Examining post-1970 representations of the Holocaust and Nazism along with critical responses to these representations, the dissertation demonstrates how a use of the term "fascination" has shaped contemporary understandings of how the Holocaust should and should not be represented and remembered. My argument is that despite its pervasive and influential usage in the discourse of Holocaust representation, no critical attention has been given to what the term means. In as much as the term's usage draws the historical and ethical boundaries across which representations of the Holocaust cannot pass, this dearth of critical attention given to the term means that these boundaries are not clearly defined. This dissertation gives definition and context to the use of the term "fascination" in three representative thinkers from the post-Holocaust epoch: Susan Sontag in the 1970s; Saul Friedlander in the 1980s; and Dominick LaCapra in the 1990s and 2000s. By focusing on their use of "fascination," I trace the historical and aesthetic development of representations of the Holocaust and the critical discourses that develop around them. I contend that, contra the understanding of "fascination" demonstrated by Sontag, Friedlander, and LaCapra, the term may in fact designate ethically responsible modes of engagement with the art and literature of the Holocaust. My assessment of "fascination" in the Holocaust Imaginary thus provides definitional contours to an oft-used but little understood term and also points toward possible new understandings of how the catastrophic past is to be given narrative representation.


The estimation of design floods is necessary for the design of hydraulic structures. Commonly used event-based approaches to design flood estimation have several limitations, which include the estimation of antecedent soil moisture conditions and the assumption that the exceedance probability of the design flood is the same as the exceedance probability of the design rainfall. Many of the limitations of event-based approaches may be overcome by the use of continuous simulation modelling for design flood estimation. This paper contains a brief summary on the development and assessment of a continuous simulation modelling system for design flood estimation in ungauged catchments. These developments include an investigation into the appropriate spatial scale of model configuration for optimum performance of the system, the temporal disaggregation of daily rainfall for hydrograph generation, flood routing in ungauged catchments and the use of radar information and rain-gauge data to improve the estimation of catchment rainfall. Results from the application of the system for design flood estimation in the Thukela Catchment in South Africa are presented and discussed. The results from the study highlight the challenges of hydrological modelling in an operational catchment and the need for reliable rainfall and runoff data. From the results obtained, it is concluded that reasonable and consistent estimates of design floods in the Thukela Catchment, particularly in smaller sub-catchments, can be obtained using the ACRU model. Keywords: Design flood estimation; continuous simulation modelling, Thukela Catchment


World War II impacted both the marine and the terrestrial environment of the North Atlantic, triggered major political and economic decisions with profound cultural implications, and eventually induced a change in ocean management. The War helped develop technologies and state responses to immediate post-war market problems and impacted the Great Acceleration of fisheries between 1945 and 1975. During the war, fisheries were closed completely only in certain parts of the most fished waters, such as the central North Sea and the English Channel. Even in the most affected Northern European waters some fishing continued throughout the war. Fishing was carried on in the waters off Iceland and the Arctic, but extractions were much reduced. Previously unfished stocks in the Baltic were targeted for the first time ever. The effect of the closure of certain fisheries was an overall increase of survival rates of marine animals. Technological advances made during the War increased the fishing efficiency of vessels when the technology was put to commercial use soon after the War. The immediate benefit of better catch-per-unit effort after the War was concealed by the slump in the international fish market. The wartime 'dividend' of marine resources was largely spent by the mid-1950s in the North Sea and by 1960 in the wider North Atlantic. The war disrupted market allegiances, effectively ended old fishing patterns and introduced a forced modernisation in the High North. Among North Sea countries, Denmark in particular responded to the disruption of the market for fresh fish by introducing reduction fishery, which led to severe environmental stress and eventually a collapse of the North Sea herring stock. Before WWII, the oceans had largely been regulated according to the international law of open access to all ocean resources. North Sea countries resumed negotiations over fishing rights after 1945, expecting to revert to old principles. However, U.S. President Harry Truman's declaration against Japan came to impact fishing negotiations in the North Atlantic and changed post-war fishing management forever.


Counselling can be seen as a context or process for meaning-making where clients and counsellors actively interpret and construct meaning. We examine meaning-making in counselling through the lenses of three research methods: (a) discourse analysis, (b) hermeneutic-phenomenology, and (c) autoethnography. Specifically, we relate the process and experience of counselling in ways consistent with how meaning-making is regarded by each of these research methods. In this regard, we describe each method as if it was a counselling theory. We conclude by reflecting upon how these lenses on meaning-making and counselling can inform counselling practice generally and generatively.


Islamic organisations have formed an integral part of Indonesia's social fabric since the early part of the twentieth century. Organisations such as Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama are broad social bodies whose activities focus on Islamic propagation, education and welfare. Inevitably, they also play an important role in informing how their members come to synthesise national and religious identities. Their reach across the nation, vast member base, and political influence ensure that they have historically been at the heart of national developments. After the fall of Suharto, a much wider range of Islamic organisations started to gain strength and prominence. They have become vocal commentators on national debates concerning religious minority rights and morality – often eclipsing their larger and more established counterparts in doing so. The recent mass protests against former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known by the name 'Ahok', made clear that various new groups carrying the banner of Islam have developed a mobilisational capacity of their own. Among them were the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Hidayatullah, and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI).


Technical barriers (standards), import licenses and tariffs may be deployed as means of limiting the market access of foreign firms. The present paper examines these measures in a setting of monopolistic competition. We find that, if protection focuses predominantly on the number of foreign firms accessing the domestic market, a technical barrier (an import license) may dominate a tariff (tariff and a technical barrier) in terms of consumer welfare, even when tariff revenues are fully redistributed. However, if protection pays sucfficient focus on limiting the total import volume, then tariffs are the preferred means of protection. Within the model, reductions in technical barriers and tariffs, the removal of licensing schemes, and a harmonization of standards are all welfare-improving policies.


The Thetis research reactor on the site of the Nuclear Sciences Institute of the Ghent University has been in operation from 1967 until December 2003. This light-water moderated graphite-reflected low-enriched uranium pool-type reactor has been used for various purposes e.g. the production of radio-isotopes and activation analyses. During the first years its core power was 15 kW. In the early '70, a core enlargement allowed for operation at typically 150 kW, while the maximum was allowed to be 250 kW.In September 2007, Ghent University entrusted to SCK•CEN the management of the back-end of the spent fuel and the decommissioning of the reactor. In 2010, the spent fuel was removed from the reactor and transported to Belgoprocess for cementation in 400 l drums and interim storage awaiting final disposal. This activity allows tackling the decommissioning of the reactor. The objective is to complete its decommissioning by the end of 2014.In the framework of the decommissioning of the Thetis reactor, SCK•CEN set-up the final decommissioning plan and the decommissioning licensing file. These documents include among others a radiological inventory of the reactor. The graphite moderator blocks, the control and the safety pates, the liner of the pool were modeled to assess the activation products (isotopic vector and intensity). At the end of the unloading of the reactor in 2010 a brief mapping of the equipment's and internals of the reactor pool was performed. In 2012, we realized a more detailed mapping. These results confirmed those performed earlier and allowed to confirm the assumptions made in the final decommissioning plan.We set-up the terms of reference for the first decommissioning phase of the reactor namely the dismantling of the reactor i.e. reactor pool, circuits and rabbit system, equipment's and ventilation ducts. The removal of asbestos is also included into this phase. We conducted the selection process and the awarding of this decommissioning job. We gained the decommissioning license in May 2012.We also prepared the software tool allowing managing the decommissioning project by updating the inventory and recording the progress, the characterization measurements and the material and waste production. This software allows also to trace all the material streams and to report to the Authorities. This software is a simplified release of the ones developed by SCK•CEN in the framework of other decommissioning projects like BR3 and Belgonucleaire.The dismantling of the reactor i.e. reactor pool, circuits and rabbit system, will be performed in 2013. In 2014, it is planned to map all the surfaces of the infrastructure to highlight residual contamination of floor, walls and ceiling. The contaminated surfaces will be decontaminated and controlled. The objective is to reach the free release of the reactor building and laboratories by the end of 2014.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


This study identifies the underlying constructs of the motivating factors of share
buyback decisions of Malaysian companies to share buybacks from 1999 to 2005.
This study employs factor analysis to seek variables (indicators) on the factors and
conform to what are the underlying motivations for companies to buyback shares.
The indicator variables are selected on the basis of prior literature and factor
analysis is used to see if these variables are the underlying constructs that motivate
companies to exercise share buyback. This study reveals indicator variables like
return on equity (ROE), earning per shares (EPS), return on assets (ROA) and market
to book value of equity (MB) are the underlying constructs for improvement in the
operating performance of the buyback companies. This study also reveals that
intangible assets (INTANG), capital expenditures (CAPEXP) and sales (SALES) are
the underlying constructs for undervaluation of companies' share prices. The results
suggest that share buybacks merely a result of decrease in the denominator i.e.
numbers of outstanding shares and intangible assets are source of undervaluation of
the companies' share prices which is consistent to results of the prior studies. This
suggests that companies' potential earnings are merely generated from intangibles.
As a result, investors must interpret the earnings with caution focusing on the
potential earnings of a buyback company.


The aggressive tone of the psalms that deal with violence is often viewed as in direct opposition to Jesus' command to love one's neighbor. Erich Zenger, a preeminent international scholar, offers to Christians a new understanding of these powerful, albeit disquieting, psalms. To Zenger, these psalms are laments that cry out against violence and injustice in the world and have great relevance to people of faith today. Readers will appreciate Zenger's forthright discussion of how to use these psalms in modern prayer.


