such CRA modernization might not correct the worst abuses of the subprime mortgage market from the past, it might help to avoid similar crises in the future.


The 56 Moz Ladolam gold deposit, with an average gold grade of 2.42 g/t, has previously
been recognised as the world's largest known epithermal gold deposit. It is located on
Lihir Island, in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea, and is part of the Tabar-
Lihir-Tanga-Feni chain of Pleistocene alkalic volcanoes. Alkalic magmatism occurred in
an extensional tectonic regime, in a location where initial arc magmatism was related to
subduction with the Manus-Kilimailau trench, but was later reactivated as a back arc due
to the subduction of the Solomon Sea plate along the New Britain trench. Lihir island is
made up of at least five volcanic blocks, and is surrounded by an uplifted Quaternary
limestone reef. The Ladolam gold deposit is located on the eastern side of the island, in the
Luise volcanic edifice. Mineralisation is localised along north-dipping structural zones.
There are two large ore zones (Minifie and Lienetz) and several smaller (Kapit, Coastal,
Pacific and Borefields) in a 3 km2 surface area.
The Kapit ore body is hosted by diverse volcano-sedimentary and hydrothermal
facies. The coherent facies include basalt, diorite and andesite. The volcaniclastic facies
comprises two types of polymict matrix-supported breccia. Hydrothermal breccia facies
include anhydrite-carbonate-quartz-cemented breccia and pyrite-cemented breccia.
The Kapit ore zone is characterised by five different paragenetic stages. Porphyrystyle
stage 1 features were not observed at Kapit, but are preserved at Lienetz and Minifie.
Stage 2 anhydrite-cemented breccias and veins at Kapit are associated with porphyrystyle
biotite-K-feldspar-magnetite potassic alteration. Stage 3A pyrite-cemented breccia,
stage 3B quartz-chalcedony-pyrite-cemented breccias and veins, and stage 3C carbonateanhydrite-
quartz-cemented breccias and veins are all associated with phyllic alteration. In
contrast, stage 4 disseminated pyrite and pyrite veinlets are associated with intermediate
argillic to advanced argillic alteration assemblages.
Gold at Kapit, and elsewhere at Ladolam, is contained in refractory pyrite and
marcasite. The different types of pyrite and marcasite identified from the Kapit, Lienetz
and Minifie ore zones are acicular, banded, colloform, euhedral, framboidal and anhedral.
LA-ICPMS analyses have revealed that the colloform, framboidal, anhedral ± acicular
marcasite-pyrite grains have the highest contents of gold and other trace elements. Paragenetically, highest gold contents in Fe-sulfides occur in stage 3A (Lienetz), 3B (Kapit)
and 3C (Minifie) quartz-chalcedony-pyrite-cemented breccias and veins, stage 3A (Kapit)
and stage 3B (Minifie) pyrite-cemented breccias, stage 2B (Lienetz) quartz-anhydritebarite-
cemented breccias, and stage 4 (Kapit) disseminated pyrite and pyrite veinlets. At
the deposit scale, Au in pyrite is positively correlated with Ag, As, Sb, Cu, Se, Pb, and Tl.
Analyses of fluid inclusions, coupled with observed mineralisation and alteration
mineral assemblages from stage 2 (Kapit and Lienetz), show that mineralising fluids were
relatively hot (>250°C), saline (4-6 wt% NaCl eq. in average) and had near-neutral pH. In
contrast, the mineralising fluids from stage 3 (Kapit, Lienetz and Minifie) were significantly
cooler (150-250°C), more dilute (1-4 wt% NaCl eq. in average), and acidic. Trends in fluid
inclusion data are interpreted to be the result of mixing between magmatic-hydrothermal
fluids (5-10 wt% NaCl eq., >350°C) and steam–heated seawater (~3.2 wt% NaCl eq.,
150-200°C). Distinct increases of salinity suggests that adiabatic boiling occured during
mineralisation; most likely during multiple phases of hydrothermal brecciation. Gold is
likely to have been transported as a hydrosulfide complex (e.g. Au(HS)₂¯) and boiling and/
or mixing destabilised the Au-hydrosulfide complex and triggered gold precipitation.
Gold contents in the mineralisisng fluids were up to 8 ppm, based on LA-ICPMS analyses,
much higher than detected in the modern geothermal waters (up to 16 ppb). The positive
correlation of Ag, Tl, As and Sb with Au in fluid inclusions imply that Ag, Tl, As and
Sb were transported as hydrosulfide complexes such as H₂As₃S₆¯, HSb₂S₄¯, AgHS(aq) and
TlHS(aq).
Ladolam is concluded to be a hybrid gold deposit that contains early porphyrystyle
alteration features, semi-massive pyritic ores hosted by hydrothermal breccias
that have affinities with shallow submarine VHMS-style gold mineralisation, late-stage
low sulfidation style epithermal veins and breccias and modern subaerial to submarine
geothermal features. The history of the Ladolam deposit, including the Kapit, Lienetz and
Minifie ore bodies is composed of a succession of catastrophic events triggering formation
of different mineralised breccias and veins in an environment that evolved from submarine
to subaerial after a major sector collapse event. Mineralising events can be separated
into two distinct phases, transitional porphyry-VHMS (pre-sector collapse) and VHMSepithermal
(post-sector collapse).


This teacher-research explores child-initiated literacy episodes within the literacy-learning
context of a particular Year One classroom. The aim of the case study was to
identify and explore the elements, effects and outcomes of the literacy-learning
context and the ensuing child-initiated literacy episodes that occurred. Data were
collected daily using qualitative data techniques and classroom experiences were
documented using observations, field notes, journalistic notes, written comments of
interactive sessions, samples of student work and a reflective journal.
Child-initiated literacy episodes occurred within scheduled literacy practices of the
classroom and arose from child interest in an environment of co-operation and
collaboration where literacies and learning embodied children's lives. The interactive
literacy episodes encompassed children's sharing and volunteering information as
they demonstrated understandings and literacies. The teacher-researcher
acknowledged literacies as social practice and considered construction of learning, coconstruction
of knowledge and interactive scaffolding as effective early childhood
pedagogy. The open-ended scheduled literacy practices built on the children's literate
identities as they called on lived experiences, immediate and global worlds in
everyday classroom life.
The research conclusions illustrated children as dynamic and powerful learners as
they initiated meaningful learning, made connections and demonstrated multiple ways
of knowing in building their literate identities and using everyday literacies. In
addition, the 'enabling' teacher established classroom conditions that were underpinned by core assumptions and key understandings about how young children
learned. Such classroom conditions enabled child-initiated literacy episodes to occur
within the rich literacy context and become sites of significant learning.


