In this study the interactions of biomacromolecules with different inorganic nanostructured materials were investigated using experimental and theoretical approaches. A deeper understanding on the fundamental steps involved for such interactions is very important for the fields of nanotechnology, medicine and biotechnology. In nanotechnology biomolecules like DNA have often been considered as templates for the scaffolding of nanoparticles. TEM observations of DNA molecules with Au55 cluster indicated the formation of equidistant gold nanowires. Interestingly the nanowires were composed of such dimensions that indicated that the Au55 cluster initially used was reduced to the size of a cluster with 13 gold atoms. In order to understand the formation of gold nanowires, various molecular modelling techniques were employed. Based on molecular mechanics simulations, it was found that Au55 cluster energetically prefers to interact with the major groove of B-DNA whereas Au13 prefers to associate with the major grooves of A-DNA. It is not clear how the reduction of Au55 to Au13 occurs however it is assumed that it is influenced by the dramatic alterations occurring in the groove geometry during B-DNA to A-DNA transition. The formation of gold nanowires is determined by the equidistant decoration of Au13 clusters around the major grooves of A-DNA. Molecular dynamics simulations indicated that the aggregation of such DNA-gold complexes leads to the formation of nanowires which are separated from each other almost 0.5 nm.
The ability of Au55 to interact with the major grooves of B-DNA led to further investigations on the potential of this gold cluster as an anticancer drug. Gold-based compounds have not been studied as extensively as other metal-based drugs like platinum derivatives which have been employed as chemotherapeutic agents for many years in medical oncology. A variety of human cancer and healthy cell lines have been employed for investigating sensitivity towards Au55 and cisplatin. In vitro cytotoxicity assays performed by a colourimetric-based method (MTT) have indicated that generally Au55 is more toxic and efficient than cisplatin. Especially the cisplatin resistant metastatic melanoma cell lines exhibited the highest sensitivity towards Au55. Apoptotic or necrotic death influenced by Au55 was investigated by performing a fluorometric assay which measures the induction of the apoptotic proteins caspases –3 and –7. The effect of Au55 was different among the five cell lines investigated. In the case of the osteosarcoma cell line U-2OS induction of caspases –3 and –7 in the presence either of Au55 or cisplatin was observed indicating apoptosis being triggered. In the other four different cell lines the induction of caspases either in the presence of Au55 or cisplatin was similar to the controls. This indicates that these cells could be dying either by necrosis, or apoptosis is induced through a caspase-independent pathway. Further information on the cellular localisation and possible target has been investigated by measuring the distribution of radioactive gold cluster in various cellular fractions of the BLM cell line. It has been found that slightly higher amount of Au55 was located in the chromosomal DNA rather than in the cytoplasmic fraction. The Au55 was strongly bound to the chromosomal DNA with a very small fraction of it being present in the nuclear proteins. This has indicated that DNA is one of the main cellular targets however it is not certain whether such an interaction is directly related to the cytotoxic effect of Au55. The gold cluster could possibly damage the chromosomal DNA in the presence of H2O2 as indicated by the conversion of supercoiled plasmid DNA into open-circular form by agarose gel electrophoresis. Molecular docking simulations have shown the energetic preference of this agent for AATT sequences which is different to the GG and AG preference of cisplatin. Finally protein-gold cluster interactions could also play an important role on the cytotoxic effect of Au55. In vitro cytotoxicity assays in the presence of albumin have shown an increase in the IC50 values indicating a sequestering effect of albumin protein. Molecular docking simulations suggest the interaction of Au55 with specific cystein residues of human albumin.
Nanostructured inorganic materials have been considered very important in the field of biotechnology with major applications aiming towards the immobilisation or purification of biomolecules such as proteins and amino acids. In this study the interactions of three different amino acids with a zeolite structure have been investigated using molecular modelling. MD simulations have been performed in the presence of water molecules with Phe, Lys and Glu being placed around the structure of zeolite beta. The simulations have indicated that amino acids energetically prefer to interact with the surface of the zeolite-beta rather being placed inside the pores or in the bulk. MD simulations clearly indicate the preference of Phe to adsorb through the formation of hydrogen bonds with the O atoms of the zeolite structure. The amino acids Lys and Glu have indicated a lower preference as the formation of fewer hydrogen bonds with the zeolite surface has been exhibited. This is in aggreement with experimental studies reported in the literature. Nevertheless MD simulations have not been able to distinguish any differences on the adsorption behavior of Glu and Lys.


A reflectance model that accurately predicts diffuse reflection from smooth inhomogeneous dielectric surfaces as a function of both viewing angle and angle of incidence is proposed. Utilizing results of radiative-transfer theory for subsurface multiple scattering, this new model precisely accounts for how incident light and the distribution of subsurface scattered light are influenced by Fresnel attenuation and Snell refraction at a smooth air–dielectric surface boundary. Whereas similar assumptions about subsurface scattering and Fresnel attenuation have been made in previous research on diffuse-reflectance modeling, the proposed model combines these assumptions in a different way and yields a more accurate expression for diffuse reflection that is shown to account for a number of empirical observations not predicted by existing models. What is particularly new about this diffuse-reflectance model is the resulting significant dependence on the viewing angle with respect to the surface normal. This dependence on the viewing angle explains distinctive properties of the behavior of diffuse reflection from smooth dielectric objects, properties not accounted for by existing diffuse-reflection models. Among these properties are prominent diffuse-reflection maxima effects occurring on objects when incident point-source illumination is greater than 50° relative to viewing, including the range from 90° to 180°, where the light source is behind the object with respect to viewing. For this range of incident illumination there is significant deviation from Lambertian behavior over a large portion of most smooth dielectric object surfaces, which makes it important for the computer vision community to be aware of such effects during incorporation of reflectance models into implementation of algorithms such as shape-from-shading. A number of experimental results are presented that verify the proposed diffuse-reflectance model.


Abstract. Continuously monitoring cell cultures is essential for both controlling critical parameters and improving understanding of key processes. An ideal technique in this context is surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy, which essentially exploits changes in the angle of incident light that occur when molecules bind to a surface. It provides the ability to monitor real-time changes in small concentrations of various molecules, with no need for additional labels or sample preparation. Here we present an SPR-based immunoassay for monitoring concentrations of human serum albumin (HSA), and compare its sensitivity when used in conjunction with a Biacore platform and the cheaper, smaller liSPR system. In conjunction with either system, the immunoassay can detect HSA (a hepatocyte viability marker) at concentrations typically present in three-dimensional hepatocyte cultures mimicking the liver used to evaluate effects of drug candidates before exposure to humans or animals. Furthermore, in conjunction with the liSPR system, it is sufficiently sensitive to measure the much lower HSA levels present in skin–hepatocyte co-cultures.


Understanding human interactions in online communications is of paramount importance for our society. Alarming phenomena such as the spreading of fake news or the formation of echo-chambers can emerge in unhealthy communication environments and, ultimately, undermine the democratic discourse. In this context, unveiling the individual drivers that give rise to collective attention can help to conserve the health of our information ecosystems. Here, following a recently proposed analogy between natural and information ecosystems, we explore how competition for attention in online social networks and the strategies adopted by the users to maximize their visibility shape our communication dynamics. Specifically, by analyzing large-scale datasets from the micro-blogging platform Twitter and performing numerical modeling of the system dynamics, we are able to measure the amount of competition for attention experienced by users and how it changes when exogenous events captivate collective attention. The work relies on topic modeling to extract users' interests and memes context from the data and a framework based on ecological niche theory to quantify the strength of negative (competitive) and positive (mutualistic) interactions for both users and memes. Interestingly, our findings show two different behaviors. While memes undergo a sharp increase in competition during exceptional events that can lead to their extinction, users perceive a decrease in effective competition due to a stronger effect of mutualistic interaction, explaining the focus of collective attention around specific topics. Finally, to confirm our results we reproduce the observed shifts with a data-driven model of species dynamics.