Received: 23.02.2016 Accepted: 27.07.2016 Abstract Objectives: While great advances have been made in the field of pediatric dentistry, creating a friendly relationship with pediatric patients and getting them to readily accept dental treatment and cooperate remains challenging. Cooperation by children can affect the quality of dental visit and the required time for the treatment. Dentists' attire could be one of the factors that significantly affect children's cooperation. The aim of this study was to assess children's preferences towards dentists' attire and to determine the influence of its design, color, and other factors on treatment acceptance. Methods: A total of 103 children aged between 6-12 years were randomly divided into three groups (68 children in two study groups and 35 children in one control group). The children were examined by the pediatric dentists wearing different attires. Two questionnaires were designed; one was supposed to be answered by the parents before the dental visit and one by the children after the visit. Results: The majority of children preferred the shirts that were adorned with Winnie the Pooh, while the treatment acceptance was not significantly different between the groups. Sex, age, number of family members, birth order, patient's personality type, and parents' educational level had no significant impact on treatment acceptance. Conclusion: Although the attire design did not significantly affect treatment acceptance, it helped to establish a good relationship with pediatric patients in their first visit. The results help pediatric dentists choose attire that are better received by pediatric patients.


The history of the telegraph - the men and women who made it - and its relevance to the current Internet debate Beginning with the Abbe Nollet's famous experiment of 1746, when he successfully demonstrated that electricity could pass from one end to the other of a chain of two hundred monks, Tom Standage tells the story of the spread of the telegraph and its transformation of the Victorian world. The telegraph was greeted by all the same concerns, hype, social panic and excitement that now surround the Internet, and Standage provides both a fascinating insight into the past and a context in which to think rather differently of today's concerns. Standage has a wonderful prose style and an excellent eye for the telling and engaging story. Popular history at its best.


Background: Recently, the role of autophagy in glucose and lipid metabolism has been emerging. Mice experiments showed that autophagy deficiency could prevent diet-induced obesity, characterized by less fat and a browning phenotype of white adipocyte (WAT). However, the underlying molecular mechanism is not well explored and the data from human are limited. Method: The mRNA sequencing data of undifferentiated and differentiated human adipocyte cell lines, including two white adipocyte (WAT) and one brown adipocyte (BAT) were included in our analysis. Gene expression was reduced by RNA interference in human adipocyte and was enhanced by glucocorticoid, respectively. Qualifying the lipid droplet content and quantifying the adipolysis and differentiation marker expression were applied to evaluate WAT differentiation. LC3 was used as a marker to examine autophagy function of adipocyte. Result: we found a remarkable feature of adipocyte differentiation that inflammation signaling was significantly strengthened during WAT maturation, but not during BAT maturation. The alteration of Zinc Finger protein 36 (ZFP36), which mediates the decay of mRNA transcripts of inflammation molecules, obviously affected the phenotype of mature WAT: silencing of ZFP36 gene resulted in a more whitening phenotype and induction of ZFP36 resulted in a browning phenotype. ZFP36 activity was associated with p38 MAPK signaling that was regulated by autophagy. Conclusion: ZFP36 links autophagy to the determination of mature adipocyte phenotype. Therefore, ZFP36 is a potential target to prevent obesity and improve glucose and lipid metabolism.


The cereal caryopsis is a complex tissue in which maternal and endosperm tissues follow distinct but coordinated developmental programs. Because of the hexaploid genome in wheat (Triticum aestivum), the identification of genes involved in key developmental processes by genetic approaches has been difficult. To bypass this limitation, we surveyed 888 genes that are expressed during caryopsis development using a novel high-throughput mRNA in situ hybridization method. This survey revealed novel distinct spatial expression patterns that either reflected the ontogeny of the developing caryopsis or indicated specialized cellular functions. We have identified both known and novel genes whose expression is cell cycle–dependent. We have identified the crease region as important in setting up the developmental patterning, because the transition from proliferation to differentiation spreads from this region to the rest of the endosperm. A comparison of this set of genes with the rice (Oryza sativa) genome shows that approximately two-thirds have rice counterparts but also suggests considerable divergence with regard to proteins involved in grain filling. We found that the wheat genes had significant homology with 350 Arabidopsis thaliana genes. At least 25 of these are already known to be essential for seed development in Arabidopsis, but many others remain to be characterized.


In this chapter, I describe attempts to improve groundwater management in California in a context about which serious people have concluded [with language I once considered inappropriate but am now convinced is accurate] the law has been "a mess".I summarize new legislation that is attempting to employ some of the principles that leading policy scholars have identified to make the management of California's ground water more equitable. I lay out the challenges to developing new governance mechanisms in the context of radically different interests, a wide range of understandings of groundwater rights, and a changing physical environment. I then speculate on the prospects for success of the new governance regime including with reference to alternative regulatory and market strategies that are being used (or considered) to provide for better management. My analysis addresses legal issues that arise and need to be analyzed or confronted in consideration of new law. The challenges may be several. Among coverage: I attempt to respond to the chilling effect of threatened takings challenges to changes in groundwater rights. And I address how notions of equity and sustainability science may affect legal analysis in an era of scarcity.


Thick-film technology has found applications on miniaturised hybrid circuits in various fields (automotive electronics, televisions, ...). This technology is also now widely used for the fabrication of force and pressure sensors that use the piezoresistive properties of thick-film resistors. The goal of this work has been generated by the fact that usual piezoresistive pastes / inks were optimised for applications on alumina, which is the standard substrate for thick-film technology, but ill suited for more flexible substrates such as aluminium, steel or Ti alloys. We were limited by the process conditions of the commercial pastes, in particular the too high firing process that does not allow the use of substrates with melting temperature < 850°C. This technological lack leads to manufacture a new generation of piezoresistive pastes with low firing temperatures (Tf: 500 ... 700°C). In parallel, we aim to optimise the electrical properties (resistance R, temperature coefficient of resistance TCR and gauge factor GF values) by highlighting the link with the structural evolution during the firing process and the obtained properties, and by understanding the conduction process in such percolative systems. Study of usual commercial piezoresistive pastes allowed us to determine that such piezoresistive pastes are composed of a percolating network of nanoconductive RuO2 grains embedded in a lead borosilicate glassy matrix. Evolution during the firing process was emphasised and showed the importance of controlling the firing parameters to assure the best properties for the final thick-film. Commercial pastes are characterised by a TCR value close to 0 ppm/°C, a reasonable sheet resistance value (R 10 kOhms) and a gauge factor comprise between 10-12, that can be influenced by structural and process parameters. Indeed, complementary studies on sensitivity and stability were realised, because of limited available information in literature concerning the effect of firing schedule, particularly of quenching, and have shown that these properties are very dependent on the conditions of firing, although the main commercial pastes showed a moderate stability. In fact, this study showed that a compromise should be found between the different properties (for instance, high GF pastes presents a poor stability), and emphasises the fact that they should be optimised. A manufacturing process has been developed, process never well described in the literature, leading to the realisation of different lead borosilicate glasses. It has resulted in the ability to realise three series of model piezoresistive pastes with different ranges of firing temperatures corresponding to high (700°C), low (600°C) and very low (500°C) firing temperatures. The control of several parameters (glass composition, conductive phase concentration, grain size, firing temperature...) allowed us to direct precisely our research to elucidate the principle of conduction in such percolative systems and the reactions occurring between the elements and their influence on the electrical properties. Structural and electrical properties were studied by varying diverse parameters such as conductive grain size, concentration and firing temperature, and a coherence was found between the electrical behaviour (conduction process) and its relation to the complex nanostructure. In other words, this key chapter presents the results and their interpretation by a model of conduction based on a nonuniversal tunnelling percolation theory and based on a previously unpublished hypothesis. Indeed, it was demonstrated that the piezoresistive response of the pastes changed dramatically depending on whether the composites were universal or not. For the composites with critical exponent t 2, the piezoresistive factor Γ showed no dependence upon the RuO2 volume fraction x, whereas the nonuniversal composites displayed a logarithmic divergence of Γ near the percolation threshold. We have interpreted the piezoresistivity results as being due to a strain dependence of the critical exponent when this was nonuniversal. We have brought forth a microscopic formulation to the phenomenological level proposed by Balberg, and we can now assert that thick-film resistors (TFR) are mainly nonuniversal compounds showing transport exponent t larger than the universal limit t = 2.0. This exponent t depends on strain and leads to a logarithmic divergence of the gauge factor. The possibility of influencing t by external means (e. g. strain) has never been studied so far. We have proposed a new way to investigate percolative systems by studying the behaviour of piezoresistive pastes. After having elucidated the conduction mechanism in such piezoresistive pastes, we studied the influence of different parameters (Tf, grain size, concentration, dwell time) on the main electrical properties (R, TCR and GF). Structural analysis gave a possible interpretation of the results. RuO2 parameters have direct effects on the R, TCR and GF values. Tf acts on microstructure provoking interactions between the bulk components and the substrate (in case of high Tf), and consequently leading to a modification of the electrical properties. The same complementary studies as commercial pastes on stability showed a combined influence of the cooling rate and the temperature dwell-time on R and TCR values. The results are in coherence with commercial pastes. The evolution of the values can be explained by diffusion phenomenon and local microscopic strains due to important cooling rates. The evolution of R upon annealing 250°C was found to depend strongly on the cooling rate for commercial and model pastes, but this observed trend tends to saturate. These new series of low firing temperature were shown to be not as stable as the "best" commercial pastes, but their variations are much similar to "medium" commercial one's. At 250°C, possible evolution mechanisms could involve Ru in glass (dissolved or in clusters), or mechanical relaxation that can be extrinsic (macroscopic thermal mismatch between resistor and substrate) or intrinsic (local thermal mismatch between glass and conductive phase), and which can later relax during annealing. During this analysis, technological problems have been emphasised and a section was dedicated to resolve the problem of the unsuitability of the substrate to the very low firing temperature system, which showed local strain that induced cracks and leading to electrical instability. Moreover, it was shown that these new pastes could be optimised by additives or used on more adapted substrates. However, these obtained series offers a large range of TCR and R values for different low Tf and it would be useful for technological goals. The best proof of the success of our study was the realisation of sensor prototypes based on different substrates such as steel, aluminium and even glass. This work has allowed to realise a detailed study of piezoresistive pastes and to complete previous research in this field concerning the influence of firing parameters (quenching) and annealing studies. From a scientific point of view, this first step allowed to show that nanostructure, conduction mechanism and electrical properties are intimately linked. By choosing adequate and relevant compositions, structure and firing, we proposed a new way to unveil the conduction process that has not been yet elucidated. From a technical point of view, their stability could be enhanced with a higher GF or adapted TCR. However, they present a large range of applications because of their different Tf and their different TCRs. Thanks to this particularity, these pastes could be used on different substrates, and we could expect a larger technological impact by optimising our piezoresistive pastes by additives to better control their properties.