Social bees represent an important group of pollinating insects that can be exposed to potentially harmful pesticides when foraging on treated or contaminated flowering plants. To investigate if such exposure is detrimental to bees, many studies have exclusively fed individuals with pesticide-spiked food, informing us about the hazard but not necessarily the risk of exposure. While such studies are important to establish the physiological and behavioural effects on individuals, they do not consider the possibility that the risk of exposure may change over time. For example, many pesticide assays exclude potential behavioural adaptations to novel toxins, such as rejection of harmful compounds by choosing to feed on an uncontaminated food source, thus behaviourally lowering the risk of exposure. In this paper, we conducted an experiment over 10 days in which bumblebees could forage on an array of sucrose feeders containing 0, 2 and 11 parts per billion of the neonicotinoid pesticide thiamethoxam. This more closely mimics pesticide exposure in the wild by allowing foraging bees to (i) experience a field realistic range of pesticide concentrations across a chronic exposure period, (ii) have repeated interactions with the pesticide in their environment, and (iii) retain the social cues associated with foraging by using whole colonies. We found that the proportion of visits to pesticide-laced feeders increased over time, resulting in greater consumption of pesticide-laced sucrose relative to untreated sucrose. After changing the spatial position of each feeder, foragers continued to preferentially visit the pesticide-laced feeders which indicates that workers can detect thiamethoxam and alter their behaviour to continue feeding on it. The increasing preference for consuming the neonicotinoid-treated food therefore increases the risk of exposure for the colony during prolonged pesticide exposure. Our results highlight the need to incorporate attractiveness of pesticides to foraging bees (and potentially other insect pollinators) in addition to simply considering the proportion of pesticide-contaminated floral resources within the foraging landscape.


Polo-like Kinse 1 (PLK1) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that is expressed in dividing cells. It is a widely studied protein that plays an important role in regulating mitotic progression. PLK1 is over-expressed in several tumor types, and studies have shown that down-regulating PLK1 expression inhibits cancer cell proliferation, validating PLK1 as an oncotarget. Efforts to target this protein therapeutically has led to the development of several ATP-based inhibitors, although these are not exclusively specific. Because other PLK family members are tumor suppressors, it is important that PLK1 inhibitors selectively bind to PLK1 and not the other PLKs, particularly PLK3. Moreover, resistance is always a problem with single agent therapies. PLK1 is comprised of two structural domains, the N-terminus catalytic kinase domain, and the Cterminus polo-box domain (PBD). The PBD is a phospho-peptide binding motif that determines substrate recognition and sub-cellular localization. By targeting the PBD, we can develop selective PLK1 inhibitors to inhibit cancer cell proliferation. REPLACE (Replacement with Partial Ligand Alternatives for Computational Enrichment) uses the structure activity relationships of peptide binding fragments to generate pharmaceutically acceptable lead molecules. We began by replacing the N-terminus tripeptide sequence of known PLK1 substrates like Cdc25C (LLCSpTPNGL) with molecular fragment mimics. This generates partially peptidic compounds termed FLIPs (Fragment Ligated InhibitoryPeptides). FLIPs were analyzed by fluorescence polarization (FP) to determine PLK1 and PLK3 PBD binding. Our most promising FLIPs were analyzed in cellular assays. N-terminal FLIP SAR was also used to develop non-peptidic small molecules by carrying out a compound library search. This led to the development and characterization of more than 40 small molecules from a lead structure that was tested as part of a structure activity relationship program. In summary, the work described advances our understanding of the binding determinants for the PBD of PLK1 and produced lead molecules worthy of further exploration in their ability to target PLK1 in cancer.


These zoom sessions will focus on training postgraduates and undergraduates in the use of library resources as well as referencing and Endnote.


In this study, cluster analysis is applied to the daily averaged wind fields and sea-level pressure observed at surface weather stations in Taiwan from January 2013 to March 2018 to classify the synoptic weather patterns and study the characteristics of corresponding air pollutants, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), coarse particulate matter (PM10), and ozone (O3). The classification identified six weather types: Clusters 1, 2, and 3 (C1–C3), which are typical winter weather types and associated with high air pollutant concentrations—C3, in particular, influenced by weak synoptic weather, is associated with the lowest wind speeds and the highest PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations and represents the most prevalent weather type that is prone to the occurrence of PM2.5 events; C4, which occurs mostly during seasonal transition months and is associated with the highest O3 concentrations; and C5 and C6, which are summer weather types with low air pollutant concentrations.
Further analysis of the local wind flow using the 0.3° ERA5 reanalysis dataset and surface-observed wind data indicates that in western Taiwan, the land-sea breeze is embedded within the synoptic weather type of C3, which is favorable to air pollutant accumulation. However, when the prevailing northeasterly wind is obstructed by the Central Mountain Range, southwestern Taiwan, being situated on the leeside of the mountains, often exhibits the worst air pollution due to stagnant wind conditions.


Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is rooted in patriarchal and traditional cultures as a communal experience signifying a transition from girlhood to womanhood. This is an integral part of the society where patriarchy still exists. However, the conversations surrounding FGM/C have been complicated by the involvement of women themselves in perpetuating the practice. This article is based on the most consistent findings of the study in Iran, where DHS Data on the attitudes of men and women towards FGM have been collected from four provinces. Of the four provinces for which DHS data are available on women's opinions toward excision, West Azerbaijan is the only one in which the majority favours discontinuation. A variety of justifications are given by DHS respondents who favor continuation of the practice, including preservation of virginity before marriage, fidelity after marriage, enhancement of the husband's sexual pleasure, enhancement of fertility, prevention of infant and child mortality, cleanliness and religious requirements, but tradition is by far the most commonly mentioned reason. Findings of the study revealed that the practice is usually performed by older women under the supervision of the mother/grandmothers of girls who believe that the procedure will increase women's attractiveness and marriageability. Practicing women are themselves products of a patriarchal society who perform FGM/C on younger girls to achieve a cultural standard expected of women in such communities. The study then explored the reasons that why despite so much pain women are the keeper of the practice in Iran. Methodological approach adopted by this study was primarily participatory due to the sensitivity of the subject matter. The findings demonstrate that FGM in some selected villages is widespread among women and girls (around 60% in some villages of Qeshm Island in Southern province of Hurmozgan, especially in the villages of the four provinces in the northwest, west, and south of Iran. Within these provinces, however, FGM was not practiced in the northern parts of West Azerbaijan, where people are Turkish Azri and Kurmanji Kurdish speakers, nor in the Southern parts of Kermanshah and Northern parts of Hormozgan. This research study has gained global recognition and has been inaugurated by the Guardian and BBC by June 4th, 2015 through their websites. Soon after its inauguration, the aforementioned study got the United Nations (UN) platform to be discussed among the Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 19th, 2015 at a session on eliminating FGM/C by Kameel Ahmady In addition to that, Reuters also published the analysis of the research and considered it one of the rare contributions in the history


Component 1 of this study analyses the policy processes which lead to the formulation and implementation of national REDD+ strategies. The study is currently underway in 9 countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Nepal, Peru, Tanzania and Vietnam), and partial analysis is being undertaken in 3 additional countries (Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Papua New Guinea).


Abstract Scholarly research into the uses of social media has become a major area of growth in recent years, as the adoption of social media for public communication itself has continued apace. While social media platforms provide ready avenues for data access through their Application Programming interfaces, it is increasingly important to think through exactly what these data represent, and what conclusions about the role of social media in society the research which is based on such data therefore enables. This article explores these issues especially for one of the currently leading social media platforms: Twitter.