This study explores how the media, in particular the print media of New York City, portrayed hip hop culture and hip hoppers from the 1970s through the early 1990s. Through examining various newspaper sources it is apparent that the media, since hip hop began to culminate as a culture, has created a misunderstood, simple, and stereotypical image of hip hop. Before graffiti art, emceeing, DJing, and break dancing were fully linked as the pillars of hip hop, the print media of New York City ignored the rise of the culture. When hip hop's pillars finally merged and became one meshed counter culture, the newspaper editors of New York City still chose to ignore ploys by journalists to include hip hop in their headlines. The editors, like many Americans who found themselves outside the cultural boundaries of hip hop thought they understood hip hop and believed the young culture would die out and be replaced by another fad. Little did they know that hip hop culture, in particular the music, would become a major pop culture genre. When hip hop was covered by New York City journalists the image portrayed was rarely, if ever, a wholly positive one despite efforts on the part of hip hoppers to create a socially conscious movement. In the late twentieth century journalists in New York City did not always intentionally create a biased and negative image of hip hop. Rather, their interpretations of the culture often were ill-informed, and at times their articles were coded in language that coincided with racial and class-based stereotypes concerning working-class African Americans. By the twenty-first century, hip hop became the scapegoat for various social problems in American society, including racism and sexism.


In this article, we examine and compare the main human impersonal pronouns in Afrikaans, Dutch and English. The
second person singular, the third person plural and the 'man'- and 'one'-pronouns are studied by means of an acceptability
judgment questionnaire and a completion questionnaire. The combination of the two methods reveals interesting descriptive facts
about the three West Germanic languages. They include, among other things, the 'man'-prominence of Afrikaans versus the
'you'-prominence of Dutch and English for expressing the universal meaning 'anyone' and the more prominent position of 'they' in
Dutch than in the other languages for conveying the existential meaning 'someone, some people'. Our findings have a number of more
theoretical implications too. The two existing semantic maps for human impersonal pronouns make different distinctions in the
existential domain, based on type/level of (un)knownness on the one hand and number on the other. Our study tests both sets of
distinctions and shows that the two dimensions interact with each other in Afrikaans, Dutch and English. The results thus support
a recent proposal in the literature for a combined semantic map. The data from the completion questionnaire, finally, also
indicates that existential uses prefer alternative forms of impersonalization to human impersonal pronouns in all three
languages.


Crack data can be collected using manual or automatic surveys. Traditionally, manual methods are used, and they are still the most common. Changing into automatic systems will enhance the efficiency of data collection as well as the objectivity. In this study the repeatability of an automatic crack data collection system using video images was evaluated. Ten repetitive measurements were made on a 10-km-long road section. Cracking was measured using six laser cameras attached to the same vehicle. The results from the two methods were compared. Simultaneously, a simplified manual windshield survey was conducted by three different persons, and the repeatability obtained was used for comparison with the repeatability established using the image and laser method, respectively. The correlation between repeated measurements using the two automatic systems was high, while the repeatability for the manual, subjective method was low. Suitable measures for crack characterization are discussed.


: Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality worldwide. Conventional thera-pies, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, have limited success because of secondary resistance. Therefore, safe, non-resistant, less toxic, and convenient drugs are urgently required. Natural products (NPs), primarily sourced from medicinal plants, are ideal for cancer treatment because of their low toxicity and high success. NPs cure cancer by regulating different pathways, such as PI3K/AKT/mTOR, ER stress, JNK, Wnt, STAT3, MAPKs, NF-kB, MEK-ERK, inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, autophagy, mitophagy, and necroptosis. Among the NPs, steroid saponins, including polyphyllins (I, II, D, VI, and VII), have potent pharmacological, analgesic, and anticancer activities for the induction of cytotoxicity. Recent research has demonstrated that polyphyllins (PPs) possess potent effects against different cancers through apoptosis, autophagy, inflammation, and necroptosis. This review summarizes the available studies on PPs against cancer to provide a basis for future research. which further inhibits mTOR and induces autophagy in HepG-2 cells by modulating the AMPK/ mTOR pathway. PPG or PPVII induces autophagy through the Akt, p38MAPK, ERK1/2, and JNK pathways. PPG or PPVII activates JNK1/2 and inhibits Akt, p38 MAPK, and ERK1/2, which further increase the conversion of LC3I to LC3II, P62 degradation, and formation of LC3-positive structures or LC3 puncta. Furthermore, PPVII treatment decreases the level of total Bcl-2 decreases but increases those of p-Bcl-2 and Beclin. The AKT inhibitor (LY294002) and JNK1/2 inhibitor (SP600125) increase, suggesting that PPG induces autophagy via the Akt, p38 MAPK, and JNK1/2 pathways. Moreover, LY294002, U0126, and SP600125 significantly attenuate PG-induced LC3-II activation, suggesting that the activation of ERK1/2 and JNK1/2 is involved in PG-induced autophagy. ) PPD induces necroptosis in cancer cells, whereas necrosulfonamide reverses this inhibition. ( C ) PPI induces the translocation of DRP1 to the mitochondria by dephosphorylating DRP1 at ser-637, causing mitochondrial fission. PPI increases the stabilization of full-length PINK1 at the surface of the mitochondria, leading to P62, PARK2, ubiquitin, and LC3B-II recruitment to the mitochondria and then to mitophagy. PPI-induced mitophagy is suppressed markedly by PINK1 knockdown. DRP1 suppression through shRNA or mdivi-1 inhibits the knockdown of PINK1 and PPI-induced mitochondrial fragmentation. These results suggest that PINK1 depletion leads to fission and mitochondrial fragmentation.


Premature infants is a factor of infant mortality in Indonesia. In addition to causing deaths, if the baby continues to live it will be smitten by a variety of morbidities, such as abnormalities and infections. Premature infants are believed to have many an issue in his life such as breathing problems, low intelligence, behavioral and emotional disorders, until the occurrence of autism. Costs spent by families to care for premature babies also not small. Until now, the relative incidence of premature delivery did not change preformance last 40 years. By considering this, especially coupled with the continued high incidence of premature deliveries in Indonesia, we need to hold and the amount of research on factors influencing premature birth occurs. Knowing the incidence and factors that influence preterm birth in Dr.Soetomo hospital during January to March 2011. The research was done by finding the number of preterm birth and maternal medical records to record the number listed in the book babies born in the maternity room Dr. Soetomo Hospital during January to March 2011. Then ask for medical records data, recorded by the variables that have been determined, process and analyze data. Factors that are considered to have significant influence on the incidence of preterm labor include: age is too young (< 20 years) or who are too old (> 35 years), parity multiparous and grande multiparous group, less education (less than received his college ), multiple pregnancy and hydramnios, previous obstetric history included in the bad obstetric history, premature rupture of membranes, and eclampsia/preeclampsia. There are many factors that influence the occurrence of preterm labor. There is no dominant factor that will inevitably lead to preterm labor. The results of this study is less accurate, because the researchers did not compare with the overall population of mothers who gave birth . When compared with the overall population, most likely results would be different, so the results will be better and accurate. (FMI 2012;48:131-136)


This paper investigates the dynamic linkages between portfolio flows and various news indices (based on both "positive" and "negative" news headlines collected from Bloomberg), whilst also controlling for a comprehensive set of push and pull factors. The monthly panel examined comprises 49 developed and developing countries in addition to the US (the "home economy") and covers the period from January 2007 to October 2017; the econometric model includes fixed effects. The empirical results document the important role played by the news variables. More specifically, news pessimism and intensity affect bond flows more than equity flows, and US news appears to play a leading role in these portfolio flow dynamics. By contrast, changes in news pessimism and intensity have a more significant impact on equity flows, and again US news tend to have more sizeable effects. News sentiment is generally found to be an important driver of portfolio flows, whilst only US news disagreement has a significant effect, and only on bond inflows into the US. Most results are robust to the exclusion of the six financial centres from the full sample. As for push and pull factors, most of them (equity return differentials, interest rate spreads, the VIX index, capital controls, exchange rate regimes, CDS spreads, QE episodes, financial development and commodity prices) are significant and with the expected signs.