In this thesis, I present a model of multidomain evolution with associated algorithms and software for phylogenetic analysis of multidomain families, as well as applications of this novel methodology to case-studies and the human genome. Phylogenetic analysis is of central importance to understanding the origins and evolution of life on earth. In biomedical research, molecular phylogenetics has proved an essential tool for practical applications. Current molecular phylogenetic methods are not equipped, however, to model many of the unique characteristics of multidomain families. Genes that encode this large and important class of proteins are characterized by a mosaic of sequence fragments that encode structural or functional modules, called domains. Multidomain families evolve via domain shuffling, a process that includes insertion, internal duplication, and deletion of domains. This versatile evolutionary mechanism played a transformative role in major evolutionary transitions, including the emergence of multicellular animals and the vertebrate immune system. Multidomain families are ill-suited to current methods for phylogeny reconstruction due to their mosaic composition. Different regions of the same protein may have different evolutionary histories. Moreover, a protein may contain domains that also occur in otherwise unrelated proteins. These attributes pose substantial obstacles for phylogenetic methods that require a multiple sequence alignment as input. In addition, current methods do not incorporate a model of domain shuffling and hence, cannot infer the events that occurred in the history of the family. I address this problem by treating a multidomain family as a set of co-evolving domains, each with its own history. If the family is evolving by vertical descent from a conserved set of ancestral domains, then all constituent domains will have the same phylogenetic history. Disagreement between domain tree topologies is evidence that the family evolved through processes other than speciation and gene duplication. My algorithms exploit this information to reconstruct the history of domain shuffling in the family, as well as the timing of these events and the ancestral domain composition. I have implemented these algorithms in software that outputs the most parsimonious history of events for each domain family. The software also reconstructs a composite family history, including duplications, insertions and losses of all constituent domains and ancestral domain composition. My approach is capable of more detailed and accurate reconstructions than the widely used domain architecture model, which ignores sequence variation between domain instances. In contrast, my approach is based on an explicit model of events and captures sequence variation between domain instances. I demonstrate the utility of this method through case studies of notch-related proteins, protein tyrosine kinases, and membrane-associated guanylate kinases. I further present a largescale analysis of domain shuffling processes through comparison of all pairs of domain families that co-occur in a protein in the human genome. These analyses suggest that (1) a remarkably greater amount of domain shuffling may have occurred than previously thought and (2) that it is not uncommon for the same domain architecture to arise more than once through independent events. This stands in contrast to earlier reports that convergent evolution of domain architecture is rare and suggests that incorporating sequence variation in evolutionary analyses of multidomain families is a crucial requirement for accurate inference. v


The influence of environmental factors on the community structure of ammonia- oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was investigated in the Schelde estuary. Simultaneously with the increase of oxygen and salinity, a shift of the dominant AOB was observed. Molecular analysis based on 16S rRNA genes showed that the freshwater area was dominated by Nitrosomonas-like sequences which were closely related to N. ureae and N. oligotropha. In the brackish area, sequences of a novel group of Nitrosomonas-like bacteria and relatives of N. marina and N. aestuarii were found. Batch and con- tinuous culture experiments were used to investigate the reason behind the community shift. Batch incubations showed a positive influence of the natural water from the Schelde estuary on ammonia oxidation, compared to mineral medium. The ammonia oxidation rates of the AOB originating from the brackish water were higher in the absence of salt. Water from the freshwater part was incubated in continuous cultures under 3 different conditions of salinity and oxygen partial pressure. Under all conditions, ammonia consumption in the continuous cultures started at once. Molecular analysis resulted in a clear phylogenetic difference between the absence and presence of salt, indicating that salt is the factor which causes the community shift of the AOB in the Schelde estuary.


The abrasion resistance of the impellers depends on the characteristics of the materials used in their manufacture. In this work, a methodology is proposed for the evaluation of the abrasive wear of the plates of the centrifugal pump impellers, used in the gross water infrastructure station (GWIS) of sedimentary rivers, due to the sediment load variation and the river fluviometric dimension. In order to determine the wear mode and the relationship of the material-specific wear coefficient (K), due to the sediment concentration, a rotating ball abrasometer test was performed on SAE 8620, gray cast iron (GCI), and nodular cast iron (NCI), used in the manufacture of impellers. As an abrasive suspension, the concentrations of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 g L (cid:1) 1 of sediment were used in distilled water. The wear volume as a function of the relative velocity of the mixture in relation to the impeller blades was estimated mathematically. The results show that: i) The abrasive capacity of the sediments in different concentrations; ii) SAE 8620 steel was more resistant to abrasive wear; and iii) the rotational control of the pump as a function of sediment concentration and river level showed the possibility of reducing wear by 30%.


This paper uses management science methodology to compare the cost-effectiveness of two different approaches to preventing coronary heart disease in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The general model utilized included realistic assumptions about implementation costs, effectiveness levels, budget constraints and implementation strategies. Integer linear programming methods were then used to examine the cost-effectiveness of the two approaches, as well as to compare them with a third "integrated" approach which combined elements of both approaches. The study concludes that under ideal circumstances, a population approach has greater potential to prevent CHD, and when costs were considered from a societal perspective, it is also the more cost-effective option. However, under more realistic outcome conditions we found that a high risk approach may be more effective, and when costs were considered from the perspective of the publicly funded health care system we found that there are conditions under which the high risk approach is more cost-effective. Our final conclusion is that an integr


Abstract. Quantitative precipitation nowcasting (QPN) has become an
essential technique in various application contexts, such as early warning or
urban sewage control. A common heuristic prediction approach is to track the
motion of precipitation features from a sequence of weather radar images and
then to displace the precipitation field to the imminent future (minutes to
hours) based on that motion, assuming that the intensity of the features
remains constant ("Lagrangian persistence"). In that context, "optical
flow" has become one of the most popular tracking techniques. Yet the
present landscape of computational QPN models still struggles with producing
open software implementations. Focusing on this gap, we have developed and
extensively benchmarked a stack of models based on different optical flow
algorithms for the tracking step and a set of parsimonious extrapolation
procedures based on image warping and advection. We demonstrate that these
models provide skillful predictions comparable with or even superior to
state-of-the-art operational software. Our software library ("rainymotion")
for precipitation nowcasting is written in the Python programming language
and openly available at GitHub (https://github.com/hydrogo/rainymotion,
Ayzel et al., 2019). That way,
the library may serve as a tool for providing fast, free, and transparent
solutions that could serve as a benchmark for further model development and
hypothesis testing – a benchmark that is far more advanced than the
conventional benchmark of Eulerian persistence commonly used in QPN
verification experiments.


Background: Adjacent segment pathology is a known complication after spinal fusion, but little has been reported on junctional failure. A series of adolescent patients presented with acute distal junctional failure (DJF). We sought to determine any common features of these patients to develop a prevention strategy. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of pediatric patients who developed DJF after instrumented spinal fusion performed at 2 institutions from 1999 to 2013. Patients with proximal junctional failure or junctional kyphosis without failure were excluded. Results: Fifteen subjects were identified with mean follow-up of 38 months. Distal failure occurred a mean of 60 days after index surgery, with history of minor trauma in 4 patients. Failures included 3-column Chance fracture (11) or instrumentation failure (4). Thirteen patients presented with back pain and/or acute kyphosis, whereas 2 asymptomatic patients presented with healed fractures. Two patients also developed new onset of severe lower extremity neurological deficit after fracture, which improved but never resolved after revision. A total of 13/15 subjects required revision surgery, typically within 1 week. Complications associated with revision surgery were encountered in 8 patients (62%). Major complications that required return to the operating room included 2 deep infections, 2 instrumentation failures, and dense lower extremity paralysis that improved after medial screw revision and decompression. At final follow-up, 10 patients are asymptomatic, 2 have persistent neurological deficit, 2 have chronic pain, and 1 has altered gait with gait aid requirement. Conclusions: This study analyzes a heterogenous cohort of spinal fusion patients who developed DJF from 3-column Chance fracture or instrumentation failure. Revision surgery is typically required, but has a high complication rate and can result in severe neurological deficit, highlighting the morbidity of this complication. It is unclear whether level of the lowest instrumented vertebra contributes to DJF. Increased awareness of junctional failure in children may prompt additional studies to further characterize risk factors and preventative strategies. Level of Evidence: Level IV—study-type case series.