Making highly efficient photoelectrodes for a photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting reaction is vitally important for bringing solar/electrical-to-hydrogen energy conversion processes into reality. Active and stable catalysts in the photoelectrode are the key component in PEC devices. Although most hydrogen evolution catalysts exhibit excellent performance in acid solutions, earth abundant oxygen evolution catalysts are generally unstable. Therefore, the elaborate design of highly active and stable photocathodes possessing great onset potential in non-acid environments is imperative. Here, we report that magnetron sputtering and electrochemical-deposition preparation methods are compatible with photo-absorbers for depositing titanium (Ti)/cobalt–sulfide (Co–S) catalyst on amorphous silicon/amorphous silicon (a-Si/a-Si) tandem solar cells, realizing a stable, low-cost, and efficient photocathode for water splitting in non-acid solutions. This photocathode exhibits a high photocurrent onset potential of 1.78 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in alkaline and neutral electrolyte, with a photocurrent of 6.34 mA cm−2 at 0 V vs. RHE. The facile preparation of this highly active a-Si/a-Si/Ti/Co–S photocathode paves the way to integrate them into various oxygen evolution catalysts to develop highly efficient, low-cost, and monolithic PEC solar water splitting devices.


This work proposes methodologies aimed at evaluating the damage occurred in the Amatrice town by using optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) change features obtained from satellite images. The objective is to achieve a damage map employing the satellite change features in a classifier algorithm, namely the Features Stepwise Thresholding (FST) method. The main novelties of the proposed analysis concern the estimation of derived features at object scale and the exploitation of the unsupervised FST algorithm. A segmentation of the study area into several buildings blocks has been done by considering a set of polygons, over the Amatrice town, extracted from the open source Open Street Map (OSM) geo-database. The available satellite dataset is composed of several optical and SAR images, collected before and after the seismic event. Regarding the optical data, we selected the Normalised Difference Index (NDI), and two quantities coming from the Information Theory, namely the Kullback-Libler Divergence (KLD) and the Mutual Information (MI). In addition, for the SAR data we picked out the Intensity Correlation Difference (ICD) and the KLD parameter. The exploitation of these features in the FST algorithm permits to obtain a plausible damage map that is able to indicate the most affected areas.


Growing evidence indicates that women with a history of common pregnancy complications, including fetal growth restriction and preterm delivery (often combined as low birth weight), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and gestational diabetes, are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease later in life. The purpose of this paper was to review the associations of parity and these 4 pregnancy complications with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality; to review the role of cardiovascular risk factors before, during, and after pregnancy complications in explaining these associations; and to explore the implications of this emerging science for new research and policy. We systematically searched for relevant cohort and case-control studies in Medline through December 2012 and used citation searches for already published reviews to identify new studies. The findings of this review suggest consistent and often strong associations of pregnancy complications with latent and future cardiovascular disease. Many pregnancy complications appear to be preceded by subclinical vascular and metabolic dysfunction, suggesting that the complications may be useful markers of latent high-risk cardiovascular trajectories. With further replication research, these findings would support the utility of these prevalent pregnancy complications in identifying high-risk women for screening, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women.


In 2006 a group of women decided to launch the "I Heart Brooklyn Girls" calendar, a celebration of queer femininity. Their initial concept—twelve months, twelve decades of pinup—gave way to a focus on 1950s pulp aesthetic in later calendars, but the link between Brooklyn and femme agency remains consistent. Yet the ways in which time, place, gender, and race meet are not straightforward. Through the various iterations of the calendar, we can see that these contemporary performances of femme-ness are part of a particular affective attachment to the 1950s. This essay interrogates this conglomeration of femme visibility, historical play, the politics of location, and the invisibility of racial difference that these historical fantasies produce.


What the psychologists study is mind, not consciousness exclusively. Their mistake upon this point has had a singularly disastrous result, because consciousness is a very simple thing. Only take care not to make the blunder of supposing that Self-consciousness is meant, and it will be seen that consciousness is nothing but Feeling, in general, – not feeling in the German sense, but more generally, the immediate element of experience generalized to its utmost.


[ANGLES] The objective of this Master Thesis was to develop algorithms for B waves detection in ICP. This goal was approached by two different methods that depend basically in the resolution of the acquired ICP. Then, both methods were adapted to work in an ultra-low power microcontroller. The first method works using ICP recorded at 1 Hz and it is based on the Lundberg's definition of B wave. A plus of this algorithm is that reduces to the minimum the number of samples per block to classify. The results obtained after testing it using long records of ICP from 27 patients were an accuracy of 89,59%, a specificity 89,71% and a sensitivity of 89,16%. These results did not change when the code was adapted to the microcontroller. The second method requires ICP obtained with a sampling rate of 100 Hz. It is based on the morphology of the pulse waves present in the ICP and caused by the change of blood volume inside the skull with every heartbeat. A total of 1430 blocks of ICP (864 for lack of B wave and 566 for presence of B wave), everyone with duration of 41 seconds, were used to extract 21 features from each one. Then a MLP classifier and a SVM classifier were tested and compared. The best results were obtained by the SVM classifier, reaching an accuracy of 86,37%, a specificity of 88,09% and a sensitivity of 83,74% when all features were used. After adapting the algorithm to the microcontroller the results were nearly the same.


Background: Nursing is one of the professions which require constantly being involved with people. Based on the negative work conditions, job satisfaction of the nurses may decrease and their burnout levels may increase in the long term. Objective: This study was conducted with the aim of identifying the burnout and job satisfaction levels of the beginner nurses. Methods: The sample of the research comprised nurses who newly started working at a university hospital in Istanbul (n=218). Nurse information form, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire were used for the research. Results: It was identified that 91.28% of the nurses were women, burnout level of the nurses was low and job satisfaction level was high. A statistically significant positive relationship was present between the burnout and job satisfaction levels (p<0.05). Conclusions: It was detected that the beginner nurses who were satisfied with the unit they were working at had a low level of emotional burnout and high level of job satisfaction. It was also identified that nurses who willingly chose the unit of work to have high levels of job satisfaction. Providing well-planned orientation training could be helpful for the beginner nurses to adjust and to embrace the work environment.


The ideology of independence lies at the very core of the marketing agenda. For the free market to operate as a legitimate means of social organization, the right to be independent and to be free to enact ostensibly independent choices is to all intents and purposes sacred. Independence is an especially critical concept for marketing academics and practitioners to understand given the need to reconcile consumer demand for a sense of individuality, freedom and self, with an organization's need to commodify consumption activities in order to realize market growth. This paper examines the ways in which a sense of independence is successfully offered to consumers within paradoxically mass-market communications. The study investigates what it means to be an independent traveller by implementing a critical discourse analysis of alternative guidebooks. Findings suggest that guidebooks construct independence by reifying inaccessibility, interpreting value, and constructing inauthenticity for consumers. This promulgates a powerful myth of the independent traveller as someone who defies inaccessibility, hunts for bargains, and avoids inauthenticity. Crucially, each of these cultural practices also acts to engender an implicit relation of dependency between the text and the tourist that is found to contradict, but ultimately not threaten, the whole notion of independence that the consumption experience itself is predicated on.


Entrepreneurs invest a large share of their financial wealth in a single business that they personally manage. Despite the large risk implied by this undiversified investment they do not seem to require any extra return on a diversified public equity index. In light of the large public equity premium, this fact poses a new asset pricing puzzle. In the present paper, I use a quantitative model to explore the issue and find that the choice to become entrepreneur can be rationalized even with a negative private equity premium when the full return on entrepreneurial investment is properly accounted for. The key assumption is that the quality of a business project is not precisely known upon entry and is learned over time. As long as it is possible to switch back to paid-employment, it is worth experimenting with entrepreneurship to find out if the project is good even if initially the expected return is low.


