The study explores how Grade 10 learners use the speech act of apology in an educational environment. Apologies are viewed in this study as a kind of remedial work; action taken to change what may be regarded as an offensive act into an acceptable one. Eight different strategies for complaining and twenty-one for apologising are presented with examples to illustrate each. Data was gathered using questionnaires in order to gain insight in the total number of complaint and apology strategies used. Analysis of the answered questionnaires showed that while there are strategies which are commonly used by both male and female learners, some strategies are used mostly by male learners and some mostly by female learners.


This is a book about simplicity - not destitution, parsimoniousness or self-denial, but the restoration of wealth in the midst of an affluence in which we are starving the spirit. It is a book about the advantages of living a less cluttered, less stressful life than that which has become the norm in the overcrowded and manic-paced consuming nations. It is a book about having less and enjoying more, enjoying time to do the work you love, enjoying time to spend with your family, enjoying time to pursue creative projects, enjoying time for good eating, enjoying time just to be.


This thesis is concerned with the exposure of electromagnetic fields to school children from Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN). The research provides insights into how wireless networks are implemented in schools, sets out to develop a systematic methodology to quantify field levels close to WLAN devices and then investigates the extent of exposure thereby assisting the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in providing advice.
School children in the UK are being exposed to electromagnetic fields due to the increasing use of Wi-Fi technologies in schools. Many local government authorities and schools are facing difficulties in understanding the health issues associated with the use of WLAN networks and there is increasing pressure from parents to provide reassurance. There is lack of quantitative scientific data, and current methodologies do not provide a realistic measure of the extent of exposure.
The results from the exploratory studies and the contribution from existing literature have then been synthesised to develop new methodologies. A set of measurements were made to come to an assessment of the level of radiofrequency fields adjacent to commonly used WLAN equipment. Finally, the way in which children interact with WLAN devices as part of their normal lessons was examined in determine the time averaged exposure.
The outcome of this research is a robust measurement methodology and examination of extent of RF exposure to children which represents a significant contribution to the scientific knowledge. The measurement methodology has been demonstrated to be practicable and can be used with a range of wireless devices using pulsed signals and thus is capable of providing valuable information for future studies.


The High Level Architecture (HLA [1]) has its origins in the defense sector and was primarily used to simulate vehicle and troops movements. However, the HLA is not limited to this area. It is very suitable for simulating rail traffic, in a simulated rail infrastructure, and the rail traffic safety systems that control that same infrastructure. By doing so, one is able to test the rail traffic management systems that act at the operator level.

Although it is not the first time that a simulator is built for the rail traffic domain, the simulator described in this paper is unique in its modularity, scalability and flexibility, thanks to the use of HLA. It is flexible because each safety system is implemented as a federate. This means that large rail traffic areas can be simulated by simply instantiating the required number of federates, each protecting their own part of the rail infrastructure. Just as in reality. That said, plus the fact that using HLA allows distribution over multiple PC's, makes this simulator scalable.

This paper also describes which objects are simulated, which object attributes are published to the HLA Run Time Infrastructure (RTI) and what kind of design decisions were made during the development of the simulator.


This article reports on the first study of gay/bisexual men in the African diaspora. It is based on a focus group and in-depth individual interviews with eight men living in London. The main focus of the study was on the development of the men's sexual identity in their African countries of origin and the ways in which these identities and practices were reshaped and renegotiated by the move to London. The central themes to emerge were the tensions for these individuals between being African and being gay and between their same-sex preferences and mainstream religious beliefs and practices. The article demonstrates the need for further research on similar groups in different parts of the world as well as highlighting the need for reflexive methodologies that can accurately represent the complex realities of these men's lives.


In recent years, nanoparticles have been classified in three categories namely nanocrystals, films, and quantum dots. Due to the various properties of composites in comparison to individual particles, the studies that are related to the understanding and characterization of these materials have gained much importance. Solvated metal atom dispersion (SMAD) is a technique which includes the vaporization of the metal in a high vacuum reactor and the co-deposition of metallic vapor on the freeze reactor walls at liquid nitrogen temperature. An organic solvent is used to stabilize the metal atoms in the reaction, to form a solvation sphere, before they reach the frozen reactor walls. After the reaction, nanoparticles are warming at room temperature to form metal colloids. In this stage, depending on the metal concentration, metal type, organic solvent and delay time to stabilize the colloidal nanoparticles, the nanoparticles aggregation produce in different shapes (spherical, clusters, and fractals). The SMAD technique due to reducing and stabilizing the metal nanoparticles in a polymer matrix at the time of synthesis, avoiding metal agglomeration and oxidizing of metal nanoparticles does not produce salt. There is great concentration on these compounds as they can be used in medicine as antibacterial coatings, due to the biocidal action of Au nanoparticles (AuNps). Undeniably, numerous selective homogeneous catalysts from nanoparticles have been reported; however, the only feature is the ability of the polymer chain to protect and stabilize the metal particles from oxidation, therefore, the penetration of the reagents for the desired catalytic reactions is possible.


The concept of the African Renaissance was popularized by Cheikh Anta Diop in the mid-1940s. But in 1906 Pixley ka Isaka Seme had introduced the idea of "regeneration" of Africa, while in 1937 Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria had engaged with the idea of a "renascent Africa," both of which formed a strong background to the unfolding of the idea of African Renaissance. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa made it the hallmark of his continental politics in the 1990s. Consequently, in 1998 South Africa became a host to an international conference on the African Renaissance and by October 11, 1999, Mbeki officially opened the African Renaissance Institute in Pretoria in South Africa. Scholars such as Ngugi wa Thiong'o picked up the theme and defined the African Renaissance as a "re-membering" of a continent and a people who have suffered from "dismembering" effects of colonialism and "coloniality." "Coloniality" names the underside of Euro-North American-centric modernity, which enabled mercantilism accompanied by the enslavement of African people. The reduction of African people into tradable commodities (thingification and dehumanization) and their shipment as cargo across the Transatlantic Ocean formed the root cause of the underdevelopment of Africa. The rise of a capitalist world economic system involved the forcible integration of Africa into the evolving nexus of a structurally asymmetrical world system with its shifting global orders. The physical colonial conquest was accompanied by genocides (physical liquidation of colonized people), epistemicides (subjugation of indigenous knowledges), linguicides (displacement of indigenous African languages and imposition of colonial languages), culturecides (physical separation of African people from their gods and cultures and the imposition of foreign religions and cultures), alienations (exiling African people from their languages, cultures, knowledges, and even from themselves), as well as material dispossessions. The African Renaissance emerged as an anti-colonial phenomenon opposed to colonialism and coloniality. As a vision of the future, the African Renaissance encapsulated a wide range of African initiatives such as Ethiopianism, Garveyism, Negritude, pan-Africanism, African nationalism, African humanism, African socialism, Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), the demands for a New International Economic Order (NIEO), the various African economic blueprints including the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) and New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) as well as the regional integration economic formations such as the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) and the Southern Africa Economic Development Community (SADC), among many others. These liberatory initiatives have been framed by five waves of popular African movements/protests, namely: (a) the decolonization struggles of the 20th century that delivered "political decolonization"; (b) the struggles for economic decolonization that crystallized around the demands for NIEO; (c) the third wave of liberation of the 1980s and 1990s that deployed neoliberal democratic thought and discourses of human rights to fight against single-party and military dictatorships as well imposed austerity measures such as structural adjustment programs (SAPs); (d) the Afro-Arab Spring that commenced in 2011 in North Africa, leading to the fall some of the long-standing dictatorial regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya; and finally (e) the Rhodes Must Fall (RMF) movements (Fallism discourse of liberation) that emerged in 2015 in South Africa, pushing forward the unfinished business of epistemological decolonization.


The performance of applications on large shared-memory multiprocessors with coherent caches depends on the interaction between the granularity of data sharing, the size of the coherence unit, and the spatial locality exhibited by the applications, in addition to the amount of parallelism in the applications. Large coherence units are helpful in exploiting spatial locality, but worsen the effects of false sharing. A mathematical framework that allows a clean description of the relationship between spatial locality and false sharing is derived in this paper. First, a technique to identify a severe form of multiple-writer false sharing is presented. The importance of the interaction between optimization techniques aimed at enhancing locality and the techniques oriented toward reducing false sharing is then demonstrated. Given the conflicting requirements, a compiler-based approach to this problem holds promise. This paper investigates the use of data transformations in addressing spatial locality and false sharing, and derives an approach that balances the impact of the two. Experimental results demonstrate that such a balanced approach outperforms those approaches that consider only one of these two issues. On an eight-processor SGI/Cray Origin 2000 multiprocessor, our approach brings an additional 9 percent improvement over a powerful locality optimization technique that uses both loop and data transformations. The presented approach also obtains an additional 19 percent improvement over an optimization technique that is oriented specifically toward reducing false sharing. This study also reveals that, in addition to reducing synchronization costs and improving the memory subsystem performance, obtaining large granularity parallelism is helpful in balancing the effects of enhancing locality and reducing false sharing, rendering them compatible.