The release of adenosine triphosphate through autophagy can promote antitumor immune responses. The process of autophagy, through which cells can digest their own components, has complicated, sometimes contradictory, effects in cancer cells. Whereas loss of autophagy can lead to genomic instability and favor generation of cancer cells, maintained or enhanced autophagy can help cancer cells survive in a stressful environment. Michaud et al. (see the Perspective by Amaravadi) found that in mice, autophagy could also have a strong influence on the response of the immune system to tumor cells dying in response to chemotherapy. Autophagy caused release of adenosine triphosphate from such cells, which helped to recruit immune cells that contributed to cancer cell clearance. M. Michaud, I. Martins, A. Q. Sukkurwala, S. Adjemian, Y. Ma, P. Pellegatti, S. Shen, O. Kepp, M. Scoazec, G. Mignot, S. Rello-Varona, M. Tailler, L. Menger, E. Vacchelli, L. Galluzzi, F. Ghiringhelli, F. di Virgilio, L. Zitvogel, G. Kroemer, Autophagy-dependent anticancer immune responses induced by chemotherapeutic agents in mice. Science 334, 1573–1577 (2011). [Abstract] [Full Text] R. K. Amaravadi, Autophagy in tumor immunity. Science 334, 1501–1502 (2011). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Abstract The paper deals with the validity of constitutional pluralism as a constitutional theory for the European Union and a paradigm for the understanding of EU law in the current times of crisis. It reconstructs the way in which constitutional pluralism came to the fore, the different ways in which the theory was presented, and considers historical criticism it has faced. It then looks at the anomalies that, allegedly, cannot be explained today by constitutional pluralism as a paradigm, linked to the current economic and political crises in the Union. The reconstruction of the debate is complemented with reflections on both the descriptive and normative validity of EU constitutional pluralism's claims.


Christoph Kueper, ed. Von der Sprache zur Literature: Motiviertheit im sprachlichen und im poetischen Kode From Language to Literature: Motivation in the Linguistic and Poetic Codes , Tuebingen: Stauffenburg, 1993, 162 pp. If semiotics is located "at the intersection of nature and culture," as Thomas Sebeok has observed (86), the precise point of that intersection is here under debate. The dualism of nature versus culture in language has a long history, beginning with the pre-Socratics and comprising the focus of Plato's Cratylus. From there it worked its way through the philosophical tradition to surface as a central question in the newly emerging disciplines of linguistics and semiotics in the early twentieth century. Ferdinand de Saussure seemed to settle the question once and for all with his important thesis: "le signe linguistique est arbitraire" (100). In the second half of the century, however, under the increasing reception of the work of C. S. Peirce, there began a movement to question the exclusivity of the dogma of arbitrariness. Arbitrary means conventional, dissimilar, or nonnatural: that is, lacking a logical relation between the linguistic signifier and the extralinguistic signified. The opposite of arbitrary is motivated, similar, or necessary: that is, comprising a natural relation between signifier and signified. Comparisons and judgments of similarity form the basis of iconicity, which has been discussed ever since Aristotle first posited the principle of mimesis. Virtually all participants in the discussion agree that iconicity is a matter of degree and that there are thus no "pure" uses in language. To illustrate the point, however, one can polarize the issue. Iconicity in the theory of arbitrariness would allow for similarity even if only on an abstract level, whereby, to cite W. Ross Ashby's well-known example, the Rock of Gibraltar could serve as a model of the human brain (109). On the other end of the scale, indexicality, strictly speaking, entails identity, whereby the best model of a cat would be another cat. Despite his doctrine of arbitrariness, Saussure admitted marginal motivation (similarity) on the phonological level (e.g., onomatopoeia and interjections), and he attributed somewhat more importance to motivation in morphology since the structure of compound forms is often derived from that of simple forms. Indeed, it could be argued that all rules of grammar restrict arbitrariness and introduce motivation into the system of language. And if language itself does this, how much more so does the poetic use of language. A concept of motivation was thus inherent in its seemingly ironclad antithesis of arbitrariness; yet an essential prerequisite for the development of that seed was a decisive expansion of the paradigm under which the linguistic sign was considered. If Saussure was concerned basically only with (to use his terminology) vertical relations between the signifier and the signified, Roman Jakobson and others after him shifted the focus to include horizontal relations among the various signifiers and signifieds. Further, vertical relations among the levels of horizontal relations came into view, and language, from this new perspective, was demonstrated to be much more strongly motivated than could previously have been anticipated. Isomorphism was discovered between structural relations in language and relational patterns of its referents, and it was recognized as constitutive for natural languages. Such isomorphism (structural similarity) is called diagrammatic iconicity and was identified both on levels of the language system and in textual contexts. In language change as well, a constant pressure was detected toward (re)motivating the linguistic sign, which opposes itself to the demotivation that is constantly taking place. Investigation into the motivation of the linguistic sign has advanced in recent years in a particularly lively fashion, and the book here under review comprises nine essays on state-of-the-art research. …


PURPOSE
While targeted inhibitors of tyrosine kinase activity demonstrate dramatic efficacy in the majority of patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), cure remains elusive and resistance to systemic therapy is a challenge. To assess the role of surgery in multimodality management of GISTs, we studied postoperative outcomes in patients treated with targeted kinase inhibitors for advanced GIST.

METHODS
We evaluated outcomes in a single institution series of 69 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for advanced GISTs while receiving kinase inhibitors. Patients were categorized based on extent of disease before surgery (stable disease, limited disease progression, generalized disease progression) and surgical result (no evidence of disease, minimal residual disease, bulky residual disease).

RESULTS
Disease status before surgery was associated with surgical result (P < .0001; median follow-up, 14.6 months). After surgery, there was no evidence of disease in 78%, 25%, and 7% of patients with stable disease, limited progression, and generalized progression, respectively. Bulky residual disease remained after surgery in 4%, 16%, and 43% of the patients with stable disease, limited progression, and generalized progression. Twelve-month progression-free survival was 80%, 33%, and 0% for patients with stable disease, limited progression, and generalized progression (P < .0001). Twelve-month overall survival was 95%, 86%, and 0% for patients with stable disease, limited progression, and generalized progression (P < .0001).

CONCLUSION
Patients with advanced GISTs exhibiting stable disease or limited progression on kinase inhibitor therapy have prolonged overall survival after debulking procedures. Surgery has little to offer in the setting of generalized progression.


A groundbreaking scholarly work, Deep Religious Pluralism is based on the conviction that the philosophy articulated by Alfred North Whitehead encourages not only religious diversity but deep religious pluralism. Arising from a 2003 Center for Process Studies conference at Claremont Graduate University, this book offers an alternative to the version of religious pluralism that has dominated the recent discussion, especially among Christian thinkers in the West, which has evoked a growing call to reject pluralism as such. Renowned contributors of a diversity of faiths include: Steve Odin, John Shunji Yakota, Sandra B. Lubarsky, Jeffery D. Long, Mustafa Ruzgar, Christopher Ives, Michael Lodahl, Chung-ying Cheng, Wang Shik Jang, and John B. Cobb Jr.


The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is responsible for homeostasis of the brain interstitial fluid (ISF) by separating the central nervous system (CNS) from systemic blood circulation. The BBB exhibits low permeability to hydrophilic solutes and high transendothelial electrical resistance arising from a continuous series of tight junctions (TJ) connecting adjacent microvascular endothelial cells of brain capillaries. The basolateral side of these microvascular endothelial cells are encompassed by astrocyte end feet and bathed in ISF, which is completely devoid of serum. Moreover, the vascular endothelium is continuously exposed to hemodynamic forces, namely shear stress and cyclic circumferential strain, both of which can induce profound changes in endothelial gene expression and cell fate. Disruption of BBB integrity leading to vascular leakage is a central pathophysiologic mechanism of many diseases whilst, the "tightness" of the BBB also proves problematic in drug delivery to the brain. Thus, elucidating the etiology of tight junction formation and the factors effecting BBB permeability may lead to the development of novel strategies to modulate barrier properties and thus have profound clinical impact on several neurological diseases.
The focus of this PhD project, therefore, was to elucidate the biochemical events affecting tight junction formation and barrier function caused by serum, astrocyte co-culture and biomechanical shear stress.

In order to assess TJ formation in Bovine Brain Microvascular Cells (BBMvECs), the expression, localization and association of occludin and ZO -1, two pivotal TJ proteins was examined, concomitant with measurement of sucrose permeability across the EC monolayer and TEER to assess EC barrier function. Briefly, this research has shown that the increased association of occludin with ZO -1, in parallel with increased membrane localization of the two proteins, is central to tight junction formation, and correlates directly with increased barrier function.

In-vivo tight junctions forming the BBB prevent serum entering the ISF. This indicates that the effects of serum on tight junction formation and barrier function are highly polar-specific. Our data subsequently indicated that in the absence of basolateral serum, occludin and ZO-1 expression increased, as did their association and the concomitant redistribution of the two proteins to the plasma membrane. These biochemical events were accompanied by an increase in TEER and decrease in sucrose permeability.