In many cases, the numerical resolution of Maxwell's equations is very expensive in terms of computational cost. The Darwin model, an approximation of Maxwell's equations obtained by neglecting the divergence free part of the displacement current, can be used to compute the solution more economically. However, this model requires the electric field to be decomposed into two parts for which no straightforward boundary conditions can be derived. In this paper, we consider the case of a computational domain which is not simply connected. With the help of a functional framework, a decomposition of the fields is derived. It is then used to characterize mathematically the solutions of the Darwin model on such a domain.


This chapter examines the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Optional Protocol was adopted along with the CRPD on 13 December 2006 by the United Nations General Assembly, and entered into force on 3 May 2008. The Optional Protocol establishes the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities to examine individual complaints with regard to alleged violations of the Convention by states parties to the Optional Protocol, and to undertake inquiries in case of reliable evidence of grave and systematic violations of the Convention. To date, among 175 parties to the Convention, ninety-two states have ratified the Optional Protocol.


The stabilisation of GHG atmospheric concentrations at levels expected to prevent dangerous climate change has become an important, global, long-term objective. It is therefore crucial to identify a cost-effective way to achieve this objective. In this paper we use WITCH, a hybrid climate-energy-economy model, to obtain a quantitative assessment of some cost-effective strategies that stabilise CO2 concentrations at 550 or 450 ppm. In particular, this paper analyses the energy investment and R&D policies that optimally achieve these two GHG stabilisation targets (i.e. the future optimal energy mix consistent with the stabilisation of GHG atmospheric concentrations at 550 and 450 ppm). Given that the model accounts for interdependencies and spillovers across 12 regions of the world, optimal strategies are the outcome of a dynamic game through which inefficiency costs induced by global strategic interactions can be assessed. Therefore, our results are somehow different from previous analyses of GHG stabilisation policies where a central planner or a single global economy are usually assumed. In particular, the effects of free-riding incentives in reducing emissions and in investing in R&D are taken into account. Technical change being endogenous in WITCH, this paper also provides an assessment of the implications of technological evolution in the energy sector of different stabilisation scenarios. Finally, this paper quantifies the net costs of stabilising GHG concentrations at different levels, for different allocations of permits and for different technological scenarios. In each case, the optimal long-term investment strategies for all available energy technologies are determined. The case of an unknown backstop energy technology is also analysed.


The modern law of substantive due process provides disparate treatment to certain "personal" rights, on the one hand, and so-called "economic rights," on the other. Thus, laws that interfere with "liberty of contract" or regulate the use of property without destroying its value pass constitutional muster if a court can hypothesize a "rational basis" for the enactment. By contrast, courts subject laws burdening certain personal liberties, including the so-called right of privacy, to more intensive scrutiny and such provisions rarely survive judicial review. The most complete judicial explanation for this disparate treatment of economic and other rights can be found in two opinions — one a plurality opinion and one a concurrence — authored or co-authored by Justice Souter: Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Washington v. Glucksberg. Taken together, these opinions mount a comprehensive "original meaning" defense of the enterprise of substantive due process, while at the same time insisting that decisions such as Lochner v. New York and Adkins v. Childrens' Hospital, each of which accorded significant protection to liberty of contract, were incorrect and, in addition, properly overruled. According to the Justice, "substantive due process" has a long historical pedigree, and the duty of judicial review articulated in Marbury v. Madison requires judges to employ the due process clauses to protect certain fundamental liberties. Ironically, in his Glucksberg concurrence, Justice Souter invoked decisions and scholarly commentary from the 19th and early 20th century recognizing economic liberties to help build his case that substantive due process has a deeply rooted historical pedigree. This article evaluates Justice Souter's effort to justify the bifurcation between economic and other rights in the due process context. Both Casey and Glucksberg, it is shown, suggest or adumbrate several bases for "translating" the principles purportedly contained in the Due Process Clauses and enforced during the Lochner era, in light of changed economic circumstances. These changes, it is said, undermine the rationale for protecting economic liberties and supposedly required the Court to overrule the numerous and deeply-rooted decisions that did protect such liberties. Various constitutional scholars have offered similar translation-based justifications for abandoning meaningful protection for economic liberty in the due process context. None of the translations offered or hinted at by Justice Souter withstands scrutiny. For instance, Justice Souter and others have argued or adumbrated the claim that protection for economic liberties somehow brought on or exacerbated the Great Depression, and that abridgment of economic liberties was necessary to counter-act the Depression and stabilize the national economy. This claim has no basis in macroeconomic theory, which if anything suggests that many New Deal-era abridgments of contractual liberty, including the National Industrial Recovery Act, actually interfered with the process of normal economic adjustment, stultified economic expansion and thereby prolonged the Depression. Moreover, contrary to the Justice's suggestion, no changed circumstances established that decisions protecting economic liberty somehow prevented states and the national government from assuring "minimal levels of human welfare." Real wages rose during the Lochner era, thereby increasing human welfare. In addition, no aspect of the Court's economic liberty jurisprudence prevented states and/or the national government from enhancing human welfare by means of redistributive taxation and spending. Furthermore, no "changed circumstance" suggested that employers were the sole beneficiaries of their employees' labor or uniquely responsible for employees' economic plight. Thus, no "new facts" justified repudiation of Adkins, for instance, which rested upon the purely normative judgment that minimum wage regulation was an invalid means of redistributing income between employers and employees, given the alternative of taxpayer-funded social programs. Finally, the apparent suggestion by Justice Souter and others that the presence of unequal bargaining power somehow justified wholesale repudiation of economic liberty cannot be taken seriously. Even if some industries are characterized by such unequal bargaining power, many, like the baking industry in Lochner, are not, and the presence of unequal bargaining power in some industries cannot justify trumping economic liberty in those industries that are highly competitive. In any event, none of Justice Souter's suggested translations, either alone or taken together, even purports to justify the wholesale repudiation of economic liberty. Instead, each such translation merely purports to justify the reversal of decisions protecting liberty of contract from state or federal abridgment. None purports to justify the failure to protect other forms of economic liberty, particularly the liberty to pursue one's occupation without harming others. Thus, decisions such as United States v. Carolene Products, that sustained statutes banning entire harmless industries without justification, cannot be justified as "translations" of earlier decisions, such as New State Ice Company v. Liebmann, that provided robust protection for occupational liberty. Justice Souter and other proponents of "translation" have thus failed to offer a convincing rationale for their repudiation of the sort of economic liberties protected under the aegis of the due process clause during the Lochner era. Absent some new explanation for this repudiation, the failure to protect economic liberties calls into question the assertion by Justice Souter and others that the disparate treatment of economic and other rights can be explained as a faithful application of the original meaning of the Due Process Clause.