This paper studies structural transformation of Soviet Russia in 1928-1940 from an agrarian to an industrial economy through the lens of a two-sector neoclassical growth model. We construct a large dataset that covers Soviet Russia during 1928-1940 and Tsarist Russia during 1885-1913. We use a two-sector growth model to compute sectoral TFPs as well as distortions and wedges in the capital, labor and product markets. We find that most wedges substantially increased in 1928-1935 and then fell in 1936-1940 relative to their 1885-1913 levels, while TFP remained generally below pre-WWI trends. Under the neoclassical growth model, projections of these estimated wedges imply that Stalin's economic policies led to welfare loss of -24 percent of consumption in 1928-1940, but a +16 percent welfare gain after 1941. A representative consumer born at the start of Stalin's policies in 1928 experiences a reduction in welfare of -1 percent of consumption, a number that does not take into account additional costs of political repression during this time period. We provide three additional counterfactuals: comparison with Japan, comparison with the New Economic Policy (NEP), and assuming alternative post-1940 growth scenarios.


The objective of present study is to develop the colon specific Didanosine enteric coated matrix tablets using release retardant polymer and pH sensitive polymer Eudragit L100 that retard the liberation of drug in upper gastro intestinal system and also show progressive release in colon. The influence of core tablet compositions, polymer combination ratios and coating levels on the in vitro release rate of Didanosine from coated tablets was investigated. The results showed that less than 10% drug was released in 0.1 N HCl within 2 hr, and about 90% of the drug was released in the pH 7.4 phosphate buffer for 24 hr. The in vitro drug release studies indicated that formulation F17 was a promising system to provide targeting of DDI to the colon. The release pattern of the above formulation was best fitted to zero-order model. Mechanism of drug release followed was non fickian (super case-II) transport mechanism. FTIR spectral studies showed that there is no interaction between the drug and excipients. The results of the present study have demonstrated that the pH-dependent tablet system is a promising vehicle for preventing rapid hydrolysis in gastric environment and improving oral bioavailability of Didanosine for the treatment of HIV infections.


Combining data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) conducted at different locations, using genotype imputation and fixed-effects meta-analysis, has been a powerful approach for dissecting complex disease genetics in populations of European ancestry. Here we investigate the feasibility of applying the same approach in Africa, where genetic diversity, both within and between populations, is far more extensive. We analyse genome-wide data from approximately 5,000 individuals with severe malaria and 7,000 population controls from three different locations in Africa. Our results show that the standard approach is well powered to detect known malaria susceptibility loci when sample sizes are large, and that modern methods for association analysis can control the potential confounding effects of population structure. We show that pattern of association around the haemoglobin S allele differs substantially across populations due to differences in haplotype structure. Motivated by these observations we consider new approaches to association analysis that might prove valuable for multicentre GWAS in Africa: we relax the assumptions of SNP–based fixed effect analysis; we apply Bayesian approaches to allow for heterogeneity in the effect of an allele on risk across studies; and we introduce a region-based test to allow for heterogeneity in the location of causal alleles.


The generation of American international lawyers who founded the American Society of International Law in 1906 and nurtured the soil for what has been retrospectively called a "moralistic legalistic approach to international relations" remains little studied. A survey of the rise of international legal literature in the U.S. from the mid-19th century to the eve of the Great War serves as a backdrop to the examination of the boosting effect on international law of the Spanish American War in 1898. An examination of the Insular Cases before the US Supreme Court is then accompanied by the analysis of a number of influential factors behind the pre-war rise of international law in the U.S. The work concludes with an examination of the rise of natural law doctrines in international law during the interwar period and the critiques addressed.by the realist founders of the field of "international relations" to the "moralistic legalistic approach to international relations".


We present a solution to the denial of service (DoS) problem that does not rely on network infrastructure support, conforming to the end-to-end (e2e) design principle. Our approach is to combine an overlay network, which allows us to treat authorized traffic preferentially, with a lightweight process-migration environment that allows us to move services easily between different parts of a distributed system. Functionality residing on a part of the system that is subjected to a DoS attack migrates to an unaffected location. The overlay network ensures that traffic from legitimate users, who are authenticated before they are allowed to access the service, is routed to the new location. We demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our approach by measuring the performance of an experimental prototype against a series of attacks using PlanetLab, a distributed experimental testbed. Our preliminary results show that the end-toend latency remains at acceptable levels during regular operation, increasing only by a factor of 2 to 3, even for large overlays. When a process migrates due to a DoS attack, the disruption of service for the end user is in the order of a few seconds, depending on the network proximity of the servers involved in the migration.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between giving empowering and disempowering sports coaching to young athletes and coaches' well-being across the season. The sample comprised 169 Norwegian youth football (i.e., European soccer) coaches with a mean age of 41.99 (SD = 6.32). Moreover, we were interested in examining heterogeneous groups of coaches showing variability in their self-reporting of empowering and disempowering behaviors towards their athletes. Thus, a person-centered approach was used. The latent profile analysis revealed three distinct profiles and the association between these profiles and coaches' well-being was in line with the outlined hypotheses. Specifically, coaches who gave higher levels of empowering and lower levels of disempowering sports coaching to their athletes at the beginning of the season also reported higher levels of well-being at the end of the season. The results indicate that there exists an intrinsic value as to why coaches should give empowe...


As most real-world problemas are dynamic, it is not sufficient to "solve" the problem for the some (current) scenario, but it is also necessary to modify the current solution due to various changes in the environment (e. g., machine breakdowns, sickness of employees, etc.). Thus it is important to investigate properties of adaptive algorithms which do not require re-start every time a change is recorded. In this paper such non-stationary problems (i. e., problems, which change in time) are considered. We describe different types of changes in the environment. A new model for non-stationary problems and a classifcation of these problems by the type of changes is proposed. We apply evolutionary algorithms in non-stationary problems. We extend the evolutionary algorithm by two mechanisms dedicated to non-stationary optimization: redundant genetic memory structures and a diversity maintenance technique -random inmigrants mechanism. We report on experiments with evolutionary optimization employing two mechanisms (separately and togheter); the results of experiments are discussed and some observations are made.