Furthermore, our findings indicate that co-culture of BBMvEC with basolaterally applied C6 glioma increases tight junction formation and barrier function and that these changes were enhanced, at least in part, by the removal of serum from the basolateral compartment of the coculture model.

In the brain micro vasculature, shear stress is typically in the region of 4 - 20 dynes/cm2. Exposure of BBMvECs to physiological laminar shear stress (pulsatile and non-pulsatile) significantly increases occludin and ZO-1 expression and association, concomitant with translocation of both occludin and ZO-1 to the cell membrane and reduced transendothelial permeability.

In summary, this body of work addresses three of the major factors impacting upon the BBB and assesses their individual impacts on tight junction formation and barrier function. Further studies are required to fully elucidate the exact signaling mechanisms by which these events occur.


We have determined the influence of carbon on mechanical properties such as grain boundary energy, work of separation (WoS) and fracture strength of the Σ5(3 1 0)[0 0 1] symmetrical tilt grain boundary (STGB) in molybdenum with ab initio methods. From our ab initio results, we derived traction–separation laws that can be used in continuum simulations of fracture employing cohesive zones. Our results show that with an increasing number of C atoms at the grain boundary, the energy of the grain boundary is lowered, indicating a strong driving force for segregation. Uni-axial tensile tests of the grain boundary reveal that there is only a small effect of segregated C atoms on the cohesive energy or WoS of the grain boundary, while the strength of the Σ5(3 1 0)[0 0 1] STGB increases by almost 30% for a complete monolayer of C. This increase in strength is accompanied by an increase in grain boundary stiffness and a decrease of the interface excess volume. The characteristic parameters are combined in the concentration-dependent traction–separation laws. A study of the scaling behaviour of the different investigated systems shows that the energy–displacement curves can be well described by the universal binding energy relationship even for different C concentrations. These findings open the way for significant simplification of the calculation of ab initio traction separation laws for grain boundaries with and without impurities.


Unilateral euroization is underexplored even in comparison to unilateral dollarization (taken to mean the adoption of the US dollar as legal tender). This paper attempts to partly fill this gap in the literature by investigating the case of Montenegro, which is one of the two countries that have unilaterally adopted the euro as the legal tender. Montenegro's limited monetary policy options make the nature of business cycles important. The evidence presented here suggests that Montenegro has a low degree of synchronization, limited structural similarity, and weak trade integration with the Eurozone. Moreover, there is limited evidence for endogenous structural assimilation following euroization. The case for currency union is weak for Montenegro and appears to be defensible only on grounds of policy credibility.


The paper contains an overview of the different stages of Italian history underlying the relations between official population statistics and the changes in demographic behaviour since 1861. A crucial point is the role played by institutional organisations and their specific choices in terms of the production of official statistics. The analysis is divided into five different historical periods: from Italian unification to the First World War; the period between the two wars, from World War II to the Sixties; the Seventies; and the last thirty years. In the first decades after unification, the institutional structure led to the enhancement of "political arithmetic" as a tool for the administration of the new state. This perspective was strengthened between the two World Wars, the period of Fascism. After World War II, the availability of institutional data focused mainly on economic dynamics. The subsequent major transformations in the field of family and fertility behaviour pushed for further developments in population studies. Starting in the Seventies, methodological and scientific progress led to a rethinking of the creation of data. Following the line traced by the paradigm shift (from macro to micro), a new phase of data collection started with the implementation of national socio-demographic sample surveys. In the last 30 years, behavioural changes have been further accelerated. However, at the same time, advances in scientific research have led to new explanatory approaches and data collection methods. Roberto IMPICCIATORE, Resercher, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods, Milan University, Milan, Italy. E-mail: email@example.com . Rosella RETTAROLI, Professor of Demography, Department of Statistical Sciences, Bologna University, Bologna, Italy. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com .


Background: The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in part impacts tumorigenesis through modulation of host immune activity. To assess the effects of Akt inhibition on the tumor micro-environment (TME), we analyzed tumor tissue from patients with operable hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative breast cancer (BC) treated on a presurgical trial with the Akt inhibitor MK-2206. Methods: Quantitative multiplex immunofluorescence (qmIF) was performed using CD3, CD8, CD4, FOXP3, CD68, and pancytokeratin on biopsy and surgical specimens of MK-2206 and untreated, control patients. nanoString was performed on surgical specimens to assess mRNA expression from MK-2206-treated vs. control patients. Results: Increased CD3+CD8+ density was observed in post vs. pre-treatment tissue in the MK-2206-treated vs. control patients (87 vs. 0.2%, p < 0.05). MK-2206 was associated with greater expression of interferon signaling genes (e.g., IFI6, p < 0.05) and lower expression of myeloid genes (CD163, p < 0.05) on differential expression and gene set enrichment analyses. Greater expression of pro-apoptotic genes (e.g., BAD) were associated with MK-2206 treatment (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Akt inhibition in operable BC was associated with a favorable immune profile in the TME, including increased CD3+CD8+ density and greater expression of interferon genes. Additional studies are warranted, as this may provide rationale for combining Akt inhibition with immunotherapy.


BACKGROUND
Undocumented migrants' access to health care varies across Europe, and entitlements on national levels are often at odds with the rights stated in international human rights law. The aim of this study is to address undocumented migrants' access to health care in Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands from a human rights perspective.

METHODS
Based on desk research in October 2011, we identified national laws, policies, peer-reviewed studies, and grey literature concerning undocumented migrants' access to health care in the three involved countries. Through treaties and related explanatory documents from the United Nations and the Council of Europe, we identified relevant international laws concerning the right to health and the rights of different groups of undocumented migrants. A synopsis of these laws is included in the analysis of the three countries.

RESULTS
Undocumented migrants in Denmark have the right to emergency care, while additional care is restricted and may be subject to payment. Undocumented migrants in Sweden have the right to emergency care only. There is an exception made for former asylum-seeking children, who have the same rights as Swedish citizens. In the Netherlands, undocumented migrants have greater entitlements and have access to primary, secondary and tertiary care, although shortcomings remain. All three countries have ratified international human rights treaties that include right of access to health care services. We identified international treaties from the United Nations and the Council of Europe that recognize a right to health for undocumented migrants and embrace governmental obligations to ensure the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of health services, in particular for specific groups such as women and children.

CONCLUSION
In the Netherlands, undocumented migrants' right to health care is largely acknowledged, while in Denmark and Sweden, there are more restrictions on access. This reveals major discrepancies in relation to international human rights law.


Camera-based systems are frequently used to track moving objects which are in the field of their view. This paper describes design and development of a camera-based visual system that can constantly track moving object without necessity of calibrating camera in real world coordinates. This reduces the complexity of the system and processing time due to the unnecessary conversions and calibrations. The system consists of a two-motor pan-tilt camera driving mechanism, PCI image acquisition board, and PWM-based DC-motor driver board. It uses image processing techniques to identify and locate the object in 3D scene and motion control algorithms to direct the camera towards the object. Thus the objective of the project is to develop a vision system and control algorithms which can be locked on the moving object within the field of its view. The developed software and related interface hardware monitor and control the motors in such a way that the moving object should always be located right at the center of the camera image plane. The system, in general, simulates 3D motion of the human eye when it always tends to focus on the moving object within the range of its view. It actually imitates the tracking ability of human eye.


TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. BACKGROUND A. Gender Quotas: An International Context B. The Success of Gender Quotas Worldwide C. How Quotas Help Women Overcome Barriers to Getting Elected D. The Need for Gender Quotas in the United States 1. The Underrepresentation of Women in Congress Makes the Environment in the United States Ripe for a Gender Quota 2. American Women Face Similar Barriers in Seeking Elected Office 3. Why the United States Should Pursue the Fast-Track Route of Gender Quotas II. AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE: THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF A GENDER QUOTA A. Does Congress Have the Power to Implement a Gender Quota? B. Implications of the Equal Protection Clause on the Constitutionality of a Gender Quota C. First Amendment Challenges to Legal Candidate Quotas III. SOLUTION? CONSIDER VOLUNTARY PARTY QUOTAS A. Voluntary Party Quotas--Just as Effective B. Voluntary Party Quotas Are Constitutional C. Congress Should Incentivize Voluntary Party Quotas, and It Has the Power to Do So CONCLUSION INTRODUCTION The use of gender quotas as a mechanism to increase the political representation of women is rapidly becoming a worldwide phenomenon. Why, then, is the United States not catching on? In light of the abysmal representation of women in all public offices, especially Congress, it might behoove the United States to consider them. (1) Although Americans are not often amenable to quotas, the widespread success of their use in uplifting the status of women around the world should encourage the United States to give gender quotas another look. (2) That said, even if there is enough popular support to legislatively enact a gender quota, the issue still remains as to whether it would survive constitutional scrutiny. This Note examines the constitutional hurdles gender quotas may face and suggests how gender quotas should be structured in order to overcome them. In Parts I.A-I.C, this Note will provide a background on the rapid, global proliferation of electoral gender quotas since 1985--quotas that were enacted with the sole purpose of increasing female political representation in national legislatures. (3) Research strongly suggests that gender quotas are an effective and efficient method to increase the number of female elected officials and that such measures are often necessary in light of the many barriers women face in running for public office. (4) This Note in Part I.D then advocates the adoption of gender quotas as an affirmative action measure in the United States to help increase the number of women in elected office. The need for such a quota seems particularly apparent given that women's gains in other fields have far outpaced advances made by women in Congress. This discrepancy can be attributed to American women facing considerable barriers in the political process--the very same barriers found in many foreign countries that precipitated the need for those countries to enact gender quotas. Because gender quotas have helped women overcome such barriers elsewhere, a strong argument could be made that such quotas are necessary and would be effective in the United States. (5) Next, in Part II, this Note examines whether the implementation of gender quotas could survive constitutional scrutiny in the United States. This Note argues that, based on an analysis of American jurisprudence, it is likely that the courts will determine that a system of reserved seats or legal candidate quotas is unconstitutional. (6) Thus, in Part III, this Note proposes that the political parties in the United States adopt voluntary party quotas as a mechanism to increase women's representation in Congress. (7) Even though Congress cannot directly set a requirement for parties to adopt such quotas, it is still constitutional for Congress to incentivize parties to do so by tying their use to funding under a public campaign-finance scheme, (8) I. …