In the present investigation, leaf ethanolic extracts of Vitis vinifera were assayed for their polyphenolic composition and antioxidative properties. The leaves were collected during lush vegetation period (May leaves) and after the harvest (September leaves). Air dried plant material was homogenized and the polyphenolic constituents were extracted using conventional solvent extraction procedure. Total phenolics, flavonoids, non-flavonoids, catechins and flavanols were determined using spectrophotometric methods. Both extracts were very rich in phenolic compounds. The concentration of total phenols in September leaves extract was about 30 % higher compared to May leaves extract, due to the increase of flavonoid (catechin) fraction. Nonflavanoid compound content was almost equal in both extracts. The amount of flavanols, determined with p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde method, was taken as indicator of flavan-3-ol monomers, while high catechin content determined by vanillin method, indicated the presence of polymeric fraction. The total catechin content in September leaves extract was more than 3 folds higher in comparison to May leaves extract. Principal phenolic compounds were separated by high pressure liquid chromatography on reverse phase. Antioxidant properties, determined as: 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical and 2, 2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonate radical cation scavenging ability, ferric reducing/antioxidant power, Fe2+ chelating activity, and using β-carotene bleaching assay, were total phenol concentration dependent. September leaves extract had better free radical scavenging capacity, higher reducing power, and was more efficient in protecting the oxidation of emulsified linoleic acid, in comparison with May leaves extract which showed better chelating ability. The presence of active phenolic compounds: phenolic acids (3-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, gallic acid, vanillin acid), flavonoids ((+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, apigenin, myricetin, quercetin, quercetin-4'-glucoside, rutin), and stilbenes (trans-resveratrol and resveratrol derivatives) was confirmed in both extracts. According to the results achieved, vine leaf extracts can be considered rich natural source of polyphenols with significant antioxidant properties.


Information security is rapidly emerging as one of the most critical legal issues facing companies today. Concerns regarding corporate governance, individual privacy, accountability for financial information, the authenticity and integrity of transaction data, and the security of sensitive business data are driving the enactment of new laws and regulations designed to ensure that businesses adequately address the security of their own data. These legislative and regulatory initiatives are imposing obligations on all businesses to implement information security measures to protect their own data and to disclose breaches of security that do occur. Four legal trends are rapidly shaping the information security landscape for most companies. They are: * A continuing expansion of the duty to provide security; * The emergence of a legal standard for compliance; * A focus on security obligations regarding specific data elements and controls; * The imposition of a duty to warn - that is, to disclose security breaches to those that may be affected. Corporate obligations regarding security come from numerous laws, regulations, common law obligations, industry standards, and contractual obligations. The net result, however, is that almost all companies are subject to a legal obligation to provide security for their own data. And this generally includes all forms of data, not just personal information. The legal standard for information security focuses not on specific security measures, but rather, on implementation of a repetitive process designed to identify and address threats. The required process may be generally summarized as follows: * Identify corporate information assets; * Conduct periodic risk assessments to identify the specific threats and vulnerabilities the company faces; * Develop and implement security controls to manage and control the risks; * Monitor and test the program to ensure that it is effective; * Continually review and adjust the program in light of ongoing changes, including obtaining regular independent audits and reporting where appropriate; and * Oversee third party service provider arrangements. Finally, in addition to legal obligations to implement security measures to protect data, we are also witnessing a global trend to enact laws and regulations that impose an obligation to disclose security breaches to the persons affected. These laws had been enacted in most states in the U.S., and are now actively being considered or enacted in numerous other regions around the world, including the European Union, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.


BACKGROUND
Acute suppurative thyroiditis (AST) resulting from a bacterial infection is an infrequent but potentially life-threatening endocrine emergency. Traditional management of this disease has been surgery in conjunction with targeted antibiotic therapy. Recent nonrandomized reports of small series have demonstrated good outcomes using less invasive approaches. No randomized clinical trials have been performed. Here, we provide a review of the literature and an approach to this problem based on expert opinion.

METHODS
The literature was reviewed utilizing PubMed, and a representative case of AST was presented to a panel of experts. Endocrinology, surgery, and infectious disease experts responded to a series of questions regarding diagnosis, management, prognosis, and harm.

RESULTS
Combining a broad spectrum of clinical expertise and the published literature, the authors suggest a clinical algorithm as a guide to management, addressing both diagnosis and acute and long-term management.

CONCLUSIONS
Published studies indicate a trend toward less invasive management during active inflammation and infection and regarding definite therapy. Remaining questions are presented to foster an evidence-based approach to this disease. Ideally, future randomized, controlled trials will provide data to improve the therapy and outcome of AST.


The water distilled essential oil and n-hexane extract of Stachys lavandulifolia (family: Lamiaceae) growing inArdabil, north-west of Iran, were analyzed byGC and GC/MS. The yields were: 0.2%and 0.7%(V/W) for essential oil and n-hexane extract, respectively. Twenty-six compounds representing 72.0%of the distilled oil of S. lavandulifolia were identified, among them caryophyllene oxid (7.4%), a-pinene (7.0%), i¢-Phellandrene (6.3%), germacrene-D(5.6%), spathulenol (5.0%), linalool (4.7%) and trans- â-farnesene (4.5%) were the major constituents. The extractwas characterized by higher amount of 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic methyl ester (34.0%), eicosane (10.7%), palmitic acid (9.9%) and nonacosane (7.5%).Twelve components, accounting for 82.7%of the total oil, were detected in the extract. The oil obtained by hydrodistillation method consists mainly of aliphatic oxygenated and sesquiterpene constituents, whereas the extract contains mainly aliphatic ester compounds.


This work investigates two main areas of interest. The first is the synthesis and study of a variety of Lewis acid-Lewis base adducts of general formula X(_3)B-PR(_3) (X = CI, Br; R= alkyl or aryl). The (^11)B-P and (^10)B-P NMR coupling phenomena are investigated. The partial dissociation of some of these compounds in solution is probed by (^31)P and (^11)B NMR. The crystal structures of many of these compounds are presented and analysed for correlations between the properties of the phosphines and B P bond length. It was found that only the Tolman cone angle gave a good correlation to B P bond length. A compound containing a novel B2O2 ring was synthesised during these studies, and theoretical calculations performed to gain an insight into the planarity of this unusual 4- membered ring. The first crystallographically characterised example of the tri(o-toly)phosphonium cation is also presented. The related compounds X(_3)B pyridine, X(_3)B-2-picoline and X(_3)B 4-picohne (X = CI, Br) are investigated by various analytical methods. Crystal structures of these B-N adducts are presented. It is found that the structure of CI3B 4-picoline exhibits an interesting phase transition from orthorhombic Pnma at higher temperatures to monoclinic space group P2i/n below ca. 170K.The second area of work involves crystal structure analyses of a variety of co-crystals of his(phenylethynyl)benzene compounds, of general type R-Ph-CC-Ph-CC-Ph-R, with R = H, F, MeO, MeS, CH3 and CF3 and a varying fluorinadon pattern on the phenyl rings. The effect of these para substituents on the arene-peifluoroarene interaction was investigated. The effect of each substituent was found to be subtle. In most cases, the co-crystallisation induced an arene-perfluoroarene interaction that was not present in the individual components. Starting materials for the bis(phenylethynyl)benzene compounds often include halogenated tolans of the form Ph-CC-Ph-X (X = CI, Br, I), with either the halogenated or the non-halogenated ring fluorinated. Crystal structures of PhF(_5)-CC-Ph-X (X = I, Br, CI), Ph-CC-PhF4-I and Ph-CC-PhF4-CC-SiMe3 are presented and the arene- perfluoroarene interaction investigated. It is found that the PhPg-CC-Ph-X (X = I and Br) compounds show no evidence of the interaction. The dominating intermolecular force is a Type n halogen -halogen short contact. In contrast, the structure of the chloro analogue is dominated by the arene-perfluoroarene interaction, with no halogen -halogen short contacts. Neither intermolecular force is present in the Ph-CC- PhF(_4)-I or Ph-CC-PhF(_4)-CC-SiMe(_3) structures.