Silicon doping is an effective way to modulate the bandgap of graphene that might open the door for graphene to the semiconductor industries. However, the mechanical properties of silicon doped graphene (SiG) also plays an important role to realize its full potential application in the electronics industry. Electronic and optical properties of silicon doped graphene are well studied, but, our understanding of mechanical and fracture properties of the doped structure is still in its infancy. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are conducted to investigate the tensile properties of SiG by varying the concentration of silicon. It is found that as the concentration of silicon increases, both fracture stress and strain of graphene reduces substantially. Our MD results also suggest that only 5% of silicon doping can reduce the Young's modulus of graphene by ∼15.5% along the armchair direction and ∼13.5% along the zigzag direction. Tensile properties of silicon doped graphene have been compared with boron and nitrogen doped graphene. The effect of temperature, defects and crack length on the stress–strain behavior of SiG has also been investigated. Temperature studies reveal that SiG is less sensitive to temperature compared to free stranding graphene, additionally, increasing temperature causes deterioration of both fracture stress and strain of SiG. Both defects and cracks reduce the fracture stress and fracture strain of SiG remarkably, but the sensitivity to defects and cracks for SiG is larger compared to graphene. Fracture toughness of pre-cracked SiG has been investigated and results from MD simulations are compared with Griffith's theory. It has been found that for nano-cracks, SiG with larger crack length deviates more from Griffith's criterion and the degree of deviation is larger compared to graphene. Fracture phenomenon of pre-cracked SiG and the effect of strain rate on the tensile properties of SiG have been reported as well. These results will aid the design of SiG based semiconducting nanodevices.


Water auditing is a method of quantifying water flows and quality in simple or complex systems, with a view to reducing water usage and often saving money on otherwise unnecessary water use. There is an increasing awareness around the globe of the centrality of water to our lives. This awareness crosses political and social boundaries. In many places people have difficult access to drinking water. Often it is polluted. Water auditing is a mechanism for conserving water, which will grow in significance in the future as demand for water increases.

Water Auditing and Water Conservation is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students in environmental engineering and science programs, water auditors and professionals in the water field, especially those motivated by quantitative water conservation needs.

There is a strong emphasis on principles, and on the relationship of water auditing with associated activities like environmental auditing, environmental management systems, resource conservation, flow measurement, water quality and legal frameworks.

Alongside the theoretical materials we integrate field experience from professionals. Chapters outline the processes and issues at stake in a variety of typical applications (arenas) in which water auditing are conducted. These include buildings (interior and exterior), landscape, external commercial applications requiring irrigation, aquatic centres, material transport by water, cooling systems and non-metal manufacturing (e.g. paper manufacture).

This book will lead the prospective water auditor to a sufficiently thorough knowledge of water auditing to be able to apply the principles to many situations and make recommendations for water conservation measures.

ISBN: 9781900222525 (Print)

ISBN: 9781780402710 (eBook)


Sweet potato has considerable potencies to support food diversification program based on flour and starch product. Various processing methods in the flour processing give a great effect on alteration of the physicochemical properties of sweet potato flour. This research investigated the effects of different flour processing methods on the physicochemical properties of sweet potato flour. The results showed that processing method had a significant effect on water content, bulk density, colour (L, a, b), microscopic properties of starch granule, water absorption index, water soluble index and pasting properties of the sweet potato flour.


We propose an algorithm for solving the maximum weighted stable set problem on claw-free graphs that runs in O(n3)--time, drastically improving the previous best known complexity bound. This algorithm is based on a novel decomposition theorem for claw-free graphs, which is also introduced in the present paper. Despite being weaker than the well-known structure result for claw-free graphs given by Chudnovsky and Seymour [5], our decomposition theorem is, on the other hand, algorithmic, i.e. it is coupled with an O(n3)-time procedure that actually produces the decomposition. We also believe that our algorithmic decomposition result is interesting on its own and might be also useful to solve other kind of problems on claw-free graphs.


The spectrum, 8000-2700A, emitted during the combustion of pellets of the pyrotechnic illumination compositions Mg/M(NO3)2, where M = Ca, Sr, Ba, was studied, qualitatively as a function of ambient pressure and of height in the flame. High speed (4700pps) films of some flames were also made. In the spectrum from the base of flames at higher ambient pressures, spectral lines and bands of wavelength longer than 4000A were in emission, superimposed on a continuum; below 4000A, discrete spectral features occurred only in absorption against the flame, continuum. This phenomenon is readily explained by the wavelength dependence of the emissivity of the condensed oxide particles which emitted the continuum. The particle temperature may have been higher than the flame gas temperature. The combustion of Mg/PTFE pellets, containing 30 to 60 per cent weight fuel, was also investigated. The flames from, these pellets showed a clearly defined reaction-zone which was characterised, at low ambient pressures, by emission of the Swan C2 bands. At 20 torr the flame was separated from the pellet and the pellet's surface was covered with pinheads of light. The shape of the burning-time/ambient pressure curve (760-20 torr) for Mg/PTFE pellets depended on the formulation, the PTFE particle size and, at the lowest ambient pressures, on the ambient atmosphere. For most compositions, an intermediate region was found in which, the burning-time decreased with decreasing pressure. The extent of the overall Mg/PTFE combustion reaction decreased with pressure below 100 torr. These observations are consistent, with the postulate that surface fluoridation of metal particles occurred on the surface of burning Mg/PTFE pellets and that this reaction, which is assumed to have a slow initial step, controlled the burning-rate at pressures less than 100 torr.


This review discusses the relative merits of sweet sorghum and sugarcane crops for the expanding bioethanol sector in Nigeria. We have compared, from a number of perspectives, sugarcane molasses and sweet sorghum stalk juice as biomass sources for Nigerian fuel alcohol fermentations and the findings indicate that sweet sorghum is most suited in terms of the adaptability of this crop to harsh climatic and cultivation conditions. In terms of environmental impact, sweet sorghum cultivation is more water efficient, requires less energy input, fertilization and agrochemical application. The concept of life cycle analysis was used to compare the environmental, social and economic impacts of using sweet sorghum stalk juice and sugarcane molasses. Sweet sorghum represents a more favourable biomass source and there is great potential for sustainable development and utilization of sweet sorghum for bioenergy production in Nigeria. However, there is need for well defined, structured, coordinated, targeted and monitored scientific efforts and investments in order to realize maximum associated benefits.


Diarrhoeal disease of infancy will remain one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the developing world until the scourges of poverty, unhygienic overcrowding and lack of sufficient safe water have been overcome. While this socio-political dimension of disease looms so large, human behaviour is also a major determinant, and caretakers can learn to lessen the risks inherent in an unhealthy environment. One of the major responsibilities of health services is to educate the public about effective preventive healthcare. This extends to learning how to deal with disease and recognising danger signals that necessitate health worker intervention. In the case of acute diarrhoea, the most important learned skill for mothers and caretakers is the application of appropriate oral rehydration therapy (ORT) and early adequate feeding.


General-purpose Distributed Stream Data Processing Systems (DSDPSs) have attracted extensive attention from industry and academia in recent years. They are capable of processing unbounded big streams of continuous data in a distributed and real (or near-real) time manner. A fundamental problem in a DSDPS is the scheduling problem, i.e., assigning threads (carrying workload) to workers/machines with the objective of minimizing average end-to-end tuple processing time (or simply tuple processing time). A widely-used solution is to distribute workload over machines in the cluster in a round-robin manner, which is obviously not efficient due to the lack of consideration for communication delay among processes/machines. A scheduling solution makes a significant impact on the average tuple processing time. However, their relationship is very subtle and complicated. It does not even seem possible to have a mathematical programming formulation for the scheduling problem if its objective is to directly minimize the average tuple processing time. In this dissertation, we first propose a model-based approach that accurately models the correlation between a scheduling solution and its objective value (i.e. average tuple processing time) for a given scheduling solution according to the topology of the application graph and runtime statistics. A predictive scheduling algorithm is then presented, which assigns tasks (threads) to machines under the guidance of the proposed model. This approach achieves an average of 24.9% improvement over Storm's default scheduler. However, the model-based approach still has its limitations: the model may not be able to fully capture the features of a DSDPS; prediction may not be accurate enough; and a large amount of high-dimensional data may lead to high overhead. To address the limitations, we develop a model-free approach that can learn to control a DSDPS from its experience rather than adopting accurate and mathematically solvable system models, just as a human learns a skill (such as cooking, driving, swimming, etc.). Recent breakthrough of Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) provides a promising approach for enabling effective model-free control. The proposed DRL-based model-free approach minimizes the average end-to-end tuple processing time by jointly learning the system environment via collecting very limited runtime statistics and making decisions under the guidance of powerful Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). This approach achieves great performance improvement over the current practice and the state-of-the-art modelbased approach. Moreover, there is still room for improvement for the above model-free approach: For the above model-free approach and most existing methods, a user specifies the number of threads for an application in advance without knowing much about runtime needs, which, however, remains unchanged during runtime. This could severely affect the performance of a DSDPS. Therefore, we further develop another model-free approach using DRL, EXTRA, which enables the dynamic use of a variable number of threads at runtime. It has been shown by extensive experimental results, by adding this new feature, EXTRA can achieve further performance improvement and greater flexibility on scheduling. EFFICIENT ONLINE SCHEDULING IN DISTRIBUTED STREAM DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS


Content Area Literacy is a graduate level course required for the Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) elementary and secondary programs at the University of X.  This course has been taught for the past ten years as an online course and for the past two years in a compressed online format (seven weeks) during fall and spring terms.  This course was designed to provide future K-12 teachers with knowledge, strategies, and practices for embedding literacy instruction in subject areas such as math, science, and social studies.  We offer our insights and best practices for implementing and managing a compressed-format course.