Up to 35% of people self-diagnose food allergy or intolerance (food hypersensitivity [FH]), or diagnose it in their child, and self-manage the condition rather than seek a clinical diagnosis. This is much higher than the latest FH prevalence rate, estimated to affect 2–5% of the general population. The actual prevalence rate may be underestimated due to the lack of diagnostic services; however, this can only account for a small proportion of the discrepancy because only a small percentage of self-reported FH can be clinically confirmed. Many people are therefore misdiagnosing their or their child's symptoms as FH and needlessly removing foods from their or their child's diet. There are a number of possible reasons for this misdiagnosis, which can be considered from a biopsychosocial perspective. Psychological factors include a confusion over the diagnosis, coincidental pairing of food and symptom, psychological or psychosomatic reactions, and taste aversions. There are also biological mechanisms that have not been fully considered in food allergy research that may be relevant, such as conditioning of the immune system or stress responses. A social context pertains to a greater awareness of FH due to media coverage and changes in food labelling laws. Any of these theories are plausible, but the research to date has a number of methodological issues. Most studies report on small self-selected samples recruited from clinics and there is a lack of general population data. Studies also tend to be cross-sectional, which does not allow cause and effect to be established. Future research needs to include longitudinal designs that incorporate qualitative elements to enable a detailed exploration of reasons why people self and misdiagnose FH.


The role of collaboration in the creation and diffusion of innovations has
received a considerable amount of interest in the past decade from both
innovation economists and European policy makers. The European Commission
(EC), for example, requires collaboration for research funded
under the Framework Programmes (FPs) and encourages national policies
to increase the rate of collaboration between firms and between firms
and public research organizations (PROs) such as universities and publicly-
funded research institutes (Hagedoorn et ai. 2000).
Part of the increased attention given to collaboration is due to a shift in
economic theories of innovation from a linear to an interactive model and
to a recognition of the importance of tacit knowledge to innovation and
technology transfer. The first shift places greater importance on information
and knowledge flows. This is partly because there are more linkages
within an interactive or chain-link innovation system and partly because
modern innovation theories stress the diffusion of knowledge among
many different actors


The use of social media (SM) has grown rapidly and continues to do so as a popular form of communication. SM is most commonly used by young people and adolescents, most of who use it daily. The rates of depression and anxiety in adolescents have also increased rapidly in recent years with a number of individuals within this age group being at an increased risk of developing mental health problems due to a number of social and economic factors. Previous research has reached both positive and negative conclusions about the impact of SM use on adolescent's wellbeing. The aim of the current literature review is to synthesise and update current research relating to SM use and wellbeing in adolescents and young people, with the specific purpose of remaining relevant to the fast-paced growth of SM sites and their use. A systematic search strategy and selection criteria resulted in nine quantitative papers aimed at answering the question; does online SM use have an impact on adolescents and young people's wellbeing? Both positive and negative impacts on wellbeing were found (depending on the measure of SM use, definitions of SM use and conceptualisations of wellbeing). Positive impacts on wellbeing included both hedonic and eudaimonic conceptualisations of wellbeing; adolescents self-concept, social connectedness, reducing emotional difficulties, improving self-esteem and reducing depressed mood. Negative impacts on wellbeing focussed more on hedonic conceptualisations of wellbeing and included; increased distress, suicidal ideation, and decline in mood/affect and a decline in life satisfaction ratings. The overall quality of the research was poor. In conclusion further quality research is needed to explore the relationship between SM use and wellbeing. Specifically qualitative research is needed to add richness and depth to the current knowledge in this area.


Under the current fuel-tax-based highway financing system, the funding gap between highway needs and revenue available is expected to grow as vehicle fuel economy improves and use of alternative fuels increases. Consequently, the highway financing mechanism needs to be restructured or a different financing strategy undertaken. Previous research provided examples of successful implementation of pricing schemes in terms of design of pricing scheme, technology issues, legal and institutional issues, and public acceptability. Synthesizing this information, a methodological framework was established for evaluation of alternative user charging schemes. Based on the assessment of the current and projected highway revenue and the needs and demand of Indiana, the study developed three alternative financing schemes: (1) enhancement of the current tax system; (2) addition of new funding sources to supplement the current system; and (3) replacement of the current system with new financing schemes. The first alternative suggests an increase and/or indexing of fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees, supplemented by adjustments in other general taxes where possible. The second alternative includes an option to impose tolls, which was estimated to yield annual revenue in the range of $40-$90 million, depending on the toll rate schedules. The third alternative is to establish a distance-based charging scheme (VMT fees), the rates of which can be calculated from highway expenditure and demand information. Based on the past three-year data, it was found that on average 2.9 cents need to be charged per vehicle-mile traveled, with separate rates varying by road functional class. More rigorous analysis was conducted on the basis of a highway cost allocation study to calculate separate unit rates by vehicle class as well as road functional class. Under the suggested pricing structure, named as Indiana Statewide Comprehensive Usage-based Road Pricing (ISCURP), automobiles are charged 1.21 cents per mile, single unit trucks 9.18 cents per mile, and combination trucks 23.54 cents per mile. Each alternative was evaluated on the basis of the established criteria and compared with the other two alternatives. The third alternative, to replace the current fuel tax system with VMT fees, was found to have the best potential in achieving revenue adequacy, system efficiency, and equity. The implementation of this alternative, however, could be cost-prohibitive and could face opposition from the public. Based on evaluation results, a stepwise modification of the current system was proposed, aiming at a long-term goal of implementing ISCURP. In the short-term, it is suggested to implement the first alternative, which requires minimal cost of execution, and in the meantime, to inform and educate the public to prepare them for major changes in pricing schemes. In the medium-term, a pilot study for ISCURP could be completed. Finally, in the long-term, a structure would need to be designed whereby highway agencies could know the exact costs of preservation and maintenance by facility type and user classification so that ISCURP can be successfully implemented.


Traditionally, economists have considered the accumulation of conventional inputs such as labor and capital to be the primary force behind economic growth. Now, however, many macroeconomists place technological progress at the center of the growth process. This shift is due to new theoretical developments that allow researchers to link microeconomic aspects of the innovation process with macroeconomic outcomes.Most economists have viewed technological progress as an incremental process. A few have focused on the role of drastic innovations--those that introduce a discontinuity. The contributors to this volume are concerned with the type of drastic innovation called general purpose technologies (GPTs). A GPT has the potential to affect the entire economic system and can lead to far-reaching changes in such social factors as working hours and constraints on family life. Examples of GPTs are the steam engine, electricity, and the computer.The study of GPTs is relatively new. A universal theoretical framework for dealing with GPTs does not yet exist. The essays in this book both further our understanding of GPT-driven economic growth and lay the foundation for further developments of the available frameworks.Contributors : Philippe Aghion, Ciff Bekar, Timothy Bresnahan, Kenneth Carlaw, Alfonso Gambardella, Richard G. Harris, Elhanan Helpman, Peter Howitt, Richard G. Lipsey, Kevin M. Murphy, Craig Riddell, Paul Romer, Nathan Rosenberg, Manuel Trajtenberg.


Meiosis is a specialized cellular program required to create haploid gametes from diploid parent cells. Prior to the first meiotic division, homologous chromosomes pair, synapse, and recombine to ensure their proper disjunction at anaphase I. Additionally, telomeres tethered at the nuclear envelope cluster in the bouquet configuration where they are subjected to dramatic pulling forces acting from outside of the nucleus. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the telomere-associated protein Ndj1 is required for bouquet formation. When Ndj1 is absent, these dramatic motions cease and multiple steps of meiosis I prophase progression are delayed. Here we identified Nup2 in a pool of enriched proteins that co-purify with tagged Ndj1 from meiotic cell extracts. Nup2 is a nonessential nucleoporin that functions in nuclear transport, boundary activity, and telomere silencing in mitotically dividing cells. We found that deletion of NUP2 delayed pairing and synapsis during meiosis, and led to decreased spore viability, similar to the ndj1Δ mutant phenotype. Surprisingly, the nup2Δ ndj1Δ double mutant failed to segregate chromosomes, even though the meiotic program continued. These results suggest that a physical impediment to nuclear division is created in the absence of Nup2 and Ndj1. Our deletion analysis of NUP2 identified a previously uncharacterized 125-amino acid region that is both necessary and sufficient to complement all of nup2Δ's meiotic phenotypes, which we call the meiotic autonomous region (MAR). We propose that Ndj1 and Nup2 function in parallel pathways to promote the dynamic chromosome events of meiotic chromosome dynamics, perhaps through the establishment or maintenance of higher-order chromosome organization.