Here we use a very simple conceptual model in an attempt to reduce essential parts of the complex nonlinearity of abrupt glacial climate changes (the so-called Dansgaard- Oeschger events) to a few simple principles, namely (i) the existence of two different climate states, (ii) a threshold pro- cess and (iii) an overshooting in the stability of the system at the start and the end of the events, which is followed by a millennial-scale relaxation. By comparison with a so-called Earth system model of intermediate complexity (CLIMBER- 2), in which the events represent oscillations between two climate states corresponding to two fundamentally different modes of deep-water formation in the North Atlantic, we demonstrate that the conceptual model captures fundamen- tal aspects of the nonlinearity of the events in that model. We use the conceptual model in order to reproduce and re- analyse nonlinear resonance mechanisms that were already suggested in order to explain the characteristic time scale of Dansgaard-Oeschger events. In doing so we identify a new form of stochastic resonance (i.e. an overshooting stochastic resonance) and provide the first explicitly reported manifes- tation of ghost resonance in a geosystem, i.e. of a mecha- nism which could be relevant for other systems with thresh- olds and with multiple states of operation. Our work enables us to explicitly simulate realistic probability measures of Dansgaard-Oeschger events (e.g. waiting time distributions, which are a prerequisite for statistical analyses on the regu- larity of the events by means of Monte-Carlo simulations). We thus think that our study is an important advance in or- der to develop more adequate methods to test the statistical significance and the origin of the proposed glacial 1470-year climate cycle.


This thesis comprises four sections which are as follows: a preface, a critical literature review, an empirical research study and a case study. The first section provides an introduction to the thesis. Within this section, I highlight how the evolution and construction of the research area facilitated the development of the other components within this thesis. I also illustrate how the structure of the sections within this thesis demonstrates the evolution of the research topic area. Finally, I comment upon the writing style I have adopted within this thesis.

The critical literature review explores the current status of sex offender treatment programmes within the UK, and the implications this has upon the rehabilitation of rapists. Within this review, I critically explore the literature which details the theoretical underpinnings and effectiveness of sex offender treatment programmes within prison and community settings. I argue that the rapist is a distinct type of sex offender who requires specific, tailored treatment interventions. I attempt to review whether or not the specific rehabilitative needs of the rapist are being addressed within the current status of sex offender treatment programmes.

In the empirical research study, I adopt a social constructionist epistemology which is informed by a critical realist position. I explore the discourses of unmarried second- generation South Asian women, with regard to their disclosure processes within their families and communities. I questioned four unmarried South Asian women using semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and the women's talk was analysed by a method of discourse analysis. The analysis of the women's talk revealed four discourses of disclosure practices: political discourse, disparity discourse, conflict discourse and discourse of individualism and collectivism. Further analysis of the emerging discourses revealed various subject positions and implications for subjectivity and practice. The research study concludes with a section detailing reflections and recommendations for practice emerging from the analysis of the women's discourse.

The case study is a reflexive exploration of therapeutic work with a South Asian female client. In this case study, I illustrate working within a cognitive behavioural approach whilst facilitating the client's disclosure within therapy. I also highlight how the therapeutic relationship is affected by the client's disclosure processes.


Elk Creek is 120 stream miles (70 airline miles) in length and flows eastward from the northern Black Hills to join the Cheyenne River. The drainage basin encloses 601 sq. mi., of which 95.1 percent is underlain by Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, 2.3 percent by Precambrian metamorphic rocks, and 1.8 percent by Tertiary felsitic siliceous hypabyssal rocks ("volcanics"). Cenozoic terrace gravels overlie approximately 25 percent of the sedimentary rocks. A detailed petrographic examination of sand sized stream sediment in Elk Creek reveals: (1) most schist fragments are mechanically destroyed by less than 15 miles of transport (8 airline miles) in the high gradient portion of the stream; (2) "volcanic" rock fragments are durable and there is no noticeable loss from mechanical abrasion during the initial 100 miles of transport; (3) rounding of "volcanic" rock fragments due to mechanical abrasion occurs only in sediment coarser than 1mm.


To determine whether a structural defect in glucokinase could be a primary cause of glucose intolerance in the common form of NIDDM, the prevalence of mutations in the gene in 60 American black NIDDM patients was investigated. First, by Southern blot analysis of DNA from a subset of randomly selected subjects (n = 20), no gross deletions, insertions, or rearrangements of the gene were detected. Next, the 5′-untranslated and coding regions of the gene were amplified directly from genomic DNA by the polymerase chain reaction. PCR products were screened for mutations by using single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis. A total of nine variants were identified, with two in the 5′-UT regions of islet exon 1, two in the 5′-UT region of liver exon 1, and five in the coding regions. For islet exon 1, 5 of 60 NIDDM patients had both variants in the 5′-UT region; and for liver exon 1, two variants each occurred in 1 of 60 NIDDM patients. The coding region variants included a missense mutation in islet exon 1, substitution of Ala11 (GCC) with Thr11 (ACC), found in 2 patients. The biological consequences of this mutation and the mutations in the 5′-UT portion of the gene have yet to be determined. The rest of the variants were third base pair changes of codons, i.e., silent. A common polymorphism, which was in linkage equilibrium with microsatellite repeats GCK1 and GCK2, was found in intron 9, and a variant in intron 2 in both alleles of 1 patient. From these studies it was concluded that, although genetic variations in the coding sequence of the glucokinase gene are common, the amino acid sequence is highly conserved. The previous association of glucokinase alleles with NIDDM in American blacks has not been clarified by this analysis. Primary structural abnormalities of glucokinase do not play a significant role in the common form of NIDDM in this group.


The aim of this study is to define several methods that enable to estimate the heat exchanged in the different components of an air handling unit (AHU), and propose control strategy optimizations. The AHU studied is a part of a low energy office building located in Norway. The focus is especially made on its rotary heat recovery system, its heating/cooling coil and its heating coil. The data of one month recorded by the building energy management system (BEMS) have been used. The heat exchanged estimation methods presented in this paper are based on heat balances, valve positions and heat exchangers number of transfer unit (NTU). Comparison of the results obtained with the different methods outlined a poor quality of the valves positions signals. This fact has also been confirmed using a statistical method, the principal component analysis (PCA). Because of this issue, the methods proposed have not been validated. Regarding control strategy optimization, the use of a heat exchanged estimation method is required. The estimation method based on NTU has been used as reference, since this method does not use the valves positions signals. The goals of control strategy optimization are to reduce the energy costs and the CO2 emission. The proposed improvements are based on a new distribution between components of input heat, regarding the specific energy cost and CO2 emission of components. The tested optimizations gave better results that the current control strategy, but since the method used as reference has not been validated, these conclusions have to be confirmed after a resolution of the valves positions signals problems.