In [3] the authors give the first mathematical formalization of an unconditionally secure commitment scheme. Their construction has some similarities to one used to build authentication codes, so they raise the question whether there is some relation between commitment schemes and authentication schemes. They conjecture that authentication schemes with arbitration can be used, but they stress that the information flows are different. In this paper, we show that there is indeed a relation between unconditionally secure commitment schemes and unconditionally secure authentication schemes, and that an unconditionally secure commitment scheme can be built from such an authentication scheme and an unconditionally secure cipher system. This parallel is then used to analyse a new attack against commitment schemes that is the counterpart of the impersonation attack in an authentication system. To investigate the opposite direction, we start by defining an optimal commitment system and showing that this must be a resolvable design commitment scheme as proposed in the aforementioned paper. Then, a proof is given that the resolvable design commitment schemes are a composition of an authentication system and a cipher system and the conclusion follows that this is the case for all optimal commitment systems. We prove that there is a commitment scheme based on Galois Fields that uses the One-Time Pad as the cipher system, which to our knowledge is new in the literature. The main technique in the proof is the construction of an appropriate design for any n, originating an authentication system that is perfectly secure against deception attacks of levels 0 and 1. The commitment scheme here proposed uses only very simple operations and can be very efficiently implemented both in hardware and software. Finally, we give a brief look at the possibility of building commitment schemes from other primitives.


W EARABLE and mobile sensors have found widespread use in recent years due to their ever-decreasing cost, ease of deployment and use, and ability to provide continuous monitoring as opposed to sensors installed at fixed locations. Since many smart phones are now equipped with a variety of sensors, including accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, microphone and camera, it has become more feasible to develop algorithms for activity monitoring, guidance and navigation of unmanned vehicles, autonomous driving and driver assistance, by using data from one or more of these sensors. In this thesis, we focus on multiple mobile camera applications, and present lightweight algorithms suitable for embedded mobile platforms. The mobile camera scenarios presented in the thesis are: (i) activity detection and step counting from wearable cameras, (ii) door detection for indoor navigation of unmanned vehicles, and (iii) traffic sign detection from vehicle-mounted cameras. First, we present a fall detection and activity classification system developed for embedded smart camera platform CITRIC. In our system, the camera platform is worn by the subject, as opposed to static sensors installed at fixed locations in certain rooms, and, therefore, monitoring is not limited to confined areas, and extends to wherever the subject may travel including indoors and outdoors. Next, we present a real-time smart phone-based fall detection system, wherein we implement camera and accelerometer based fall-detection on Samsung Galaxy STM 4. We fuse these two sensor modalities to have a more robust fall detection system. Then, we introduce a fall detection algorithm with autonomous thresholding using relative-entropy within the class of Ali-Silvey distance measures. As another wearable camera application, we present a footstep counting algorithm using a smart phone camera. This algorithm provides more accurate step-count compared to using only accelerometer data in smart phones and smart watches at various body locations. As a second mobile camera scenario, we study autonomous indoor navigation of unmanned vehicles. A novel approach is proposed to autonomously detect and verify doorway openings by using the Google Project TangoTM platform. The third mobile camera scenario involves vehicle-mounted cameras. More specifically, we focus on traffic sign detection from lower-resolution and noisy videos captured from vehicle-mounted cameras. We present a new method for accurate traffic sign detection, incorporating Aggregate Channel Features and Chain Code Histograms, with the goal of providing much faster training and testing, and comparable or better performance, with respect to deep neural network approaches, without requiring specialized processors. Proposed computer vision algorithms provide promising results for various useful applications despite the limited energy and processing capabilities of mobile devices. COMPUTER VISION ALGORITHMS FOR MOBILE


Our computational studies of infant language learning estimate the inherent difficulty of Arbib's proposal. We show that body language provides a strikingly helpful scaffold for learning language that may be necessary but not sufficient, given the absence of sophisticated language in other species. The extraordinary language abilities of Homo sapiens must have evolved from other pressures, such as sexual selection.


Pressure sore is a complication in paraplegic/quadriplegic patients. Despite advances in reconstruction techniques, sacral pressure sores are still a challenge to the orthopaedic surgeon, because of long hospital stay resulting into the situation where pressure sores are in evitable for ambulatory patients too. Development of pressure sores makes treatment/rehabilitation difficult and delays treatment options. Additionally, untreated sores cause complications, e.g. death and recurrence after surgery. Attention has been focused on aggressive dressing of the deep sores with use of sugar paste. Once granulation tissue had filled a sore cavity, a surgical closure using V-Y flaps were considered a method providing better treatment results. This study was conducted on 14 patients (10 males and 4 females) with sacral pressure sores in age group of 35 to 80 years. After initial debridement and removal of tissues of doubtful viability, culture and sensitivity were done in all cases. Wounds were packed with sugar paste for 5 to 14 days or till cavity is filled by granulation tissue. Bilateral V-Y myocutaneous flaps were used in 13 cases. Wound gaping occurred in 1 due to failure of a unilateral rotational flap and secondary bilateral V-Y myocutaneous flaps were needed. Suction drains retained for 7 to 10 days and pressure bearing on sores sites was avoided till complete healing. Superficial infection occurred in 3 cases which responded to suction and dressings. In our experience, the use of sugar paste dressing as a preprocedure to V-Y flap covering operation is a reliable options in management of infected deep sacral pressure sore.


Can exposure to a cleanliness prime affect moral judgements towards harm reduction strategies (HRS) for individuals with substance use disorders? Our research examined (a) the effect of a cleanliness prime on attitudes towards HRS and (b) whether this effect would be attenuated by a brief educational presentation. Participants were randomly assigned to a priming condition and an educational presentation condition. Results demonstrated that (a) the cleanliness prime did not shift attitudes towards HRS, however, (b) the educational presentations significantly shifted attitudes to be more positive after the Harm Reduction presentation and more negative after the Healthy Living presentation. The literature on priming is mixed and our results support a growing body of research challenging the robustness of cleanliness priming and also demonstrates that brief presentations can change attitudes. Our research has implications for education on the benefits of HRS in reducing disease transmission, refuse in the community, and overdose deaths.


The recent spectacular progress in modern nano-dimension semiconductor technology enabled implementation of a complete complex multi-processor system on a single chip (MPSoC), global networking and mobile wire-less communication, and facilitated a fast progress in these areas. New important opportunities have been created. The traditional applications can be served much better and numerous new sorts of embedded systems became technologically feasible and economically justified. Various monitoring, control, communication or multi-media systems that can be put on or embedded in (mobile, poorly accessible or distant) objects, installations, machines or devices, or even implanted in human or animal body can serve as examples. However, many of the modern embedded application impose very stringent functional and parametric demands. Moreover, the spectacular advances in microelectronics introduced unusual silicon and system complexity. The combination of the huge complexity with the stringent application requirements results in numerous serious design and development challenges, such as: accounting in design for more aspects and changed relationships among aspects, complex multi-objective MPSoC optimization, adequate resolution of numerous complex design tradeoffs, reduction of the design productivity gap for the increasingly complex and sophisticated systems, reduction of the time-to market and development costs without compromising the system quality, etc. These challenges cannot be well addressed without an adequate system and design methodology adaptation. The adequate system and design paradigms to solve the problems seem to be the paradigms of: life-inspired systems, and quality-driven design. The first part of the tutorial is devoted to discussion of the issues and challenges in development of contemporary and future embedded systems and introduction of the quality-driven model-based design methodology based on the paradigms of life-inspired systems and quality-driven design earlier proposed by the first presenter of this tutorial. Subsequently, the actual industrial Intel's ASIP-based MPSoC technology is introduced, and situation, trends and problems are discussed in the area of heterogeneous MPSoCs based on adaptable ASIPs and hardware accelerators for highly-demanding applications.