Never have there been so many different types of translations of Greek and Latin literature into English. Most people experience Homer and Greek tragedy for the first time through translations. New versions of Vergil and Ovid have become best sellers. This book examines the literary and cultural environment underlying the various kinds of translation - from 'faithful' and 'equivalent' through 'imitation' to 'adaptation' and 'version' - discussing the extent to which translations have been regarded as creative work in their own right and their impact in the work of modern writers such as Harrison, Heaney, Hughes and Walcott. Key themes include the challenge presented by translations to conventional interpretations of the classical canon; the implications of translating across genres - for example in the staging of epic; and the role of translations in twentieth-century conflicts. Lorna Hardwick suggests that translations from Greek and Latin literature are catalysts in the refiguring of both poetic and political awareness and that in transplanting myths and metaphors into disparate cultures, translations energise new senses of cultural identity.


We show that the parity of the order of the harmonics generated by a bichromatic field with commensurate frequencies may be related to the invariance properties of the time-dependent Hamiltonian with respect to some suitable transformations. To simplify the mathematical treatment, we have used a simple model atom to perform calculations that show the effects of the relative phase of the driving fields. Harmonic generation has been described as a two-step process that involves replicas of the Stark levels. In agreement with other previous treatments in which other model atoms were used, we have found that a small contamination of the fundamental harmonic can produce significant modifications of the emission spectra.


Introduction Social prescribing enables healthcare professionals to use voluntary and community sector resources to improve support for people with long-term conditions. It is widely promoted in the UK as a way to address complex health, psychological and social issues presented in primary care, yet there is insufficient evidence of effectiveness or value for money. This study aims to evaluate the impact and costs of a link-worker social prescribing intervention on the health and healthcare use of adults aged 40–74 with type 2 diabetes, living in a multi-ethnic area of high socioeconomic deprivation. Methods and analysis Mixed-methods approach combining (1) quantitative quasi-experimental methods to evaluate the effects of social prescribing on health and healthcare use and cost-effectiveness analysis and (2) qualitative ethnographic methods to observe how patients engage with social prescribing. Quantitative data comprise Secondary Uses Service data and Quality Outcomes Framework data. The primary outcome is glycated haemoglobin, and secondary outcomes are secondary care use, systolic blood pressure, weight/body mass index, cholesterol and smoking status; these data will be analysed longitudinally over 3 years using four different control conditions to estimate a range of treatment effects. The ranges where the intervention is cost-effective will be identified from the perspective of the healthcare provider. Qualitative data comprise participant observation and interviews with purposively sampled service users, and focus groups with link-workers (intervention providers). Analysis will involve identification of themes and synthesising and theorising the data. Finally, a coding matrix will identify convergence and divergence among all study components. Ethics and dissemination UK NHS Integrated Research Approval System Ethics approved the quantitative research (Reference no. 18/LO/0631). Durham University Research Ethics Committee approved the qualitative research. The authors will publish the findings in peer-reviewed journals and disseminate to practitioners, service users and commissioners via a number of channels including professional and patient networks, conferences and social media. Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journals.


How does controversy affect conversation? Five studies using both field and laboratory data address this question. Contrary to popular belief, controversial things are not necessarily more likely to be discussed. Controversy increases likelihood of discussion at low levels, but beyond a moderate level of controversy, additional controversy actually decreases likelihood of discussion. The controversy-conversation relationship is driven by two countervailing processes. Controversy increases interest (which increases likelihood of discussion) but simultaneously increases discomfort (which decreases likelihood of discussion). Contextual factors such as anonymity and whether people are talking to friends or strangers moderate the controversy-conversation relationship by impacting these component processes. Our framework sheds light on how, when, and why controversy affects whether or not things are discussed.


Born in rural Hesse, Germany, Leo Strauss (1899-1973) became an active Zionist and philosopher during the tumultuous and fractious Weimar Republic. As Eugene R. Sheppard demonstrates in this groundbreaking and engaging book, Strauss gravitated towards such thinkers as Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Heidegger, and Carl Schmitt as he sought to identify and overcome fundamental philosophical, political, and theological crises. The rise of Nazism impelled Strauss as a young Jewish emigre, first in Europe and then in America, to grapple with-and accommodate his thought to-the pressing challenges of exile. In confronting his own state of exile, Strauss enlisted premodern Jewish thinkers such as Moses Maimonides and Baruch Spinoza who earlier addressed the problem of reconciling their competing loyalties as philosophers and Jews. This is the first study to frame Strauss's political philosophy around his critique of liberalism and the problem of exile. Sheppard follows Strauss from Europe to the United States, a journey of a conservative Weimar Jew struggling with modern liberalism and the existential and political contours of exile. Strauss sought to resolve the conflicts of a Jew unwilling to surrender loyalty to his ancestral community and equally unwilling to adhere to the strictures of orthodox observance. Strauss saw truth and wisdom as transcending particular religious and national communities, as well as the modern enlightened humanism in which he himself had been nurtured. In his efforts to navigate between the Jewish and the philosophical, the ancient and the modern, Berlin and New York, Strauss developed a distinctively programmatic way of reading and writing"between the lines." Sheppard recaptures the complexity and intrigue of this project which has been ignored by those who both reject and claim Strauss's legacy.


A project at the CRC for Coastal Zone, Estuary and Waterway Management is providing information on the variability of water quality at different locations in the Brisbane River. Data is being used to help: (1) determine the effectiveness of waterway management measures designed to reduce turbidity (eg stormwater control devices, changes to dredging, sewage treatment plant upgrades); (2) optimise existing water quality models used for waterway management for providing accurate field data for remote sensing projects, and (3) to enhance understanding of significant river/estuary processes. By obtaining a continuous record of these water quality parameters over a range of seasons, tides and rainfall, stakeholders will be better equipped to assess the ecosystem health of the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay. Turbidity, salinity and temperature measurements were taken every fifteen minutes at a single site in the Brisbane River estuary over a period of thirteen-months. Wide variations in turbidity were observed over both short and long time scales, highlighting the difficulty in the satisfactory interpretation of monthly (or less frequent) snapshots of estuarine water quality. A fit of average turbidity versus tidal range was made during a period of minimal sediment input into the estuary from freshwater inflows, with the best fit found to be T = -93.7 + 123 G, where T is the average turbidity (NTU) and G the tidal range (m). The data also assists in determining the underlying processes occurring with regard to estuarine turbidity.


Resistance to radio and chemotherapy is one of the major drawbacks in the progression of head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) patients, evidencing the importance of finding optimum molecular prognosis markers to develop personalized treatment schedules. TGF-β effector TAK1 activity has been related to a greater aggressiveness in several types of cancer (Kondo et al. 1998; Edlund et al. 2003; Kaur et al. 2005) and, although there has been described no significant implication of TAK1 in HNSCC development, we have further examined the role of its mRNA expression as a marker of prognosis in HNSCC. Fifty-nine advanced HNSCC patients were recruited for the study. The tumor expression of TAK1 mRNA was analyzed with RT-PCR using Taqman technology and its relationship with the clinical outcome of the patients studied. TAK1 mRNA expression was lower in patients that relapsed than in those that did not, but the difference was only significant between the patients that showed response to treatment (p < 0.001). ROC curve analyses pointed a 0.5 expression ratio TAK1/B2M value as an optimum cut-off point for relapse and response. Our data suggest the TAK1 mRNA analysis by Taqman RT-PCR can predict the risk of relapse in HNSCC patients.


This thesis explores organisational effectiveness in a college of further education using a multiple constituency model and acknowledges the central position of organisational learning and leadership. Prior to the commencement of the research the college had received a damning inspection report which categorised it as a failing college. Considerable managerial restructuring had taken place with five principals in four years. In addition, the college had financial difficulties and a poor image in the local media. Taking a largely qualitative research paradigm, mixed methods including ethnography and action research are employed. To set the college in context, the research commences with an examination of the college through the eyes of its stakeholders. As the research unfolds a variety of approaches and techniques are used including an adaptation of Kelly's (1955) personal construct theory, small group interviews, a survey and content analysis. Data sources include official inspection reports, college documents, articles and letters in national and local newspapers, staff and student induction feedback, repertory grid interviews and staff coursework assignments. Major differences were revealed in the core constructs held by the staff and management respectively and in their perceptions of each other. Results of a national staff satisfaction survey employing qualitative and quantitative techniques enabled the college to be benchmarked against others and showed it in an unfavourable light. Throughout the research, interventions were attempted in an action research framework and the responses to these changes were considered in the analyses. The findings argue that an understanding of the stakeholders' constructs of the college is central to the achievement of any improvement in its effectiveness. It furthers the
understanding of organisational effectiveness by exploring. the importance and difficulties in reconciling the different constructs used by stakeholders. The findings
revealed a lack of congruence between the espoused theories and theories-in-use of the management and staff. It clearly suggests that the key groups' constructs were irreconcilable. The research emphasises the impact of managers and leaders on the process of effectiveness.
In addition, the work adds to the existing models of action research by revealing the constraints imposed by a hostile research environment. The thesis also shows how the
singular nature of a geographically isolated college impacts upon stakeholder perceptions and the consequences this has for the achievement of effectiveness.


To determine whether a relationship exists between core stability and bowling speed in Action Cricket bowlers. Methods: Thirty asymptomatic indoor Action Cricket fast and fast-medium bowlers were divided into two groups of 15 each, with Group A having well-developed core stability and group B having poorly-developed core stability. The concept of matched pairs was used for age and cricket experience in order to maintain homogeneity between the groups. The core stability and bowling speed of each participant was measured using a pressure biofeedback unit (PBU) and speed sports radar respectively. SPSS version 15.0 was used to analyse the data.