In chapter 1, bone structure, bone growth and development, osteoporosis in children and skeletal morbidities in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) are discussed. After that, the mechanostat and the effect of whole body vibration (WBV) on bone health are considered. Finally, I examine diagnostic approaches to assess the musculoskeletal system.
In chapter 2, the incidence and risk factors for skeletal morbidity in ALL children are determined. The medical records of all (n,186, male,110) children presenting with ALL between 1997 and 2007 and treated on UKALL97, UKALL97/01 or UKALL2003 were studied. Skeletal morbidity included musculoskeletal pain (MSP), fractures and osteonecrosis (ON). MSP was classified as any event of limb pain, muscle pain, joint symptoms or back pain that required radiological examination. Fractures and ON were confirmed by X-rays and MRI respectively. We found that skeletal morbidity, presenting as MSP, fractures or ON were reported in 88(47%) children of whom 56(63%) were boys. Of 88 children, 49(55%), 27(30%) and 18(20%) had MSP, fracture(s) or ON, respectively. Six (7%) had both fractures and ON. The median(10th,90thcentiles) age at diagnosis of ALL children without skeletal morbidity was 3.9years(1.4,12), which was lower than in those with skeletal morbidity at 8.2years(2.2,14.3) (p<0.00001,95%CI:1.7,4.4). Children with ALL diagnosed over 8years of age were at increased risk of developing fracture(s) (p=0.01,odds ratio(OR)=2.9,95%CI:1.3,6.5), whereas the risk of ON was higher in those who were diagnosed after 9years of age (p<0.0001,OR=15,95%CI:4.1,54.4). There was no gender-difference in the incidence of skeletal morbidity. Children who received dexamethasone had a higher incidence of skeletal morbidity than those who were treated with prednisolone (p=0.027,OR=2.6,95%CI:1.1,5.9). We concluded that the occurrence of skeletal morbidity in ALL children may be influenced by age and the type of glucocorticoids (GCs). These findings may facilitate the development of effective bone protective intervention.
In chapter 3, the aim is to investigate the influence of physical activity, age and mineral homeostasis over the first 12months of chemotherapy on subsequent skeletal morbidity. We reviewed 56 children who presented with ALL between 2003 and 2007 and treated only on
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UKALL2003. The number of in-patient days over the first 12months of chemotherapy was collected and used as a surrogate marker of inactivity and lack of well-being. Data for serum calcium (Ca), phosphate (Pho), magnesium (Mg) and albumin were also collected over this period. Skeletal morbidity was defined as any episode MSP or fractures. We found that the median duration of in-patient days over the first 12months of treatment in children with no skeletal morbidity was 58days(40,100), whereas the median number of in-patient days during the first 12months in those children with any skeletal morbidity, MSP only or fractures only was 83days(54,131), 81days(52,119) and 91days(59,158), respectively (p=0.003). Children with skeletal morbidity and fractures particularly had lower levels of serum Ca, Mg and Pho compared with those without skeletal morbidity over the first 12 months of chemotherapy. There was a higher risk of skeletal morbidity in those who were diagnosed after the age of 8years (p=0.001,OR=16,CI:3,80). Multiple regression analysis showed that the incidence of skeletal morbidity only had a significant independent association with age at diagnosis (p=0.001) and the number of inpatient days (p=0.03) over the first 12months (r=23). All children who were diagnosed after the age of 8years with an inpatient stay of greater than 75 days in the first 12 months of the chemotherapy (n,14) had some form of skeletal morbidity (OR=64). The conclusion was that the incidence of skeletal morbidity in children receiving chemotherapy for UKALL2003 is associated with a higher likelihood of being older and having longer periods of inpatient stay. The close link between age and changes in bone mineral status may be one explanation for the increased bone morbidity in ALL children
In chapter 4, the effects of two WBV regimens on endocrine status, muscle function and markers of bone turnover are compared. We recruited 10adult men with a median age of 33years(29,49), who were randomly assigned to stand on the Galileo platform (GP) (frequency (f)=18-22Hz, peak to peak displacement (D)=4mm, peak acceleration (apeak) =2.6-3.8g) or Juvent1000 (f=32-37Hz, 0.085mm,0.3g) platform (JP) three times/week for a period of eight weeks. The measurements were performed at five time points (T0, T1, T2, T3, T4) and performed in a four week period of run-in (No WBV), eight weeks of WBV and a four-week period of washout (No WBV). The measurements included anthropometries, body composition measured by Tanita, muscle function measured by Leonardo mechanography and biochemical markers of endocrine status and bone turnover. The immediate term effect of WBV at 22Hz was associated with an increase in serum growth hormone (GH), increasing
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from 0.07μg/l(0.04,0.69) to 0.52μg/l(0.06,2.4) (p=0.06),0.63μg/l(0.1,1.18)(p=0.03) ,0.21μg/l (0.07,0.65) (p=0.2) at 5minutes, 20minutes and 60minutes after WBV, respectively in the GP group. The immediate term effect of GP at 18Hz was associated with a reduction in serum cortisol from 316nmol/l (247,442) at 60minutes pre-WBV to 173nmol/l(123,245)(p=0.01), 165nmol/l(139,276)(p=0.02) and 198nmol/l(106,294)(p=0.04) at 5minutes, 20minutes and 60minutes post-WBV, respectively. At 22 Hz, GP was associated with a reduction in serum cortisol from 269nmol/l(115,323) at 60minutes before WBV to 214nmol/l(139,394)(p=0.5), 200nmol/l(125,337)(p=0.08) and 181nmol/l(104,306)(p=0.04) at 5minutes, 20minutes and 60minutes post-WBV, respectively. Median serum cortisol decreased after eight weeks of WBV from 333nmol/l(242,445) to 270nmol/l(115,323)(p=0.04). Median serum of the carboxy-terminal telopeptide (CTX, bore resorption marker) reduced significantly after eight weeks of WBV from 0.42ng/ml(0.29,0.90) to 0.29ng/ml(0.18,0.44)(p=0.03). None of these changes were observed in the JP group. Therefore, WBV at a certain magnitude can stimulate GH secretion, reduce circulating cortisol and reduce bone resorption. These effects are independent of clear changes in muscle function and depend on the type of WBV that is administered.
In chapter 5, the effect of WBV using GP on the bone health of children receiving chemotherapy for ALL was assessed. We recruited 16children with ALL with a median age of 7.8years(5-13.8; 9males), who were randomized either to receive side-alternating WBV (f=16-20Hz,D=2mm, apeak =1-1.6g)(n,9) or to stand on a still platform as a control group (n,7) for 9minutes, once/week for four months. Measurements were performed at baseline, two-month and four-month assessing bone health (DXA and p.QCT), body composition and muscle function by imaging and biochemical assessment. DXA BMC data were corrected for bone area and presented as BMC z-score. We found that the median compliance rate measured as a ratio of actual completed minutes and expected minutes of WBV was 55%(17,100). The median percentage change of total body BMC z score in the WBV group from baseline to four months dropped by 10%(-25,10)(p=0.1), whereas it was 87%(-203,4)(p=0.07) in the control group. The median lumbar spine BMC z-score (L2-L4) in the WBV group was -0.4(-1.3,0.3) and -0.3(-1.4,1.5) at baseline and four months, whereas the respective data in the control group were 0.04(-0.6,2.4) and -0.1(-1.1,1), respectively. The median percentage change in LS-BMC z-score declined from baseline to four-month by19%(-349,365)(p=0.1)
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and 75%(-1016,178)(p=0.1) in the WBV and control groups, respectively. We concluded that WBV is tolerated by children receiving chemotherapy. WBV might improve bone health in ALL children receiving chemotherapy
Chapter 6 summarises the findings of this thesis, discussing recommendations for improving bone health in ALL children and exploring weaknesses inherent in registry data and limitation. To sum up exercise in ALL children may be most effective if started at the time of diagnosis in parallel with chemotherapy but user acceptability of WBV may not be high at this point. Also, where sufficient data are available, there is a need to compare outcomes between WBV and conventional exercise for improvement in children" bone health in order to find the optimal dose. Whereas in this thesis, the effect of WBV on the musculoskeletal and endocrine systems was assessed, for any further work, also it may be useful to consider the interactive effect of nutritional optimisation and Mg supplementation on bone health during chemotherapy.