The playground activity of 110 children aged between 6 and 10 years was observed for 10 five-minute periods. Fifty-five children were assigned to a developmental coordination disorder (DCD) group and 55 to a control group, on the basis of their scores on the Movement ABC. Children in the DCD group spent more time alone, were onlookers more often, and played formal games in large groups less often if they were boys and informal games in large groups less often if they were girls. Social fantasy play did not differentiate between the two groups but social physical play did, particularly in the older age groups. Play performance in the DCD group was more variable overall with some boys taking an active part in team games while others never took part in them. This study indicates that as social non-physical play decreases with age, some children with impaired coordination may not become involved in social physical play. Children with impaired coordination can become isolated and solitary in the school playground. Various routes to social exclusion for these children are proposed and remain to be explored.


Ever since its invention in the 1920s, quantum physics has given rise to countless discussions about its meaning and about how to interpret the theory correctly. These discussions focus on issues like the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, Quantum non-locality and the role of measurement in quantum physics. In recent years, however research into the very foundations of quantum mechanics has also led to a new field – quantum information technology. The use of quantum physics could revolutionize the way we communicate and process information.


[1] The sustained heat and gas output from Erebus volcano reflects a regime of magma convection that we investigate here using a bi-phase (melt and crystals), fluid dynamical model. Following validity and verification tests of the model, we carried out four single-phase and three bi-phase numerical 30-year- simulations, in an idealized 2D geometry representing a lava lake cooled from above and a reservoir heated from below that are linked by a 4-to-10–m-diameter conduit. We tested the effects of crystals on convection while changing conduit size and the system boundaries from closed to open. Neglecting crystal settling yields only a limited number of features, i.e., (i) the formation of a central instability, (ii) the average temperature evolution, and (iii) the average velocity range of the surface flow motion. Bi-phase simulations show that while crystals are quite efficiently transported by the liquid phase a small decoupling reflecting their large size (5 cm) results in settling. This leads to more complex circulation patterns and enhances the vigor of fluid motion. A sufficiently large conduit sustains convection and retains 6 and 20% of crystals in suspension, for a closed and open system, respectively. Model outputs do not yet correspond well with field observations of Erebus lava lake (e.g., real surface velocities are much faster than those modeled), suggesting that exsolved volatiles are an important source of buoyancy.


We studied the process of vitellogenesis in the oribatid mite Archegozetes longisetosus using light and electron microscopy. Both vitellogenesis and the formation of the first egg shell occur within the meroi of the ovary, starting after detachment from the medulla and completing with ovulation of the egg into the oviductal lumen at the ovarial bulb. Numerous microvilli appear on the surface, and abundant endocytotic pits and coated vesicles occur in the peripheral plasma of the oocyte. Accumulation of fatty yolk does not precede accumulation of proteineous yolk. Differentiation of ooplasm and formation of a perivitelline space beneath a continuous follicular epithelium were observed. Vitelline envelope material appears to be uniform. We compare details of vitellogenesis and propose a classification of the ovarian type as panoistic and the vitellogenesis as exogenic in A. longisetosus.


The effect of nimodipine on the in vitro reactivity of cerebral vessels after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was studied. With the use of a primate model of chronic cerebral vasospasm, 12 female cynomolgous monkeys underwent the induction of a SAH by the direct placement of an average 6.4-ml autologous hematoma against the major anterior cerebral vessels in the right basal subarachnoid spaces (Day 0). The animals were then randomized to one of four groups and within 14 to 20 hours after clot placement were started on oral q8h therapy with nimodipine (3, 6, or 12 mg/kg) or placebo. On Day 7, the animals were killed and the right and left middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) were immediately resected and placed in oxygenated Krebs' solution. Ring preparations from the arteries were suspended in organ baths, and dose-effect curves to varying concentrations of norepinephrine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and potassium chloride were obtained. There was a highly significant reduction in the response of the MCA on the clot side (right) relative to the nonclot side (left) to all three agonists. The clot side contractility was not influenced by nimodipine treatment at any of the four doses tested. The nonclot side arteries of the 12-mg/kg treatment group demonstrated significantly enhanced reactivity for all three agonists. Oral treatment with high dose nimodipine enhances the reactivity of normal cerebral vessels to the agonists tested, but it does not seem to affect the reactivity of arteries in chronic spasm at any of the four doses tested.


Extracted text; Burnout syndrome is a destructive repercussion of experiencing various chronic stressors and is prevalent among health care professionals. It changes driven, ambitious, hardworking people into depressed, apathetic, error-prone individuals. The purpose of this qualitative Senior Honors Project is to identify potential stressors and burnout of physicians and nurses working in Pediatric Oncology at a regional tertiary hospital in the southern United States, and what coping mechanisms individuals use to help avoid or ameliorate this syndrome. Study Design and Methods: This study is ongoing. There is a goal sample of 5-10 subjects. The participants of this qualitative study are gathered using the snowballing effect. Each participant is interviewed and asked 11 open-ended questions designed by the research team. Results: The results are based on the responses by two participants, with an average of 39.5 years of experience. Inabilities to balance family and work life, along with the death of patients are real predictors of stress experienced in the Pediatric Oncology work environment. Lack of psychological intervention exacerbates these predictors. Spirituality, religion, remarkable recoveries, and psychological intervention are all powerful coping mechanisms practiced by health care professionals. The findings of this study can be invaluable in identifying and avoiding key stressors that lead to burnout syndrome.; Greer, Annette. Department of Bioethics and Interdisciplinary Studies, Brody School of Medicine


"The Turk" is a multifaceted concept that emerged in the late Middle Ages in Europe, and has gained new faces over the course of time until today. Being primarily a Muslim, the Turk usually connoted the antichrist, infidel, and the ultimate enemy. With such attributed qualities, the concept influenced European art and literature by providing a subject with negative visual and textual representations. Current scholarly corpus about representations of the Turk sufficiently investigates the subject, yet, without offering different reading and conclusion. This paper aims at introducing a new perspective to the image of the Turk by shedding light on its representations in early modern European board games and playing cards; thus, contributing to a nouvelle scholarly interest on the image of the Turk. It argues that, belonging to a familiar but relatively obscure world of games, board games and playing cards have the potential to reinforce an antithesis to the negative image of the Turk.