Indonesia is one of the countries with the largest tropical rainforest area, especially in Papua Island together with Papua New Guinea accounted the third largest tropical rainforests in the world, after the Amazon (336.7 million ha) and Congo (181.3 million ha). The total tropical rainforest area is 68.7 million ha contained Papua about 57% (39.2 million ha) and 43% (29.5 million ha) Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, deforestation rates in the few decades increased from 1.39 million ha in the period 1985 – 1997 and 0.6 million ha in the period 2000 – 2005. The direct impact of rapid LULUCF (Land Use, Land Use Change & Forestry) changes since 1980`s has accumulated critical land by 29.0% of forest area in West Papua and 31.4% of forest area in Papua. Climate change affected in Papua region due to rapid amount GHG`s emissions into the atmosphere by increasing average temperature about 0.7oC, minimum temperature (0.7oC) and maximum temperature (1.2oC) during period 1996 – 2005. Other effects of climate change the decreased rainfall up to 26% per month in the last decade, 50% reduced total agriculture productivity, expanded malaria diseases, and increased extreme condition such as drought with intensity of forest fire detected in Sorong due to inter-annual climate variability events, such as the El-Niño event and flood due to the La-Niña event. However, it is difficult task to build mitigation and adaptation planning in the region or local scale due to the lack information, the lack human resources, and local topography and phenomena. In that case, so far, no study has been conducted in Papua region to build mitigation and adaptation planning for carbon management. Therefore, this study tries to promote a carbon management program for help local government to solve forest environmental problems consideration of climate change.


Background/Aims: Ovarian cancer (OC) causes more death and serious conditions than any other female reproductive cancers, and many expression signatures have been identified for OC prognoses. However, no significant overlap is found among signatures from different studies, indicating the necessity of signature identifications at the functional level. Methods: We performed an integrated analyses of miRNA and gene expressions to identify OC prognostic subpathways (pathway regions). Using The Cancer Genome Atlas data set, we identified core prognostic subpathways, and calculated subpathway risk scores using both miRNA and gene components. Finally, we performed global risk impact analyses to optimize core subpathways using the random walk algorithm. Results: Subpathway-level analyses displayed more robust results than the gene- and miRNA-level analyses. Moreover, we verified the advantage of core subpathways over the entire pathway-based results and their prognostic performance in two independent validation data sets. Based on the global impact score, 13 subpathway signatures were selected and a combined subpathway-based risk score was further calculated for OC patient prognoses. Conclusions: Overall, it was possible to systematically perform integrated analyses of the expression levels of miRNAs and genes to identify prognostic subpathways and infer subpathway risk scores for use in OC clinical applications.


During the 1920's and 1930's in Tasmania as in the other Australian states the
"Right Stamp of Migrant" was unquestionably British. The idea of imperial
migration had a strong appeal to many in the post Great War period. Sir Joseph
Cook, High Commissioner for Australia, stated that 'The Empire,was greatly under-populated and a scientific
readjustment of the population of the Empire opened up vistas of happiness and prosperity for millions of still unborn men as well as for-those now struggling against adversity and unemployment in
Great Britain."
Others saw it differently and suggested that Britain was using migration to solve the problems that the post Great War depression had created. The following extract from the editorial of a Tasmanian Labor Party newspaper typified this view.
"Australian Labor. . . does not want to see misery in any part of the globe if there is a way to prevent it. But Australian Labor does not want merely to transfer the unemployed problem of England out here
and that is what the migration schemes of Nationalism mean."
The Assisted Migration Scheme which was designed to attract people to come from Britain and settle in Australia by subsidising the cost of their passage, was embodied in the Empire Settlement Act of 1922. There was an initial influx of migrants in 1921 and 1922 when British ex-servicemen received free passages.
Migration continued steadily throughout the 1920's and then faded to a trickle in the 1930's. There were two types of migrants - nominated and selected. In Tasmania, the majority who came were "nominated"; that is, somebody in Tasmania agreed to take responsibility for the new-corner by meeting them and having accommodation and employment pre-arranged. "Selected" migrants were chosen in Britain by representatives of the Australian Government on the basis of requisitions by the various states. Schemes such as the "Farm Boy Learners" and the "Girl Domestics" were designed to cater for perceived demand in those specific
areas of employment.
This essay emphasises the early 1920's and will involve an examination of the patterns of experience of migrants rather than the development of policy. It is a story of who came, why they came and what happened after they came.
Underpinning this simplicity is a complex interplay involving political, social and economic factors, some of which are difficult to define or measure and the complete spectrum of human characteristics. We see despair but also determination, small mindedness but also magnanimity, tragedy but also occasional triumph. This is a
story of struggle but it contains all that is quintessentially human.


Wide spread use of database systems in modern society has brought the need to provide inexperienced users with the ability to easily search a database with no specific knowledge of a query language. Several recent research efforts have focused on supporting keyword-based searches over relational databases. This paper presents an alternative proposal and introduces the idea of précis queries. These are free-form queries whose answer (a précis) is a synthesis of results, containing not only information directly related to the query selections but also information implicitly related to them in various ways. Our approach to précis queries includes two additional novelties: (a) queries do not generate individual relations but entire multi-relation databases; and (b) query results are personalized to user-specific and/or domain requirements. We develop a framework and system architecture for supporting such queries in the context of a relational database system and describe algorithms that implement the required functionality. Finally, we present a set of experimental results that evaluate the proposed algorithms and show the potential of this work.


The use of online electronic systems to communicate information has become both commonplace and important. Internet access, cell and smart phone use, and electronic mail use are at all-time highs in the US (1). The prevalence of social media continues to increase steadily in the U.S. In 2014, 74% of U.S. adult Internet users reported using a social media platform, representing a 7% increase from 67% in 2012 (1,2). The NIH is building a large cohort study based on the concepts that people can provide, receive, and interact with health data via personal mobile devices, and that they use these data to inform their health choices (3). Given easier accessibility through mobile technology (2) online communication strategies, including social media, are becoming viable platforms in modern health communication (4,5).


We introduce an efficient message passing scheme for solving Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs), which uses stochastic perturbation of Belief Propagation (BP) and Survey Propagation (SP) messages to bypass decimation and directly produce a single satisfying assignment. Our first CSP solver, called Perturbed Blief Propagation, smoothly interpolates two well-known inference procedures; it starts as BP and ends as a Gibbs sampler, which produces a single sample from the set of solutions. Moreover we apply a similar perturbation scheme to SP to produce another CSP solver, Perturbed Survey Propagation. Experimental results on random and real-world CSPs show that Perturbed BP is often more successful and at the same time tens to hundreds of times more efficient than standard BP guided decimation. Perturbed BP also compares favorably with state-of-the-art SP-guided decimation, which has a computational complexity that generally scales exponentially worse than our method (wrt the cardinality of variable domains and constraints). Furthermore, our experiments with random satisfiability and coloring problems demonstrate that Perturbed SP can outperform SP-guided decimation, making it the best incomplete random CSP-solver in difficult regimes.


The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), is a major target of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn in the U.S. mid southern region. Corn expressing pyramided Bt proteins has recently become commercially available in the U.S. The objectives of this study were 1) to determine survival and plant injury of Cry1Ab-susceptible (Cry1Ab-SS), -resistant (Cry1Ab-RR), and heterozygous (Cry1Ab-RS) genotypes of D. saccharalis on Bt corn containing single and pyramided Bt genes and 2) to assess larval movement of D. saccharalis in different planting patterns of non-Bt and Bt corn. One laboratory leaf tissue bioassay and two independent greenhouse trials were conducted to evaluate larval survival and plant injury on five corn hybrids. On intact plants of non-Bt corn, 43-62% larvae survived after 21 days. Larval survivorship on Cry1Ab corn was 4.7- 5.6% for Cry1Ab-SS, 29.4-32.5 % for Cry1Ab-RS, and 36.6- 45.6% for Cry1Ab-RR. In contrast, the 21-day survivorship on the two pyramided Bt corn hybrids was <5% for the three insect genotypes. Results of the leaf tissue bioassays were consistent with the greenhouse tests. Larval movement of D. saccharalis was evaluated in four planting patterns of non-Bt and Bt plants containing Genuity® SmartStaxTM traits. The four planting patterns were: 1) pure stand of Bt corn, 2) a non-Bt corn plant surrounded by 26 Bt corn plants, 3) pure stand of non-Bt corn, and 4) a Bt corn plant surrounded by 26 non-Bt corn plants. Studies were conducted in three conditions: 1) greenhouse; 2) open field with artificial infestations of 50 eggs on the center plants; and 3) open field study with artificial infestations of 10 neonates on every plant. Larvae of D. saccharalis showed the ability to move from infested plants to at least four plants away and from the infested rows to adjacent rows. The results showed that the pyramided Bt corn can overcome the Cry1Ab resistance and thus should offer a means for Cry1Ab resistance management in D. saccharalis. Together with previous data, the results indicate that the seed mixture strategy might be able to provide a similar refuge population of D. saccharalis as the structured refuge planting.


The use of cloud computing in different application areas is growing fast. More and more functions are being moved into the cloud in order to take advantage of cloud computing strengths such as scalability, resources on demand, and usage based cost models. However, most types of embedded systems are still in an early phase of cloud adoption, with a few exceptions found in e.g., data storage and user interfaces. In this paper we present a number of challenges and opportunities when introducing cloud computing into embedded systems. In particular, we look at embedded systems with requirements on timing predictability, i.e., real-time systems. In the paper we conclude that it is possible to move a complete soft real-time system into the cloud. Moreover we see an upcoming development in cloud computing to potentially allow for hard real-time systems to be moved to the cloud.