Spirituality and its relationship to leadership in an organizational context is a fascinating issue for both management practitioners and researchers. While the notion of spirituality in the workplace has generated a considerable amount of attention and debate in the last decade, there has been little research looking at the important link between spiritual intelligence and performance.

Using the job demands-resources theory as a theoretical basis, the present study examined the role of a leader's personal resource of spiritual intelligence in a project context and the mediating mechanisms that relate it to project success. While examining self-leadership as a motivational mechanism in this relationship, the study further examined the role played by the leader's personal resource of psychological capital as a mechanism that links spiritual intelligence to self-leadership. In addition, by drawing on the conservation of resources theory, the study investigated the moderating effects of project complexity and team size on the relationships between both spiritual intelligence and psychological capital and self-leadership, as well as the relationship between self-leadership and project success.

Structural equation modelling was performed utilizing survey data from 191 leaders managing projects in Indian firms. Results showed a positive relationship between spiritual intelligence and psychological capital. Both the leader's personal resources of spiritual intelligence and psychological capital were positively related to self-leadership. It was found that self-leadership acts as a mediating mechanism between the leader's spiritual intelligence and project success. In addition, psychological capital was found to mediate the association between spiritual intelligence and self-leadership. There was a significant moderating effect of project complexity on the relationship between self-leadership and project success in that the relationship between self-leadership and project success was stronger for projects higher in complexity.


In 2006, Russia amended its competition law and added the concepts of 'collective dominance' and its abuse. This was seen as an attempt to address the common problem of 'conscious parallelism' among firms in concentrated industries. Critics feared that the enforcement of this provision would become tantamount to government regulation of prices. In this paper we examine the enforcement experience to date, looking especially closely at sanctions imposed on firms in the oil industry. Some difficulties and complications experienced in enforcement are analysed, and some alternative strategies for addressing anticompetitive behaviour in concentrated industries discussed.


The declassification of materials from the Russian archives has provided a good deal of new evidence about the relationship between the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and the Soviet Union both before and after World War II. Two newly published collections of documents leave no doubt that, contrary to arguments made by supporters of the PCI, the Italian party was in fact strictly subservient to the dictates of Josif Stalin. The documents reveal the unsavory role of the PCI leader, Palmiro Togliatti, in the destruction of large sections of the Italian Communist movement and in the tragic fate of Italian prisoners of war who were held in the Soviet Union during and after World War II. Togliatti's legacy, as these documents make clear, was one of terror and the Stalinization of the PCI.


This paper draws a distinction between development studies and development education. It argues that, unlike the academic discipline of development studies, development education arose from a recognition of a need for informed action on the part of those in the "developed" world beyond merely raising money for the provision of aid. This paper then outlines the result of a decision, in response to the recurring student question "what can we do about it?", to include in 2002 a development education project in an undergraduate course in Development Studies at the University of Canterbury. It raises the question of whether there is room for genuine development education within the confines of an academic degree programme.


It has been shown that substance P causes endothelium-dependent vasodilation in the human coronary and forearm vessels. However, the precise mechanism whereby substance P dilates the coronary and peripheral vasculatures is unknown in humans. The aim of this study was to examine whether the vasodilator effect of substance P is mediated by nitric oxide in the human coronary and forearm vessels. Eight patients with normal coronary angiograms were studied for the measurements of coronary blood flow (intracoronary Doppler guide wire and quantitative coronary arteriography) and forearm blood flow (strain-gauge plethysmograph). Intracoronary acetylcholine (10 micrograms/min for 2 min) and substance P (30 and 90 ng/min for 2 min) increased coronary blood flow from the baseline value. Intracoronary infusion of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) at 200 mumol significantly attenuated the magnitudes of increase in coronary blood flow induced by both acetylcholine (p < 0.01) and substance P (p < 0.01). Acetylcholine (4, 8, and 16 micrograms/min for 2 min) and substance P (0.8, 1.6, and 3.2 ng/min for 2 min) also increased forearm blood flow in a dose-dependent manner. Intraarterial L-NMMA (8 mumol/min for 5 min) decreased the magnitudes of increase in forearm blood flow induced by acetylcholine (p < 0.01). L-NMMA at the same dosage decreased the increase in forearm blood flow induced by substance P, but the magnitude of the inhibitory effect of L-NMMA on blood-flow responses to substance P was significantly smaller in the forearm than in coronary vessels. It is suggested that endothelium-derived nitric oxide contributes to substance P-induced vasodilation, and that the contribution of nitric oxide to substance P-induced vasodilation is smaller in the forearm than in coronary circulation.


Peace, prosperity, and happiness are the rule in the marvelous Land of Oz, but in a faraway corner of this magical domain dwell two tribes--the Flatheads and the Skeezers--who have declared war on each other. Determined to keep her subjects from fighting, the Ruler of Oz, Princess Ozma, along with her dearest friend, Princess Dorothy Gale (formerly of Kansas), embarks on a quest to restore peace.When the Supreme Dictator of the Flatheads refuses to cooperate with Ozma, she and Dorothy seek out Queen Coo-ee-oh of the Skeezers, hoping she will be more reasonable. But the queen imprisons Ozma and Dorothy in her grand city and then traps them by submerging the whole city under water. Now it is up to Glinda the Good to save the day. She assembles all of Ozma's counsellors--including such beloved Oz friends as the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion, Patchwork Girl, Shaggy Man, Tik-Tok, and Wizard of Oz--and they set out to rescue their friends. Will the magic powers of Glinda and the Wizard combined be enough to free Ozma and Dorothy?A rousing tale of suspense, magic, and adventure, Glinda of Oz is the fourteenth and final Oz book by L. Frank Baum. It's a grand conclusion to his chronicles of America's favorite fairyland. This deluxe gift edition features all twelve of Oz artist John R. Neill's beautiful color plates, along with his nearly one hundred black-and-white pictures, making it a perfect gift for all Oz fans, new and old.


This paper studies the design of a nonlinear social security scheme in a society where individuals differ in two respects: productivity and degree of myopia. Myopic individuals may not save "enough" for their retirement because their "myopic self" emerges when labor supply and savings decisions are made. The social welfare function is paternalistic: the rate of time preference of the far-sighted (which corresponds to the "true" preferences of the myopics) is used for both types. We show that the paternalistic solution does not necessarily imply forced savings for the myopics. This is because paternalistic considerations are mitigated or even outweighed by incentive effects. Our numerical results suggest that as the number of myopic individuals increases, there is less redistribution and more forced saving. Furthermore, as the number of myopic increases, the desirability of social security (measured by the difference between social welfare with and without social security) increases.


This paper describes a new method of connecting wires to surface mount printed circuit boards. This new wire termination system is more cost effective than any other known method to date. It occupies little real estate on the PCB and withstands the most demanding environment. The following subjects are discussed in this paper: • Short review of pros and cons of PCB wire termination methods • Description of the new method • Testing


Understanding the adaptive nature of unique family structures necessitates considering culture-specific mediators of risk factors. While the pathology of matriarchy in developmental literature may predict negative outcomes, single-mother Puerto Rican households possess adaptive strengths for need achievement, or motivation. The cultural characteristic of familismo shapes how socialization practices instill need achievement. I argue in Puerto Rican families, extended family reinforces standards of excellence while fathers discourage self-reliance training. Eighteen Puerto Rican six- to twelve-year-olds participated in a story-based version of the Thematic Apperception Test and were interviewed regarding their family life. Ethnographic home-visits complemented assessments. Content analysis of need achievement scores found children with a father present and extended family absent had significantly lower need achievement motives than children with a father absent. This research can help both to explain findings of Puerto Rican underachievement and to create culturally-specific methods to motivate students while dissuading the prevailing pathology of matriarchy.


There is considerable epidemiological evidence supporting the association between chronic emotional stress and coronary heart disease (CHD). Emotional factors that have been linked to atherosclerosis and adverse cardiac events include primarily negative affective disorders such as depression, anxiety, anger, and hostility.1,2 It is now well established that depression is related not only to the incidence of CHD but also to the prognosis of patients with established disease. In a meta-analysis concerned with the role of depression in the development of coronary artery disease, Rugulies found that individuals with clinical depression have >2.5 times the risk of a myocardial infarction or coronary death as the general population.3 In patients with established coronary disease, not only is major depression a significant predictor of mortality following acute myocardial infarction, but the level of depressive symptoms has a dose–response relationship with cardiac mortality over several years of follow-up.4

The importance of other affective disorders in the development and progression of CHD is less well established. Large-scale prospective studies have demonstrated a significant link between anxiety and sudden cardiac death,5 but studies documenting an association between anxiety and the development of coronary artery disease have been inconclusive. In patients with known CHD, Suls and Bunde found a relatively weak association between anxiety and hard cardiac events.6 More recent studies, however, have demonstrated that anxiety is an independent predictor of major cardiac events in patients with stable coronary disease.7,8 Hostility and anger are felt to represent the potentially harmful aspects of Type A behaviour, and their relationships to CHD have therefore received considerable attention. While some studies have reported that hostility is an important risk factor for CHD,6 numerous studies have found no association between hostility and cardiovascular disease after adjusting for confounding factors.9 …

*Corresponding author. Tel: +1 410 614 6258, Fax: +1 410 955 3478, Email: iwittste{at}jhmi.edu


While next-generation sequencing (NGS) has become the primary technology for discovering gene fusions, we are still faced with the challenge of ensuring that causative mutations are not missed while minimizing false positives. Currently, there are many computational tools that predict structural variations (SV) and gene fusions using whole genome (WGS) and transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) data separately. However, as both WGS and RNA-seq have their limitations when used independently, we hypothesize that the orthogonal validation from integrating both data could generate a sensitive and specific approach for detecting high-confidence gene fusion predictions. Fortunately, decreasing NGS costs have resulted in a growing quantity of patients with both data available. Therefore, we developed a gene fusion discovery tool, INTEGRATE, that leverages both RNA-seq and WGS data to reconstruct gene fusion junctions and genomic breakpoints by split-read mapping. To evaluate INTEGRATE, we compared it with eight additional gene fusion discovery tools using the well-characterized breast cell line HCC1395 and peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from the same patient (HCC1395BL). The predictions subsequently underwent a targeted validation leading to the discovery of 131 novel fusions in addition to the seven previously reported fusions. Overall, INTEGRATE only missed six out of the 138 validated fusions and had the highest accuracy of the nine tools evaluated. Additionally, we applied INTEGRATE to 62 breast cancer patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and found multiple recurrent gene fusions including a subset involving estrogen receptor. Taken together, INTEGRATE is a highly sensitive and accurate tool that is freely available for academic use.