Proopiomelanocortin (POMC), which is expressed in several different tissues, undergoes posttranslational processing to yield various physiologically active peptide products. In the hypothalamus, POMC is a precursor to the melanocortins (α-MSH, β-MSH, and γ-MSH). Humans and mice lacking functional POMC or MC4R (melanocortin-4 receptor, a G-protein-coupled receptor activated by α- and β-MSH) become obese; because rodents cannot synthesize β-MSH, this effect has been attributed to α-MSH (see Leibel). Now, studies from two groups, Biebermann et al. and Lee et al., suggest that, in humans, β-MSH plays a key role in regulating body weight. Biebermann et al. found that the POMC coding region of a severely obese child had a mutant form of β-MSH in which a cysteine was substituted for a tyrosine, a mutation also present in obese family members. Restriction enzyme analysis of POMC in 722 obese and 1270 nonobese children and adolescents revealed the mutation in 2 obese individuals and no controls. Postmortem immunohistochemical analysis revealed neurons containing β-MSH in the arcuate nucleus of human hypothalamus. Lee et al. discovered the same β-MSH variant in 5 of 538 unrelated severely obese children and 1 of 300 nonobese adults and found that the mutation segregated with obesity in family members. NMR analysis indicated that the mutation altered the three-dimensional structure of β-MSH. Both groups found that, compared with wild-type β-MSH, the mutant form showed substantially reduced binding to human MC4R [expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 or human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells] and was far less effective at stimulating adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cAMP) production. Thus, both groups conclude that, unlike the situation in rodents, β-MSH plays an important and previously unrecognized role in regulating human energy balance and body weight. H. Biebermann, T. R. Castañeda, F. van Landeghem, A. von Deimling, F. Escher, G. Brabant, J. Hebebrand, A. Hinney, M. H. Tschöp, A. Grüters, H. Krude, A role for β-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in human body-weight regulation. Cell Metab. 3, 141-146 (2006). [PubMed] Y. S. Lee, B. G. Challis, D. A. Thompson, G. S. H. Yeo, J. M. Keogh, M. E. Madonna, V. Wraight, M. Sims, V. Vatin, D. Meyre, J. Shield, C. Burren, Z. Ibrahim, T. Cheetham, P. Swift, A. Blackwood, C.-C. C. Hung, N. J. Wareham, P. Froguel, G. L. Millhauser, S. O'Rahilly, I. S. Farooqi, A POMC variant implicates β-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in the control of human energy balance. Cell Metab. 3, 135-140 (2006). [PubMed] R. L. Leibel, The molecular genetics of the melanocortin pathway and energy homeostasis. Cell Metab. 3, 79-81 (2006). [PubMed]


The American vice presidency has recently matured into a distinguished office of considerable authority (David 1967; Goldstein 1982; Light 1984; Mayer 2000; Nelson 1988a; Pomper 1966). Vice President Richard Cheney's unprecedented power in the administration of George W. Bush, from advocating the Iraq War to shaping the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 and forging the nation's energy policy, is only the latest manifestation of the newly invigorated office. (1) The rapid growth in its substantive responsibilities dates back largely to Jimmy Carter's inclusion of Vice President Walter Mondale among his inner circle, the first time a president treated his vice president as a valued advisor on a broad array of issues (Light 1984). Since then, presidents have frequently vested their seconds in command with real authority and, at least in the cases of Albert Gore and Richard Cheney, positions akin to true partnerships. Despite the office's growth, the vice presidency has evaded scholarly attention, and relatively little is known about how presidential candidates choose their running mates. Here we analyze the vice presidential selection process by focusing on the incentives facing presidential nominees, who since 1940 have handpicked their running mates, (2) and how these incentives have changed over time. We propose a new model of vice presidential selection that emphasizes the influence of two major developments--one a set of institutional changes, the other a historical accident--that substantially changed the incentives driving nominees' choice of running mates. We modify and temporally extend an existing empirical analysis of the selection process (Sigelman and Wahlbeck 1997) to test our belief that these forces lessened the strategic value of ticket balancing, widely emphasized in the literature, and instead increased the importance of choosing running mates with extensive backgrounds in public service who would appeal to the mass electorate in the general election. Freer to choose running mates based on their qualifications and more personal factors, presidents have become more willing to entrust their vice presidents with governing authority once elected, further enhancing the office and the incentive to fill it with a capable running mate. The Changing Incentives of Vice Presidential Selection When choosing a running mate, presidential nominees must balance two potentially competing goals: maximizing their chances of actually being elected president and selecting a vice president who is capable of sharing the burdens of government and, if necessary, succeeding to the presidency. Because the latter is meaningless without the former, the academic and popular consensus is that electoral motivations drive the choice of a running mate (Goldstein 1982; Natoli 1985; Polsby and Wildavsky 1991; Sigelman and Wahlbeck 1997). Generally, the conventional wisdom is that presidential candidates seek to balance their ticket by choosing a running mate who contributes key qualities that the presidential nominee lacks. The particular electoral environment will determine which balancing characteristics--such as age, nature of political experience, ideology--matter most. The most rigorous existing empirical analysis of the dynamics driving vice presidential selection is Lee Sigelman and Paul J. Wahlbeck's 1997 study. To test the ticket-balancing theory, Sigelman and Wahlbeck constructed a conditional logit model of 22 major party selections from 1940 to 1996 comprising a variety of measures of ticket balance along regional, ideological, experiential, and demographic dimensions, as well as a measure of the electoral size of a prospective running mate's state. Empirically, the ticket-balancing theory failed to pass muster. Factors long thought to influence the selection process, including region, political ideology, religion, race, gender, and ethnicity, were shown, surprisingly, to have little or no effect on the likelihood of selection. …


With the notable shift from grants to loans over the past several decades, many researchers have argued the positive impact of financial aid on student college choice, enrollment, and persistence. However, literature indicates that students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to take loans to finance postsecondary education than those from affluent conditions. Qualitative research on the reasons for non-borrowers' aversion to loans and strategies for college payment is rather scant. This study explores 30 lower-or lower-middle-class non-borrowing students' lived experiences surrounding student loans from a qualitative phenomenological research lens. Data are collected from semi-structured interviews. Data analysis shows four main reasons that the participants generally avoid borrowing as they decide where to attend and how to pay for college: parental influence, fear of economic burden, underestimation of the value of college education, and lack of information about the loan system. The strategies they employ for college payment include scholarships and grants, family support, part-time jobs, and prepaid college tuition programs. This study uses peer debriefing to ensure its trustworthiness. Limitations of this study and implications for future research and practice are discussed.


Pressbook documenting art events in Abilene, Texas, from 1944 to 1945 with emphasis on those of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs Sixth District. The cover of this album is from Federation News, May 1945. Miss A.M. Carpenter is listed as the chairman of the Art Unit. Memorabilia include catalogues and clippings of art shows in Abilene. One exhibit, sponsored jointly by the Abilene Museum of Fine Arts and the United States Marine Corps, was entitled "Combat Art" by Sgt. Sherman Loudermilk. This book contains clippings and postcards about Camp Barkeley, the World War II training camp established outside of Abilene, and the USO activities on Second Street.


Institutional repositories present academic institutions with the opportunity to provide global open access to the scholarship that is created within that institution without going through the traditional scholarly publishing model. In the fall of 2008 the North Carolina Digital Online Collection of Knowledge and Scholarship (NC Docks) became the pilot institutional repository of five universities within the University of North Carolina system. Moving forward to present day, the five school pilot has taken off and gained momentum as each school has since begun populating NC Docks. As we have found out at The University of North Carolina Pembroke (UNCP), participating in an institutional repository requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention costs on the part of the Library. Discussion of aspects to consider when participating in an institutional repository includes cost, marketing initiatives, campus buy-in, and publisher relations.


Employment Practices in the Transition to Lean Production: Worker Perspectives in a South African Auto Components Firm Proponents of lean production (LP) argue that successful implementation is dependent on creating an organisational climate that complements the adoption and implementation of innovation. Transformation of the organisational climate, from a culture of adversarialism (management versus workers) and worker exclusion (in terms of decision making) toward a culture of co-operation and worker participation, is thus a necessary complement to LP. Successful implementation of LP, and associated practices, thus requires the commitment of all stakeholders. This study explores worker attitudes towards transition to LP within a chosen company in the South African auto components sector. The study focuses on understanding worker perceptions of shifts in Human Resource and Industrial Relations practices which are associated with the transition to LP. The research reports on two surveys of workers to better understand their perceptions of the changes to the relationships among workers, and between workers and management.