In the wake of the rise of social networking sites, courts and litigants are struggling to define the limits of civil discovery of such information. Some courts have applied the same rules to social networks that apply to all other documents: relevant materials responsive to a party's requests must be produced. But a significant number of courts have created an entirely new procedure, applicable only to discovery of social networking materials, by ordering parties receiving such requests to not simply produce responsive documents, but to provide the opposing party with access to their entire account. Indeed, in several cases, courts have ordered the production of a party's username and password, potentially compromising the security of other sites as well. These decisions are mistaken. Nothing in the applicable state or federal rules governing discovery requires or even permits a court to order a person to allow another party to obtain documentary evidence directly from the source. Instead, the rules require that person only to produce responsive materials within the scope of discovery. Although it has not often been recognized, this production procedure serves a privacy-protective function: nonresponsive, irrelevant, or otherwise objectionable documents are seen only by one's own counsel until a court specifically orders them to be turned over. There is no demonstrated need for a different procedure for social networks. By ordering parties to provide opposing counsel with unfettered access to entire accounts, including nonresponsive or irrelevant posts, photographs, and comments, both from the user and from all of the user's friends and family, courts are needlessly violating the privacy of individuals even more than discovery already requires. Although there are times when the novel technological situation posed by the Internet, and its concomitant social transformations, require reinterpretation of a longstanding rule, this is not one of those times.


Abstract Trees are carbon dioxide sinks and major producers of terrestrial biomass with distinct seasonal growth patterns. Circadian clocks enable the coordination of physiological and biochemical temporal activities, optimally regulating multiple traits including growth. To dissect the clock's role in growth, we analysed Populus tremula × P. tremuloides trees with impaired clock function due to down‐regulation of central clock components. late elongated hypocotyl (lhy‐10) trees, in which expression of LHY1 and LHY2 is reduced by RNAi, have a short free‐running period and show disrupted temporal regulation of gene expression and reduced growth, producing 30–40% less biomass than wild‐type trees. Genes important in growth regulation were expressed with an earlier phase in lhy‐10, and CYCLIN D3 expression was misaligned and arrhythmic. Levels of cytokinins were lower in lhy‐10 trees, which also showed a change in the time of peak expression of genes associated with cell division and growth. However, auxin levels were not altered in lhy‐10 trees, and the size of the lignification zone in the stem showed a relative increase. The reduced growth rate and anatomical features of lhy‐10 trees were mainly caused by misregulation of cell division, which may have resulted from impaired clock function.


For 50 years Heavy Weather Sailing has been regarded as the ultimate international authority on surviving storms at sea aboard sailing and motor vessels. The first edition was compiled by Kaines Adlard Coles himself in 1967. Since then technology may have improved, but the weather certainly hasn't. This is the seventh updated edition, edited by racing yachtsman Peter Bruce, ensuring that in its 50th year the book remains as relevant and as essential as it has been for the previous five decades. The book brings together a wealth of expert advice from many of the great sailors of the present, including fresh accounts of yachts overtaken by extreme weather, from Ewan Southby-Tailyour, Alex Whitworth and Dag Pike to Larry and Lin Pardey, Matt Sheahan and Andrew Claughton. It also includes a new Foreword by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Britain's most high profile yachtsman of the past 50 years. The expert advice section has been updated in line with current thinking, and there has been a major update to the chapter focusing on the use of storm sails as well as to the use of drag devices. The technique of taking refuge has been reviewed and updated, and the chapters dealing with preparations for heavy weather and its effect on yacht design have been overhauled. These revisions ensure that Heavy Weather Sailing is as relevant, useful and instructive for today's sailor venturing offshore as it ever was - perhaps more so in the light of tragic disasters like the loss of the Cheeky Raffiki mid-Atlantic on a delivery trip after her season racing in the Caribbean. This is the definitive book for crews of any size contemplating voyages out of sight of land anywhere in the world, whether racing or cruising. It gives a clear message regarding the preparations required, and the tactics to consider when it comes on to blow.


Background: Variations in formulations used to prepare platelet-rich plasmas (PRPs) result in differences in the cellular composition and biomolecular characteristics. Purpose: To evaluate the cellular composition and the cytokine-release kinetics of PRP according to differences in the preparation protocols. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Five preparation procedures were performed for 14 healthy subjects, including 2 manual procedures (single-spin [SS] at 900g for 5 minutes; double-spin [DS] at 900g for 5 minutes and then 1500g for 15 minutes) and 3 methods with commercial kits (Arthrex ACP, Biomet GPS, and Prodizen Prosys). After evaluation of cellular composition, each preparation was divided into 4 aliquots and incubated for 1 hour, 24 hours, 72 hours, and 7 days for the assessment of cytokine release over time. The cytokine-release kinetics were evaluated by assessing platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor (TGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and matrix metalloproteinase–9 (MMP-9) concentrations of each aliquot with bead-based sandwich immunoassay. Results: The DS PRP had a higher concentration of platelets and leukocytes than did the SS PRP. Every PRP preparation exhibited an increase in PDGF, TGF, VEGF, and FGF release when compared with whole blood samples. The FGF and TGF release occurred quickly and decreased over time, while the PDGF and VEGF release was constant and sustained over 7 days. The PDGF and VEGF concentrations were higher in the DS PRP than in the SS PRP, whereas the TGF and FGF concentrations were higher in the SS PRP than in the DS PRP. Biomet GPS had the highest VEGF and MMP-9 concentrations but the lowest TGF concentration. Arthrex ACP had the highest FGF concentration but the lowest PDGF concentration. Prodizen Prosys had the highest IL-1 concentration and higher PDGF concentration than Arthrex ACP. Conclusion: The DS method generally led to a higher concentration of platelet relative to the SS method. However, the cytokine content was not necessarily proportional to the cellular composition of the PRPs, as the greater content could be different between the SS or DS method depending on the type of cytokine. Clinical Relevance: Physicians should select proper PRP preparations after considering their biomolecular characteristics and patient indications.


Increasing the labour market participation of single parents, whether to boost incomes or reduce welfare spending, is a major policy objectives in a number of countries. This paper presents causal evidence on the impact of work search requirements on single parents' transitions into work and onto other benefits. We use rich administrative data on all single parent welfare recipients, and apply a difference-in-differences approach that exploits the staggered roll-out of a reform in the UK that gradually decreased the age of the youngest child at which single parents lose the right to an unconditional cash benefit. Consistent with the predictions of a simple search model, the work search requirements have heterogeneous impacts, leading some single parents to move into work (especially those with strong previous labour market attachments), but leading some (especially those with weak previous labour market attachments) to move onto disability benefits (with no search conditionalities) or non-claimant unemployment.


In much of the northwest Atlantic Ocean, commercially important snow crab Chionoe- cetes opilio stocks have increased in abundance since the decline and collapse of major groundfish stocks such as Atlantic cod Gadus morhua. We examined 3 hypotheses to explain variation in the abundance of snow crabs across 10 regions: (1) climate control of both species, (2) top-down control of snow crab by cod and (3) bottom-up control of cod by snow crab. We tested these hypotheses by analyzing time series data of cod and crab abundance indices and temperature via meta-analysis of full and partial correlation coefficients. We found that temperature had an opposing effect on the 2 species: snow crab abundance was negatively correlated with temperature at 7 to 10 yr lags, whereas cod and temperature were positively related at 1 to 7 yr lags. Controlling for the effect of temperature, our meta-analysis revealed significant negative correlations of snow crab and cod abundance, with cod leading snow crab by up to a 5 yr lag. This suggests a top-down effect on older juvenile and subadult snow crab. We found no evidence of a bottom-up effect of snow crab on cod. Negative correlations between cod and crab abundance were observed both at the warmer and colder portions of their ranges. These results suggest that snow crab abundance is largely influenced by temperature during the early postsettlement years and becomes increasingly regulated by top-down mechanisms during the years approaching fishery recruitment. The method presented in this paper is generally useful to test ecological hypotheses from time series data, particularly where multiple causal mechanisms are suspected.


An eruption of Santorini some 3,600 years ago was one of the largest, yet most mysterious, natural calamities in human history and may have wiped out an entire civilization. Much of the evidence of its destruction has been lost at sea until now. National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Robert Ballard and an international team of volcanologists, armed with a state-of-the-art Remote Operated Vehicle fitted with HD cameras, dive into the belly of the Santorini's submerged caldera.


Stress induced by accumulation of unfolded proteins at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a classic feature of secretory cells and is observed in many tissues in human diseases including cancer, diabetes, obesity, and neurodegeneration. Cellular adaptation to ER stress is achieved by the activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR), an integrated signal transduction pathway that transmits information about the protein folding status at the ER to the nucleus and cytosol to restore ER homeostasis. Inositol-requiring transmembrane kinase/endonuclease-1 (IRE1α), the most conserved UPR stress sensor, functions as an endoribonuclease that processes the mRNA of the transcription factor X-box binding protein-1 (XBP1). IRE1α signaling is a highly regulated process, controlled by the formation of a dynamic scaffold onto which many regulatory components assemble, here referred to as the UPRosome. Here we provide an overview of the signaling and regulatory mechanisms underlying IRE1α function and discuss the emerging role of the UPR in adaptation to protein folding stress in specialized secretory cells and in pathological conditions associated with alterations in ER homeostasis.