Author(s): Mireshghi, Elham | Advisor(s): Montoya, Michael J. | Abstract: Since 1997, Iran has implemented the world's only program for living paid kidney donation. The program has been developed and administered by a non-profit NGO – the Kidney Patient Foundation (KPF). Though sanctioned by Shi'a Muslim jurists and celebrated in the West as the "Iranian Model," the program has been rife with moral unease and uncertainty in Iran. While organ donation after death is valorized, undergoing transplantation for cash is stigmatized. Furthermore, there is little agreement among policy actors that facilitating paid organ giving is a good idea. In this dissertation, I examine kidney "selling" both at the level of the exchange – where I analyze the experiences of kidney givers and recipients – and at the level of institutional and bureaucratic process, legal and scientific reasoning, and practical and ethical negotiation, to explain how Iran came to uniquely sanction and bureaucratically routinize kidney selling. I disentangle the dense threads of moral reasoning and experience among a range of actors - from donors and recipients to doctors, policy activists, and Islamic jurists – that undergird the policy's development and implementation. I have conducted ethnographic field research (2011-2013), including observation inside medical and Islamic institutions in Tehran and Qom, and indepth interviews of kidney givers and patients, KPF personnel, doctors and legal scholars and jurists. I have also analyzed Islamic legal texts, as well as visual and textual media. My analysis brings together analytic approaches within the anthropology of public policy, medicine, morality, and exchange, while also contributing to a growing interest in Iranian Studies to venture beyond themes of repression and resistance. I consider Iran's living kidney giving program within the context of Iran's post-revolution medical modernization projects, its haphazard economic liberalization, and ongoing commitment to social welfare, alongside an examination of the role of Islamic jurists and other "experts" in policy making. I elucidate the socio-economic conditions and aspirations that motivate kidney givers, and the "medical imaginary" that facilitates their decision as well as the legal reasoning of jurists. Lastly, I offer an alternative to the "commodity paradigm" in examining exchanges involving money that can contribute to bioethical discussions of organ sales.


Background Paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a common illness with a major impact on quality of life. Recovery is poorly understood. Our aim was to describe definitions of recovery in paediatric CFS/ME, the rate of recovery and the time to recovery. Methods This systematic review included a detailed search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo and Cochrane Library between 1994 and July 2018. Inclusion criteria were (1) clinical trials and observational studies, (2) participants aged <19 years with CFS/ME, (3) conducted in Western Healthcare systems and (4) studies including a measure of recovery and time taken to recover. Results Twelve papers (10 studies) were identified, involving 826 patients (range 23–135). Recovery rates were highly varied, ranging between 4.5% and 83%. Eleven distinct definitions of recovery were used; six were composite outcomes while five used unidimensional outcomes. Outcome measures used to define recovery were highly heterogeneous. School attendance (n=8), fatigue (n=6) and physical functioning (n=4) were the most common outcomes included in definition of recovery. Only five definitions included a personal measure of recovery. Implications Definitions of recovery are highly variable, likely secondary to differences in study design, outcomes used, follow-up and study populations. Heterogeneous definitions of recovery limit meaningful comparison between studies, highlighting the need for a consensus definition going forward. Recovery is probably best defined from the child's own perspective with a single self-reported measure. If composite measures are used for research, there should be agreement on the core outcome set used. Significant differences in definitions of recovery, result in highly varied reported recovery rates for chronic fatigue syndrome. Consensus definitions of recovery are needed, the authors recommend that recovery may be best defined from the child's own perspective.


Research on diversity in teams and organizations has revealed ambiguous results regarding the effects of group composition on workgroup performance. The categorization—elaboration model (van Knippenberg et al., 2004) accounts for this variety and proposes two different underlying processes. On the one hand diversity may bring about intergroup bias which leads to less group identification, which in turn is followed by more conflict and decreased workgroup performance. On the other hand, the information processing approach proposes positive effects of diversity because of a more elaborate processing of information brought about by a wider pool and variety of perspectives in more diverse groups. We propose that the former process is contingent on individual team members' beliefs that diversity is good or bad for achieving the team's aims. We predict that the relationship between subjective diversity and identification is more positive in ethnically diverse project teams when group members hold beliefs that are pro-diversity. Results of two longitudinal studies involving postgraduate students working in project teams confirm this hypothesis. Analyses further reveal that group identification is positively related to students' desire to stay in their groups and to their information elaboration. Finally, we found evidence for the expected moderated mediation model with indirect effects of subjective diversity on elaboration and the desire to stay, mediated through group identification, moderated by diversity beliefs.


The Scottish Enhancement Theme of Transitions has largely been explored by institutions in terms of pre/post undergraduate degree, with a tangential focus on employability. Less considered are transitions between and through undergraduate levels, despite the impact they have on successful student engagement and retention (Whittle, 2015). To ensure positive transition through their degree, students must be engaged in dialogue with staff and have the opportunity to influence curriculum adaptation and development (Bovill, Cook-Sather, & Felten, 2011). Having experienced the Honours year from both a student and tutor perspective, the authors developed Don't Panic: The Psych/Soc Student's Guide to Fourth Year . A practical response to student concerns, the guide was designed to reflect the final year 'life cycle' with the simple aim of offering honest advice and encouragement to psychology and sociology students at Queen Margaret University (QMU), as an informal companion to the dissertation handbook. Development is ongoing, and following dissemination activities the guide has attracted interest from students and faculty across the United Kingdom and beyond. It is apparent that several institutions lack such a form of support for final year students – and while Don't Panic is not presented as the solution to all transitional problems, it can serve as an example of innovation to empower the student voice. Don't Panic has led to the author's increasing involvement in, and understanding of, issues relating to learning and teaching, access and retention. They reflect on these matters in academic and professional literature, through the prism of their own student-to-staff transitional experience.


The heart rate (HR) response to paced deep breathing (DB) is a common test of autonomic function, where the scoring is based on indices reflecting the overall heart rate variability (HRV), where high scores are considered as normal findings but can also reflect arrhythmias. This study presents a method based on hyperdimensional computing for assessment of the similarity between feature vectors derived from the HR and breathing signals. The proposed method was used to identify subjects where HR did not follow the paced breathing pattern in recordings from DB tests in 174 healthy subjects and 135 patients with cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Subjects were classified in 4 similarity classes, where the lowest similiarity class included 35 patients and 3 controls. In general, the autonomic function cannot be evaluated in subjects in the lowest similarity class if they also present with high HRV scores, since this combination is a strong indicator of the presence of arrhythmias. Thus, the proposed vector-based similarity analysis is one tool to identify subjects with high HRV but low cardiorespiratory synchronization during the DB test, which falsely can be interpreted as normal autonomic function.


The British horseracing industry is committed to safeguarding the welfare of racehorses throughout their racing careers and beyond. Former racehorses who do not retire to a stud career and are suitable for second careers are often retrained to compete in other equestrian sports. Horseball is a growing discipline, which proactively supports retraining of racehorses (RoR) that could offer a suitable second career for former racehorses. This study explored the key attributes that horseball competitors look for in a potential former racehorse to promote a successful career in the sport. Participants voluntarily completed an online, 18 question survey (SurveyMonkey®), distributed through horseball related communication channels (Facebook™, Instagram™ and the British Horseball Association). Horseball competitors were asked (a) what key physical and behavioural characteristics they considered necessary for a successful horseball horse and (b) whether they would consider competing a former racehorse. A total of 45 horseball competitors completed the survey representing a margin of error of ±13% at the 95% confidence interval for the UK horseball population (n=200). Most respondents celebrated former racehorses' suitability for horseball competition; 73.72% (n=32) had already owned and competed a former Thoroughbred racehorse in horseball and 97.78% (n=44) would consider purchasing and competing one in the future. Former racehorses were recognised to possess key performance attributes: agility, temperament, and speed suitable for a successful second career in competitive horseball. However, injuries that impeded former racehorse performance; lameness and other chronic injuries, were deemed as detrimental to success in competitive horseball. Further work in collaboration with racehorse rehoming stakeholders is required to produce guidelines to identify specific behavioural and physical characteristics which could predict the suitability of former racehorses for successful second careers across equestrian disciplines.