The high network latencies and limited battery life of mobile phones can make mobile web browsing a frustrating experience. In prior work, we proposed trading memory capacity for lower web access latency and a more convenient data transfer schedule from an energy perspective by prefetching slowly-changing data (search queries and results) nightly, when the phone is charging. However, most web content is intrinsically much more dynamic and may be updated multiple times a day, thus eliminating the effectiveness of periodic updates.
 This paper addresses the challenge of prefetching dynamic web content in a timely fashion, giving the user an instant web browsing experience but without aggravating the battery lifetime issue. We start by analyzing the web access traces of 8,000 users, and observe that mobile web browsing exhibits a strong spatiotemporal signature, which is different for every user. We propose to use a machine learning approach based on stochastic gradient boosting techniques to efficiently model this signature on a per user basis. The machine learning model is capable of accurately predicting future web accesses and prefetching the content in a timely manner. Our experimental evaluation with 48,000 models trained on real user datasets shows that we can accurately prefetch 60% of the URLs for about 80-90% of the users within 2 minutes before the request. The system prototype we built not only provides more than 80% lower web access time for more than 80% of the users, but it also achieves the same or lower radio energy dissipation by more than 50% for the majority of mobile users.


Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop CS4Kate BinderIn just 24 lessons of one hour or less, youll learn all the fundamental Photoshop CS4 skills you need to get great resultsin digital photography, graphic design, painting, or anything else! Using this books easy, step-by-step approach, youll master Photoshop CS4s revamped interface and powerful new shortcuts. You can also learn professional techniques for repairing damaged photos, creating great composites, black-and-white images, and web graphics, and a whole lot more!Full-color figures and clear step-by-step instructions visually show you how to use Photoshop. Notes, Tips, and Cautions provide related information, advice, and warnings. Q&A sections, quizzes, and exercises help you build and test your knowledge.Learn how to Master Photoshop CS4s new tabbed interface, Application Frame, and Application Bar Personalize your workspace to work more efficiently Repair and retouch black-and-white and color images, no matter what condition theyre in Make spot fixes with Photoshop CS4s improved toning tools Achieve powerful artistry with Photoshops filters and effects Master digital painting with Photoshops paintbrushes and other tools Get your colors right, in both print and web applications Transform your images using tools ranging from Flip and Warp to Liquify Master professional-level features including layers, channels, and masks Create outstanding typographic special effects Prepare great web images for everything from online photo galleries to cellphones Save time and get better results with Photoshop CS4s latest enhancementsKate Binder is a design and graphics expert who works from her home in New Hampshire. She has written articles on graphics, publishing, and photography for magazines including Shutterbug, Publish, eDigitalPhoto, PEI, and Desktop Publishers Journal. Kate is also the author of several books, including iMac Portable Genius, Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 in 24 Hours, Easy Mac OS X Leopard, The Complete Idiots Guide to Mac OS X, and Easy Adobe Photoshop 7.Category: Graphics Covers: Adobe Photoshop CS4 User Level: BeginningIntermediate


This paper studies the pricing of software development outsourcing. Two pricing techniques – time and material and fixed price – are described and the economic conditions for selecting between them are discussed. Using agency theory and transaction cost economics, it is predicted that risky and specific systems will be priced on time and material basis while other projects will be fixed price. An additional prediction is that confidence in the vendor's auditing of resources is essential for time and material contracts. The predictions are tested on fourteen external software development projects in two large corporations. Quantitative measures of risk, specificity and confidence are utilised, but the data-set does not support the theoretical predictions. In order to explain this result, interviews with senior managers at the two corporations have been conducted. Both disagree with the theoretical prescriptions: one contracts risky projects on fixed price basis, preferring to pay a risk-premium rather than to rebudget. The second expert allows fixed price only with trusted vendors, preferring time and material with all other vendors.


During the Age of Environmental Awareness, which dawned in the late 1960's, Americans turned to using wild animals more benignly (or in ways harmless both to individuals and populations) and less exploitatively. The evidence includes: new federal legislation reflecting a public shift toward benign uses, growth_ of interest in 'nongame' wildlife, growth of interest in wildlife watching (rate of increase in number of camera safaris estimated at 32% per annum in 7 recent years), growth in membership of animal-interest organizations (rate of increase estimated at 7.7% per annum in 15 recent years), and growth of interest in animal rights. Per capita participation in sports hunting, an activity which long represented the dominant use of wildlife, is decreasing. Popular sentiment, as distinct from zoological and economic considerations, increasingly influences wildlife use decisions.


Unlike other Confederate armies at the conclusion of the Civil War, General Edmund Kirby Smith's Trans-Mississippi Army disbanded, often without orders, rather than surrender formally. Despite entreaties from military and civilian leaders to fight on, for Confederate soldiers west of the Mississippi River, the surrender of armies led by Generals Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston ended the war. After a significant decline in morale and discipline throughout the spring of 1865, soldiers of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department chose to break-up and return home. As compensation for months of unpaid service, soldiers seized both public and private property. Civilians joined the soldiers to create disorder that swept many Texas communities until the arrival of Federal troops in late June.


Correction to: American Journal of Applied Sciences http://doi.org/10.3844/10.3844/ajassp.2017.34.52, published online December 31, 2016; updated April 29, 2019
 The original version of this Article contained Mr. MirMilad Mirsayar as a co-author. Mr. Mirsayar has not contributed to the preparation and publication of this manuscript.
 These errors have now been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the Article. http://doi.org/10.3844/10.3844/ajassp.2017.34.52.


Addressing one of the most difficult conceptual topics in the study of classical Hinduism, Ariel Glucklich presents a rigorous phenomenology of dharma, or order. The work moves away from the usual emphasis on symbols and theoretical formulations of dharma as a religious and moral norm. Instead, it focuses on images that emerge from the basic experiential interaction of the body in its spatial and temporal contexts, such as the sensation of water on the skin during the morning purification, or the physical manipulation of the bride during the marriage ritual. Images of dharma are examined in myths, rituals, art, and even the physical landscape of the Hindu world. The varied and contingent experiences of dharma infuse it with a meaning that transcends a false analytical distinction from adharma, or chaos. Glucklich shows that when dharma is experienced by means of living images, it becomes inescapably temporal, and therefore inseparable from adharma.


The elemental content of a soybean seed is a determined by both genetic and environmental factors and is an important component of its nutritional value. The elemental content is chemically stable, making the samples stored in germplasm repositories an intriguing source of experimental material. To test the efficacy of using samples from germplasm banks for gene discovery, we analyzed the elemental profile of seeds from 1653 lines in the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection. We observed large differences in the elemental profiles based on where the lines were grown, which lead us to break up the genetic analysis into multiple small experiments. Despite these challenges, we were able to identify candidate SNPs controlling elemental accumulation as well as lines with extreme elemental accumulation phenotypes. Our results suggest that elemental analysis of germplasm samples can identify SNPs in linkage disequilibrium to genes, which can be leveraged to assist in crop improvement efforts.