This paper outlines briefly some of the factors and forces that have led to the multiplicity of approaches to and the dis-integration of the objectives of environmental education. It traces the evolution of the understanding of the concept of action competence, and of its application in environmental education research and practice in Portugal. The comprehensiveness of action competence allows and requires that environmental education integrate separate and sometimes opposed approaches: knowledge, in the form of know- that, about the environment and about society; knowledge, in the form of knowhow, of how to act, individually and collectively, to bring about change; and the will to act, will-to, based on affections and values that impel and sustain action.


The efforts to strengthen the control over the European Union's (EU) external borders currently revolve around the reinforcement of the surveillance capabilities of the Member States. The European Border Surveillance System, EUROSUR, is supposed to be operational by October 2013, and will enable the Member States to share surveillance data, with the aim of improving the coordination of their responses. The initiative is driven by political motivations (reducing irregular migration into Europe), security objectives (preventing cross-border crime) and a more humanitarian aim (to reduce the death toll at sea among migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean), with an overarching belief in surveillance technologies as the ultimate way to solve these issues. By virtually pushing the effective border of the EU further out, this future surveillance system however raises a range of legal and ethical dilemmas. This article analyzes the discourse legitimating the need for a more robust surveillance capability at the external borders of the EU, by looking at what can be qualified as the main "drivers", but also the main points of contention, or "obstacles", in the process of establishing such a system. It argues that the fundamental belief in surveillance technologies as the ultimate tool to solve the challenges at play along the external border of the EU is such that it only meets the geographical obstacles and legal and ethical dilemmas with a call for more surveillance and more information sharing.


Objectives:The National Service Framework (NSF) for Coronary Heart Disease – published by the English Department of Health in 2000 – sets out how those within the health service should seek to prevent and treat coronary heart disease and care for people with the disease. Its prescriptions are partly based on what is known about coronary heart disease and partly on its underlying 'values'. This paper seeks to identify those values. Methods:An analysis of the discourses within the text of the NSF based on critical discourse analysis. Results: Three different discourses can be identified: the managerial, the clinical and the political. The managerial discourse is dominant. Each discourse has its own values. The main 'aspirational' values within the NSF are effciency, effectiveness, autonomy (choice), universalism and equity. Some aspirational values – particularly equity – appear to be largely rhetorical and lead to few recommendations or prescriptions. Some values that might have been expected to underlie the framework, such as compassion and democracy, are largely absent. Conclusions: Discourse analysis provides a more systematic and transparent method of describing the values behind health care policy than the methods that have been used previously.


Modern query engines are increasingly being required to process enormous datasets in near real-time. While much can be done to speed up the data access, a promising technique is to reduce the need to access data through data skipping. By maintaining some metadata for each block of tuples, a query may skip a data block if the metadata indicates that the block does not contain relevant data. The effectiveness of data skipping, however, depends on how well the blocking scheme matches the query filters. In this paper, we propose a fine-grained blocking technique that reorganizes the data tuples into blocks with a goal of enabling queries to skip blocks aggressively. We first extract representative filters in a workload as features using frequent itemset mining. Based on these features, each data tuple can be represented as a feature vector. We then formulate the blocking problem as a optimization problem on the feature vectors, called Balanced MaxSkip Partitioning, which we prove is NP-hard. To find an approximate solution efficiently, we adopt the bottom-up clustering framework. We prototyped our blocking techniques on Shark, an open-source data warehouse system. Our experiments on TPC-H and a real-world workload show that our blocking technique leads to 2-5x improvement in query response time over traditional range-based blocking techniques.


INTRODUCTION
Psoriasis is one of several systemic diseases that presents chiefly with cutaneous symptoms and has the potential to negatively impact patients' overall health and quality of life. Physicians who treat patients with psoriasis must be cognizant of the chronic, lifelong character of the disease and of the potential for multisystem pathology. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), between 5.8 and 7.5 million persons in the U.S.--approximately 2.2% of the population--have psoriasis; worldwide, it affects an estimated 125 million people. The annual cost of treating psoriasis may exceed $3 billion annually. Immunologic mechanisms are now accepted as the pathophysiologic basis for the development of psoriatic disease. Treatment strategies--which include topical treatment, phototherapy, methtrexate, cyclosporine and acitretin--also encompass several biologic agents that target immune mediators associated with the condition.

DISCUSSION
Patients with mild disease may obtain symptomatic relief with topical agents and targeted phototherapy. Patients with moderate-to-severe disease are likely to benefit from systemic therapy. Shortcomings of the traditional agents, particularly their adverse event profiles, have motivated research and development of biologic agents. Currently three anti-TNF agents--etanercept, infliximab and adalimumab--are FDA-approved for treatment of psoriasis. Differences exist among study designs and, therefore, in interpretation of data; however, the improvements observed in the psoriasis study populations participating in clinical trials are dramatic. Long-term clinical data continue to accumulate and demonstrate sustained benefits with anti-TNF agents. Safety data also continue to be collected over the long-term; key safety considerations are infection, cytopenia, demyelinating disease, lupus-like syndromes, congestive heart failure and malignancies. Combination therapy should also be considered when managing psoriasis for such reasons as augmenting an inadequate response to monotherapy or improving tolerability. Combination therapy with an anti-TNF agent and phototherapy has shown considerably higher rates of response compared with either intervention alone.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this paper is to critically examine the anti-TNF studies to assess the efficacy and safety of the agents in patients with psoriasis and determine applicability of the data in clinical practice. In light of the chronic nature of this disease, the emphasis will be on the longest-term data available.

CONCLUSION
The treatment of plaque psoriasis with TNF-alpha antagonists is still a relatively recent addition to the pharmacologic armamentarium available to clinicians. The collection of long-term data is, therefore, small but growing as results from newer studies emerge. From the data reviewed here, the clinician can attempt to arrive at a satisfactory assessment of the benefits and risks of treatment with these agents.


Modification of chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP) by fungal treatment was investigated. Eucalyptus CTMP was treated with three different types of white-rot fungi, namely, Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P.c-1767), Trametes hirsute 19-6 (T.h-19-6), and Trametes hirsute19-6w (T.h-19-6w), under a stationary culture condition. Pulp total weight loss, lignin loss, and cellulose loss were determined to compare the different enzymes secreted by the three fungal strains. Pulp physical strengths, optical properties, and bleachability after the fungal treatment were investigated to compare the effect of fungal treatment on the pulp quality improvement. The results show that lignin reduction by both T.h-19-6 and T.h-19-6 (w) was about twice as much as that by P.c-1767. However, the selectivity of T.h-19-6 (w) towards lignin over cellulose was only 0.82, while that of T.h-19-6 was as high as 4.43. After T.h-19-6 treatment, pulp tensile, tear, and internal bonding strength increased by about 27%, 38%, and 40%, respectively.


Devotion to St. Gerard Majella played a significant role in the lived religious belief and practice of many Catholic women of Irish descent in Newfoundland in the twentieth century. In this chapter, I explore how St. Gerard gained particular popularity as The Mothers' Saint in Newfoundland, and how a male religious order, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (commonly and hereafter known as the Redemptorists) promoted devotion to this saint, who concerned himself with two specifically female conditions, pregnancy and motherhood. By outlining the development, spread, and conduct of devotion to St. Gerard in Newfoundland, and highlighting the changes in both physical and socio-religious conditions that had an impact on later generations of Newfoundland Catholic women in relation to this devotion, we gain valuable insights into "religion as it is lived: as humans encounter, understand, interpret and practice it."