Genomic instability causes cancers to acquire hundreds to thousands of mutations and chromosomal alterations during their somatic evolution. Most of these mutations and alterations are termed passengers because they do not confer cancer phenotypes. Evolutionary simulations and cancer genomic studies suggested that mildly-deleterious passengers accumulate, collectively slow cancer progression, reduce the fitness of cancer cells and enhance the effects of therapeutics. However, these effects of passengers and their impact on clinical variables remain limited to genomic analysis. Here, to assess passengers' effect on cell fitness and cancer, we specifically introduced increasing passenger loads into human cell lines and mouse models. We found that passenger load dramatically reduced cancer cell's fitness in every model investigated. Passengers' average fitness cost of ∼3% per MB, indicates that genomic instability in cancer in patients can slow tumor growth and prevent metastatic progression. We conclude that genomic instability in cancer is a double-edged sword: it accelerates the accumulation of adaptive drivers, yet incurs a harmful passenger load that can outweigh drivers' benefit. Passenger load could be a useful biomarker for tumor aggressiveness and response to mutagenic or passenger-exacerbating therapies, including anti-tumor immunity.


This essay analyzes the depiction of "things" in three modernist novels: Dovid Bergelson's The End of Everything (Yiddish, 1913), a tale of ennui set in a provincial town outside Kiev, where faded fabrics and cherished ornaments in drawing rooms emblematize the end of an era; Henry Roth's Call It Sleep (1934), where the detritus of a Lower East Side childhood become symbolic totems of a violent coming-of-age; and S. Y. Agnon's Just Yesterday (Hebrew, 1946), an epic novel of immigration, cultural renaissance, and insanity set in Jaffa and Jerusalem, wherein taxidermy and olive-wood craft figure as metonymic symbols of a new national self. My comparative reading of these novels highlights a complementary set of conditions—objects in books, and the book as object. I argue that the genre's engagement with things, and its emergence as a thing, suggests how writing both fears and revels in its own commodification and immersion in the economic sphere. These novels exemplify how modern, transnational Jewish literature was reconceived as material culture.


the chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are those of noninfectious and noncommunicable character presenting themselves in people.(Kim & Oh, 2013) it has been considered that the increase in the population and the life expectancy cause an increase in the number of adults and the older people which are susceptible to suffer from NCDs that leads to incapacitating sequels. (World Health Organization, 2012) Tabaquism and alcoholism, overweight, physical inactivity, the increase in blood pressure and cholesterol are important risk factors that carry to the appearance of these diseases. (Kim & Oh, 2013). The NCDs have increase exponentially in the last few years, the people suffering from them present dependency leading them to require a caregiver, in this relationship cares are given and received which affect the dyad due to the loss of their autonomy.


Strange as it may seem, in this era of escalating intellectual enlightement, laws must be passed to protect innocent, harmless children from their parents and others who beat them into senselessness and even death. On 1 July 1965 such a law went into effect in Illinois, and Illinois became the 11th state to enact a child abuse statute [1]. Our law requires mandatory reporting of all definite or suspicious instances of child abuse to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. This legislation was drafted and its passage urged by a special committee appointed by the Illinois Commission on Children, of which I was a member. It was also endorsed by the Coroner of Cook County, whose office had examined many of the victims, and by many other interested persons who in their professional activities encountered battered children. All felt that the actual reporting and the concomitant publicity and education would serve as deterrents to this deplorable condition. Today, ten years later, the battered child has not been legislated out of existence, although all states now have similar reporting laws [2]. Both the incidence and the severity of these heinous acts continue to be alarming in our country as well as in many foreign countries [3–9]. Daily a large segment of our citizenry, the battered child, is being deprived of its right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Physicians, attorneys, and other professionals must be in the forefront to diagnose the condition, treat the victims, take remedial action against the offenders, and attempt to formulate preventive measures.


The use of growth hormone therapy has been linked in some people to the development of colon polyps, a possible precursor to colorectal cancer – but medical researchers have debated the extent of a cancer risk. In addition, the reason for a polyp link to growth hormone has been unclear. But new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicates the probable answer: loss of function of one of a pair of genes that normally would inhibit growth hormone signals inside the cell. The study also offers a possible molecular marker that could help determine which people taking growth hormone therapy are at increased risk for colon polyps. Researchers already know that colon polyps tend to occur in people who already have excessive amounts of growth hormone, such as those with a disease called acromegaly, or gigantism. A report of the study appears in the April issue of the medical journal Endocrinology. Study senior author Dr. P. Kay Lund, professor of cell and molecular physiology within UNC's School of Medicine and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, said she and her team had been interested in looking at the effect of a newly discovered inhibitor of cellular growth hormone signaling, suppressor of cytokine signaling-2, or SOCS2. This molecule limits growth hormone action on the body and organ growth, but its role in growth hormone action on intestine is unknown, Lund said. "Much of the work on SOCS2 had been done in cell cultures. We wanted to study it in vivo, in laboratory animals, with a focus on how it stops the action of cellular growth hormone." The researchers thought an ideal way to study this issue would be to use an animal model of acromegaly, laboratory mice having excessive amounts of growth hormone. The animals were crossed with animals in which the SOCS2 gene was deleted. The breeding generated animals with excessive growth hormone and one or two functional SOCS2 genes, but none with excessive growth hormone and no SOCS2 genes, an unexpected result. "This meant that excessive growth hormone and no functional SOCS2 is incompatible with successful embryonic development," Lund said. But there was another surprise: While colon polyps did not develop in animals with excessive growth hormone and two functional SOCS genes, multiple polyps did develop in animals with excessive growth hormone and only one functioning SOCS2 gene. "We discovered that losing this one copy of SOCS2, this 'haplotype insufficiency,' is enough to cause spontaneous polyp formation in these animals," Lund said, adding that the findings may have implications for humans. "Haplotype insufficiency animal models are much closer to the normal human variation. Animals expressing just 50 percent normal levels of a protein can be thought of as reflecting the physiological variation that occurs in the general population." According to Lund, expression levels of SOCS2 measured in, say, 100 people would almost certainly vary by at least 50 percent. "So this really raises the issue that in a situation of growth hormone excess, such as acromegaly or, possibly, growth hormone therapy, SOCS2 may really be fundamental to dictating your risk of getting abnormalities in the colon." On the other hand, Lund's research may apply to the variations found in response to growth hormone therapy for the gastrointestinal tract. This would include people with short-bowel syndrome, a group of problems affecting individuals who have had half or more of their small intestine surgically removed. Many people with short bowel syndrome are malnourished becausetheir remaining small intestine is unable to absorb enough water, vitamins and other nutrients from food. "What has been a puzzle there is that the response to growth hormone in these patients is very variable. Some seem to respond well and get a great benefit from this therapy, and some people don't respond well," Lund said. "And we found that animals having 50 percent of normal expression levels of SOCS2 show much greater small intestinal growth to growth hormone therapy. So if low SOCS2 enhances the response of the small intestine to growth hormone, it says that patients that have lower SOCS2 may be the ones who favorably respond to this therapy." Thus, depending on the clinical situation, levels of SOCS2 would either predict who might be at greater risk for colon polyps in the presence of an excess of growth hormone and who might best respond to growth hormone therapy for gastrointestinal conditions such as short bowel syndrome. "Our future research with SOCS2 will be aimed at studies on human tissue samples to test variations in levels of SOCS2 in the intestine to predict risk of colonic polyps or the response of short bowel syndrome patients to therapeutic growth hormone. Future animal studies will test the role of SOCS2 in cancer models," Lund said. UNC co-authors with Lund were lead author Dr. Carmen Michaylira, a former graduate student in Lund's lab and now at the University of Pennsylvania; Nicole Ramocki, graduate student; Dr. James Simmons, research associate in cell and molecular physiology; C. Kirby Tanner, first-year medical student; Kirk McNaughton, research analyst in cell and molecular physiology; and Dr. John Woosley, asssociate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine. Co-author Dr. Christopher Greenhalgh from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, was an essential collaborator on the SOCS2 work. Funding for the research came from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a component of the National Institutes of Health. Fore more information, contact: Leslie H. Lang; Tel.: 919.843.9687


This study is mainly focused on two major types of damage: intra-laminar ply cracking and inter-ply delamination in fiber-reinforced composite under static and fatigue loading. Off-axis and angle-ply non woven laminate have been used to study matrix cracking. Damage evolution based on continuum damage mechanics is considered for prediction intralaminar ply cracking. While, angle-ply woven laminate is used to study the delamination. The delamination onset criterion based on average stress has been proposed. Identification of the different parameters of damage evolution model of matrix cracking and delamination onset has been made with classical rectangular specimen. Validation was made with static and fatigue tests performed on non woven and woven laminates with drilled circular hole. The numerical predictions are in good agreement with experimental results.


Background : The continuing evolution of medical treatments and the loss of neutrality of medicine with respect to morality of human values have represented the major tracking elements towards settings of sharing of choices between society and medicine. Several concerns have been raised upon links between pharmaceutical corporations and researchers. Moreover, being in a learning environment, we must pay even more attention to these items because students appear to be at risk for unrecognized influence by marketing efforts. The aim of this study is to focus on the activities of a local ethics committee (LEC) and the characteristics of the protocols discussed in an Italian LEC during a three year period (2001-2003). Methods : Three years of activity of a LEC were analysed by a questionnaire registering: main sponsorship, setting, technical characteristics of trials, outcome of the submission to the LEC, state of progress. Approved trials were followed-up until April 30th, 2005. Results : A total of 345 protocols were discussed. 67.8% (n = 198) of approved protocols were submitted by a pharmaceutical corporation. 72.6% (n = 212) of studies approved in 2001 were still in progress in 2005. 91.3% (n = 73) of closed trials had a pharmaceutical corporation as their main sponsor. None of the submitted studies focused on prevention strategies. Conclusions : These results show how important grants offered by pharmaceutical industries are, the efforts spent on therapy and the lack of investors in prevention.


In this paper we study how the use of a more continuous set of basis functions affects the cost of solving systems of linear equations resulting from a discretized Galerkin weak form. Specifically, we compare performance of linear solvers when discretizing using $C^0$ B-splines, which span traditional finite element spaces, and $C^{p-1}$ B-splines, which represent maximum continuity. We provide theoretical estimates for the increase in cost of the matrix-vector product as well as for the construction and application of black-box preconditioners. We accompany these estimates with numerical results and study their sensitivity to various grid parameters such as element size $h$ and polynomial order of approximation $p$. Finally, we present timing results for a range of preconditioning options for the Laplace problem. We conclude that the matrix-vector product operation is at most $\slfrac{33p^2}{8}$ times more expensive for the more continuous space, although for moderately low $p$, this number is significantly reduced. Moreover, if static condensation is not employed, this number further reduces to at most a value of 8, even for high $p$. Preconditioning options can be up to $p^3$ times more expensive to setup, although this difference significantly decreases for some popular preconditioners such as Incomplete LU factorization.


Primary care p 1154

The use of opioids in chronic non-malignant pain is profoundly messy. A simple start is to say that if somebody has severe pain which responds to opioids and for which there is no other effective remedy then why should they not receive opioids? Two judgments are then implicit: that opioids are effective and that other remedies are not. How well do these judgments hold up? And if they do, how do we work out which opioid and formulation? A paper in this week's issue addresses, but doesn't answer, the second question (p 1154).1

Opioids are often withheld to protect society or to protect the patient. The society argument is that the medical availability of opioid increases street addiction. There has never been any strong evidence that medical use increases street problems, and the introduction of oral morphine in Sweden in the early 1980s was shown not to increase addiction.2

Withholding the opioid to protect the individual might be done for physical or psychological reasons. Many notables across the centuries used opioids long term without deterioration in physical health: Florence Nightingale, …


This book was awarded as a Guardian Best Book of the Year 2014. It is longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. The Catholics of Elizabethan England did not witness a golden age. Their Mass was banned, their priests were outlawed, their faith was criminalised. In an age of assassination and Armada, those Catholics who clung to their faith were increasingly seen as the enemy within. In this superb history, award-winning author Jessie Childs explores the Catholic predicament in Elizabethan England through the eyes of one remarkable family: the Vauxes of Harrowden Hall. God's Traitors is a tale of dawn raids and daring escapes, stately homes and torture chambers, ciphers, secrets and lies. From clandestine chapels and side-street inns to exile communities and the corridors of power, it exposes the tensions and insecurities masked by the cult of Gloriana. Above all, it is a timely story of courage and frailty, repression and reaction and the terrible consequences when religion and politics collide.


Aim: To describe vitreoretinal imaging of eyes with vitreomacular abnormalities using high-resolution coronal-plane optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanning combined with simultaneous scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) imaging. Methods: A SLO–OCT (OTI, Canada) was used to scan 835 eyes in 736 patients with vitreomacular interface abnormalities including epiretinal membranes, macular hole, incomplete posterior vitreous detachment, vitreomacular traction syndromes and diabetic and cystoid macular oedema in a retrospective study. The longitudinal-B scan images and the transverse -C scan images in the coronal plane were used to describe vitreomacular interface abnormalities. The SLO–OCT simultaneously produces a confocal image of the retina. Results: The longitudinal "B" scan and en-face "C" scan images allowed identification of tractive forces of epiretinal membrane, contour of the hyaloid membrane and changes in inner retinal surface. A simultaneously obtained OCT scan and SLO image of the fundus offered exact co-localisation of retinal structures and vitreomacular interface abnormalities. Conclusion: Scanning the vitreomacular interface by using combined OCT and SLO enables the visualisation and better understanding of various vitreomacular interface abnormalities, due to the ability to colocalise pathology on OCT with retinal vascular landmarks and the ability to visualise pathology from a new perspective, coronal plane parallel to retinal surface.


We proposed a deep learning method for interpretable diabetic retinopathy (DR) detection. The visual-interpretable feature of the proposed method is achieved by adding the regression activation map (RAM) after the global averaging pooling layer of the convolutional networks (CNN). With RAM, the proposed model can localize the discriminative regions of an retina image to show the specific region of interest in terms of its severity level. We believe this advantage of the proposed deep learning model is highly desired for DR detection because in practice, users are not only interested with high prediction performance, but also keen to understand the insights of DR detection and why the adopted learning model works. In the experiments conducted on a large scale of retina image dataset, we show that the proposed CNN model can achieve high performance on DR detection compared with the state-of-the-art while achieving the merits of providing the RAM to highlight the salient regions of the input image.


A systematic revision of the so-called orbitoid foraminifera and allied forms, together with some three-layered types among the Nummulitidae, Pellatispiridae, and Orbitolitidae. Juvenile characters and the presence or absence of a canal system are considered important criteria for classification. Two new subfamilies, Pseudorbitoidinae and Pseudorbitellinae, are added to the Pseudorbitoididae, and Pseudorbitella americana n.g. n.sp. is described.


A largely unregulated seal-swim industry exists in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia. This study has documented four fur seal behaviours in response to vessel traffic and presence of swimmers in order to determine the impact of tourism activities on Australian fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus). Behavioural responses of fur seals to the presence of a total of 135 vessels (tour = 61 and recreational = 74) were collected on 42 research trips over the peak austral summer tourist period (November 2007 to February 2008). After considering all studied variables, vessel distance, the number of swimmers undertaking sealswim activities, and the number of recreational vessels were found to influence seal behaviour. Aggressive behaviour displays by fur seals were influenced by the presence of recreational vessels within close proximity to the study site (< 200 m); haul-out events initially increased as a result of the presence of swimmers undertaking seal-swim activities; and occurrences of fur seals entering the water increased in response to the distance of approaching tourism vessels to the study site. Statistical analyses found no clear indicator influencing the number of threat postures displayed by fur seals. While a weak linear relationship was identified between the indicators (i.e., presence of recreational vessels, presence of swimmers, and the distance of tour vessels) and the three behaviours displayed by fur seals, post hoc tests failed to achieve significantly different means for each of the indicators. This preliminary research into the impact of swim-with tourism upon A. pusillus doriferus will provide valuable baseline data for the future. The long-term research into the effects of this particular tourism industry on fur seal behaviour may ensure wildlife managers develop appropriate regulations for seal tourism interactions that promote a sustainable marine tourism industry within Port Phillip Bay.


Introduction
Multi-segmental foot modelling (MSFM) during shod activity has the potential to enhance our understanding of how footwear influences foot motion. Recent work by Bishop et al. (2015) and Shultz & Jenkyn (2012) has validated the incision parameters to accommodate surface mounted markers for two alternative MSFMs, requiring 7 and 5 incisions respectively, within the shoe. These MSFMs have been sparsely used in contrast to 3DFoot model (Leardini et al. 2007) which would require 10 incisions and has not been used previously to assess in-shoe foot motion.

Purpose of the study
To determine the influence of incisions to accommodate Jenkyn and Nicol (JN) and 3DFoot MSFMs upon the structural integrity of neutral running shoes.

Methods
Two procedures were applied to assess shoe deformation. A) Eight males (30±8yrs, 1.78±0.05m, 84±7kg) completed 2 testing sessions. Participants ran at a self-selected pace (3±0.5m.s-1) in standard ASICS running shoes. Baseline shoe deformation data was collected during the first session. Prior to session 2, 25mm incisions were made to accommodate MSFMs: 3DFoot (left shoe) and JN (right shoe). Kinematic data were recorded using a 3D motion analysis system (VICON, Oxford, England) at 200Hz. Three retro-reflective markers (Figure 1) were used to measure as shoe distance and shoe angle at initial contact (IC), heel rise (HR) and toe off (TO). Shoe deformation measures were compared using paired t-tests. B) Material strain of the shoe upper was assessed in 1 male participant (26yrs, 1.80m, 80kgs) using ARAMIS optical system. Material strain patterns were compared between intact and cut conditions using Trend symmetry (TS) analysis (Crenshaw & Richards, 2006).

Here Figure 1.

Results
No significant differences (p > 0.05) in shoe distance were recorded between intact and cut conditions but significant differences (p < 0.05) were reported in shoe angle at all three events of running gait (Table 1). Material strain assessment showed lower TS scores for the lateral aspect of the shoe (TS = 0.81 ± 0.11) than the medial aspect (TS = 0.89 ± 0.12). Symmetry was greater between the intact and JN shoe (TS= 0.88 ± 0.10) than the intact and 3DFoot shoe (TS = 0.82 ± 0.13).

Here Table 1.

Discussion and Conclusion
Analysis of kinematic shoe deformation measures revealed individual responses to incisions made within the upper of a running shoe to accommodate MSFMs. Significant (p < 0.05) changes in shoe angles were noted between the intact and cut conditions at IC and TO for the JN incisions and HR for the 3DFoot incisions. However, while the changes in shoe angle were significant, the mean difference was small (≤ 5°). This value is lower than the minimal important difference proposed by Nester et al. (2007) for comparison of gait kinematics. Thus, it may be argued that the differences in shoes angles between intact and cut conditions were negligible and the results support the use of either MSFM to assess shod foot motion.

While the use of kinematic measures to infer the shoes structural integrity have been used previously (Shultz and Jenkyn, 2012), no validation of these measure has been undertaken. The small and non-systematic findings reported in both this study and that of Shultz and Jenkyn (2012), particularly for shoe distance measures; question the sensitivity of kinematic shoe deformation measures to detect changes in structural integrity. Material strain analysis was used to further explore area specific alterations in the running shoes structural integrity from the different incision sets. The material strain analysis supported the use of the JN foot model to assess in-shoe foot kinematics, due to higher symmetry scores and smaller mean differences between the intact and JN shoes. Further exploration of additional means of assessing the influence of incisions to accommodate MSFM upon the shoes structural integrity is warranted.

References
Bishop, C. et al. (2015). Gait Posture, 41 (1), 295-299.
Crenshaw, S. and Richards, J. (2006) Gait Posture, 24 (4), 515-521.
Jenkyn, T. and Nicol, A. (2007). J Biomech, 40 (14), 3271-3278.
Leardini, A. et al. (2007). Gait Posture, 25 (3), 453-462.
Nester, C. et al. (2007). J Biomech, 40 (15), 3412-3423.
Shultz, R. and Jenkyn, T. (2012). Med Eng Phys, 34 (1), 118-122.


Nutrient transfer from soils to surface waters is associated with large, hydrologically induced fluctuations. Consequently, stream‐based estimation of long‐term changes in nutrient leaching is masked by variations of stream discharge. Using high‐resolution discharge and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) data from three small catchments (up to 42 km2), SRP loads are calculated by applying two different rating curves. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out to determine monitoring strategies for optimizing the number of water samples, their distribution between periods of low and high discharge, and the duration of composite sample collection. Trends in SRP load are isolated from natural variations by applying the discharge time series of 1 year each to annually changing rating curves. By applying this approach to various monitoring data sets, collected over the past 15 years, downward trends in SRP leaching of up to −3% yr−1 are detected. We describe how to determine the number of annual samples required to detect trends in nutrient load, depending on monitoring duration, available resources, and the magnitude of the expected trend.


We present the sensor concept and first performance and accuracy assessment results of a novel lightweight topo-bathymetric laser scanner designed for integration on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), light aircraft, and helicopters. The instrument is particularly well suited for capturing river bathymetry in high spatial resolution as a consequence of (i) the low nominal flying altitude of 50–150 m above ground level resulting in a laser footprint diameter on the ground of typically 10–30 cm and (ii) the high pulse repetition rate of up to 200 kHz yielding a point density on the ground of approximately 20–50 points/m2. The instrument features online waveform processing and additionally stores the full waveform within the entire range gate for waveform analysis in post-processing. The sensor was tested in a real-world environment by acquiring data from two freshwater ponds and a 500 m section of the pre-Alpine Pielach River (Lower Austria). The captured underwater points featured a maximum penetration of two times the Secchi depth. On dry land, the 3D point clouds exhibited (i) a measurement noise in the range of 1–3 mm; (ii) a fitting precision of redundantly captured flight strips of 1 cm; and (iii) an absolute accuracy of 2–3 cm compared to terrestrially surveyed checkerboard targets. A comparison of the refraction corrected LiDAR point cloud with independent underwater checkpoints exhibited a maximum deviation of 7.8 cm and revealed a systematic depth-dependent error when using a refraction coefficient of n = 1.36 for time-of-flight correction. The bias is attributed to multi-path effects in the turbid water column (Secchi depth: 1.1 m) caused by forward scattering of the laser signal at suspended particles. Due to the high spatial resolution, good depth performance, and accuracy, the sensor shows a high potential for applications in hydrology, fluvial morphology, and hydraulic engineering, including flood simulation, sediment transport modeling, and habitat mapping.


The various oligopeptides produced by individual Microcystis clones enable the classification of individual colonies of Microcystis in distinct peptide chemotypes. The dynamics and diversity of coexisting chemotypes are regarded as major factors influencing the microcystin‐content of blooms of this potentially toxic cyanobacterial genus. We compared the chemotype composition in planktonic and benthic Microcystis communities in Brno reservoir (Czech Republic) from July to November 2004 by single‐colony mass spectrometry (n = 783). Ninety‐two peptides were selected to characterize 37 chemotypes as revealed by K‐means clustering. In the course of the season the Microcystis community became significantly less diverse (linear regression of Shannon indices, p < 0.001) in the pelagic, and in November two chemotypes—both of which did not contain microcystins—accounted for nearly 80% of the colonies. In contrast, other chemotypes that were dominant in the pelagic in July were no longer encountered after August, whereas some chemotypes that never accounted for high relative abundances were encountered throughout the season. The shift to some few dominant chemotypes in the pelagic was also reflected by changes in the benthic community where the same chemotypes increased in relative abundances. Nonetheless, chemotypes were identified in the sediment in July and November that were never found in plankton samples. A principal component analysis revealed that communities in the pelagial and the benthal were very different in July but converged during the season because of the deposition of dominant planktonic chemotypes in the sediment. In accordance with the declining percentage of toxin‐producing Microcystis colonies, the microcystin content of seston samples decreased significantly from 0.9 mg g‐1 dry weight to levels below the detection limit (linear regression, p < 0.001).


In liquid composite manufacturing, permeability is the driving process parameter for mold fills and is critical for understanding the infusion flow and pressure distribution that results. Permeability has been identified as a complex variable which can vary significantly in magnitude for similar test cases. Permeability has also been isolated at different levels because of the multi-scale nature of composite fiber reinforcement. In the micro-scale, fibers are formed into randomly aligned tows composed of thousands of fibers. A second scale, the meso-scale, considers the tow dimensions and weave parameters, but inputs a Darcy based permeability to make up for physical geometry variations. On the micro-scale, fibers are generally considered as ordered in some kind of idealized packing arrangement, for example hexagonal or square packing. This is not always realistic and defining permeability as a function of porosity alone may not be enough to achieve an accurate permeability prediction on the micro-scale. Here, we isolate the micro-scale structures of unidirectional fiber reinforcements and investigate flows across aligned fiber geometries and infusion characteristics during manufacturing. Reduced geometries are utilized to represent the fiber and matrix interactions during a liquid infusion. The overarching goal of this research is to use numerical tools to create better understanding of composite manufacturing processes. A systematic computational approach is utilized to understand how material packing changes the fluid flow regime during composite manufacturing, helping to select appropriate infusion parameters to produce a part. This approach incorporates a numerical modelling procedure to predict unidirectional permeability on the microscale. The results set up a baseline that compares well with analytical models as a function of fiber diameter and volume fraction. Results show that variations due to fiber packing can be identified independently of fiber volume fraction.


Metabolic profiling of cancer cells has recently been established as a promising tool for the development of therapies and identification of cancer biomarkers. Here we characterized the metabolomic profile of human breast tumors and uncovered intrinsic metabolite signatures in these tumors using an untargeted discovery approach and validation of key metabolites. The oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) accumulated at high levels in a subset of tumors and human breast cancer cell lines. We discovered an association between increased 2HG levels and MYC pathway activation in breast cancer, and further corroborated this relationship using MYC overexpression and knockdown in human mammary epithelial and breast cancer cells. Further analyses revealed globally increased DNA methylation in 2HG-high tumors and identified a tumor subtype with high tissue 2HG and a distinct DNA methylation pattern that was associated with poor prognosis and occurred with higher frequency in African-American patients. Tumors of this subtype had a stem cell-like transcriptional signature and tended to overexpress glutaminase, suggestive of a functional relationship between glutamine and 2HG metabolism in breast cancer. Accordingly, 13C-labeled glutamine was incorporated into 2HG in cells with aberrant 2HG accumulation, whereas pharmacologic and siRNA-mediated glutaminase inhibition reduced 2HG levels. Our findings implicate 2HG as a candidate breast cancer oncometabolite associated with MYC activation and poor prognosis.


Current GUI testing approaches validate the functional correctness of interactive applications, but they neglect an important non-functional quality: performance. With the growing complexity of interactive applications, and with their gradual migration to resource-constrained devices such as smartphones, their performance as perceived by the human user is growing in importance. In this paper we propose to broaden the goal of GUI testing to include the validation of perceptible performance in addition to functional correctness.


Every year, HIV-positive adolescents add to the growing number of HIV-infected individuals. In fact, as of 2005, 50% of newly diagnosed persons with HIV worldwide were youth with an estimated 10.3 million between the ages of 15 and 24. Adolescents will live with HIV 20 years longer than their adult counterparts, but disease progression in them is less understood. It is well known that immune activation is prognostic of chronic disease progression in adults and is often reduced when subjects go on therapy. It is unclear whether immune activation is entirely eliminated in adolescents on therapy. To date, studies of HIV-positive adolescents have been limited by design and methodology, resulting in a lack of research addressing the relationship between outcome of antiretroviral therapy in adolescents and immune activation. To this end, we designed a study to examine the relationship between therapeutic outcomes and immune activation in HIVpositive adolescents. We assembled a cohort of 35 HIV-infected and 12 healthy adolescents and measured immune activation (CD38,CD38/HLA-DR, Ki67) in both baseline and longitudinal data. As expected, cell turnover was greatly increased in memory CD4 T cells over time. We found that levels of immune activation in both CD8 and CD4 T cell subsets was elevated in viremic subjects at baseline and after long-term therapy. One clear distinguishing factor of pathogenic HIV-infection is increased microbial translocation, which can be measured by CD14 release by activated monocytes. We report sustained elevation of sCD14 in viremic adolescents, which directly correlated to immune activation. Our results show that adolescents who are not therapy compliant have elevated immune activation and turnover. Collectively, our results show that in the presence of suboptimal therapy measures associated with disease progression are elevated. Therefore, it is necessary to reconsider current treatment guidelines in adolescents to promote optimal adherence and virologic control in this growing population of HIV-infected individuals. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Immunology First Advisor Michael R. Betts