Devotion to St. Gerard flourished among Catholic Newfoundland women primarily in response to specific cultural, geographical, and physical conditions, and in accordance with traditional gendered practices of vernacular Catholicism. Although devotion to saints is central to Catholicism, ratified and promoted by the church, the actual relationship between the holy figure and the devotee tends to be conducted largely outside a controlled environment. As authors such as Christian and Orsi have demonstrated, the relationships between devotees and holy figures have frequently been outside the approval or beyond the understanding of those notionally "in charge" of the devotions. The Canadian Redemptorists attempted to use St. Gerard's special relationship with women to make him the figurehead of a vigorous campaign to preserve and promote Catholic motherhood in Canada.

This study of devotion to St. Gerard Majella is situated within the methodological context of vernacular religion, which involves "an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the religious loves of individuals with special attention [being paid] to the process of religious belief, the verbal, behavioral, and material expressions of religious belief, and the ultimate object of religious belief." Verbal, behavioural, and material expressions of devotion emerge as particularly significant in the spread and conduct of devotion, as well as the "bidirectional influences of environments upon individuals and of individuals upon environments in the process of believing." While devotion to St. Gerard Majella was and is by no means unique to Newfoundland, local conditions there played a considerable part in the form, role, and significance of the devotion on the island.


This paper considers the determinants of male and female pay in the public and private sectors by estimating a joint model of sector allocation and wage determination using cross-sectional data from the Egyptian 1987 and 1997 labour force surveys. A model of compensating wage differentials is defined and estimated, in order to quantify the value of arguably the three most important non-pecuniary aspects of public sector employment: job security, fringe benefits (especially comprehensive retirement pensions) and lower effort and shorter hours which allow workers to supplement income through obtaining a second job. Estimates of the public-private differentials, correcting for differences in characteristics and selectivity, indicate a public sector disadvantage for males and a small advantage for females in 1987. Relative public sector wages improved for both males and females in 1997, and when adjustments for non-wage benefits are included, public sector premia are observed in all segments of the public sector for both males and females. The results highlight the importance of job security as the major factor determining the persistence of queues for public sector jobs in Egypt.


Brouwer, Sigmund. The Orphan King . Merlin's Immortals 1. Colorado: WaterBrook Press, 2012. Print. This young adult fantasy novel is the story of a young man named Thomas. Thomas is raised as an orphan in a monastery run by greedy and corrupt monks who eat food and take money instead of helping others. This monastery is set in Northern England, during AD 1312, and Brouwer's medieval world is portrayed as one filled with corruption and poverty, where select few are working to improve the lives of others and strive towards a greater good. These few work in secret, and are known as Merlin's Immortals - a group of druids (including men and women of all trades) who remember the "old days" and seek to fulfill a prophecy of placing a boy on the throne of the castle of Magnus. Magnus is a fictional and supposedly impenetrable castle, ruled by a cruel and oppressive Lord that cannot be challenged. Although Thomas is raised as an orphan, he is taught by a woman named Sarah, who is his mother in secret. Thomas spends much of his childhood learning knowledge from books Sarah keeps hidden from the rest of the world. These books are very valuable, and Thomas believes he was given this training and knowledge so that he may one day conquer Magnus. Thomas is not told, however, that his mother is one of the Immortals, and that he is key in a war between good and evil as the prophesied king. After Sarah dies, Thomas decides to escape the monastery. Then, using science and visual tricks, he saves a knight, a beautiful mute girl, and a pickpocket from hanging in the nearby town, and enlists their help to take over the castle Magnus. To repay Thomas for saving their lives, the group decides to help him. During the journey to Magnus, William the knight mentors Thomas, the pickpocket Tiny John becomes like a brother to Thomas, and the mute girl Isabelle is revealed to be more than she seems. Thomas even falls a bit in love with her, and learns about respecting women. Conspiracy is around every corner, however, and no one is quite sure who is friend and who is foe. This remains true even after Thomas and his friends make it into the castle walls. The Orphan King presents well-rounded characters and draws on the mythology of King Arthur and his wizard Merlin. Brouwer uses elevated language and the complicated plot moves very quickly and sometimes seems rushed. This may deter some younger readers. The book is told from multiple viewpoints, and is the first in a trilogy. Sigmund Brouwer is a Canadian author, and also writes evangelical books. There is also a strong undertone of faith and Christian religion in this story too, although it never overwhelms the plot. Complex themes also include objectification of women, conspiracy, death, and murder. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Colette Leung Colette Leung is a graduate student at the University of Alberta, working in the fields of Library and Information science and Humanities Computing who loves reading, cats, and tea. Her research interests focus around how digital tools can be used to explore fields such as literature, language, and history in new and innovative ways.


This paper presents a new library called MHaptic for bimanual haptic interaction within generic virtual environments. It has been specifically designed to work with a Haptic WorkstationTM. MHaptic provides tools for accelerated development of virtual environment applications with haptic feedback like device calibration, user comfort improvements and access to low level parameters. Due to its integration with the Ageia PhysX library, it facilitates the dynamic animation of virtual objects. A realistic hand model based on mass-spring systems allows natural and intuitive manipulation. MHaptic is complemented by an authoring tool that associates information required for haptic feedback to existing virtual environments. The combination of the library and the authoring tool creates a framework for easy development of complex VR haptic applications.


BACKGROUND
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the mainstay of osteoporosis prevention, is limited because of dose-related risks, side effects, and patient acceptance. The bone-sparing efficacy and tolerability of the lowest available doses of HRT have not been adequately studied in elderly women.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the bone-sparing effect of continuous low-dose HRT in elderly women.

DESIGN
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

SETTING
University osteoporosis research and clinical center.

PATIENTS
128 healthy white women (age > 65 years) with low bone mass recruited by word of mouth and by local advertisement. The principal eligibility criterion was spinal bone mineral density of 0.90 g/cm2 or less.

INTERVENTION
Continuous therapy with conjugated equine estrogen, 0.3 mg/d, and medroxyprogesterone, 2.5 mg/d, or matching placebo. Sufficient calcium supplementation was given to bring all calcium intakes above 1000 mg/d in both groups; supplemental oral 25-hydroxyvitamin D was given to maintain serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of at least 75 nmol/L in both groups.

MEASUREMENTS
Bone mineral density of the spine, hip, total body, and forearm; serum total alkaline phosphatase and serum osteocalcin levels at 6-month intervals; and 24-hour urine creatinine and hydroxyproline excretion at baseline, 12 months, and 42 months.

RESULTS
During 3.5 years of observation, spinal bone mineral density increased by 3.5% (P < 0.001) in an intention-to-treat analysis and by 5.2% among patients with greater than 90% adherence to therapy. Significant increases were seen in total-body and forearm bone density (P < 0.01). Symptoms related to HRT (breast tenderness, spotting, pelvic discomfort, and mood changes) were mild and short-lived.

CONCLUSIONS
Continuous low-dose HRT with conjugated equine estrogen and oral medroxyprogesterone combined with adequate calcium and vitamin D provides a bone-sparing effect that is similar or superior to that provided by other, higher-dose HRT regimens in elderly women. This combination is well tolerated by most patients.


The purpose of the paper is through a touristic view to see how the zoos have developed to modern zoss and interview Djurens Ratt and Skansen to see their view on "animal welfare". Another part of the paper is to see what the public thinks of animal welfare and if it's crucial when they choose a destination. We used a survey to see if the public has been influenced by any media in the aspect of their view of zoos. By seeing the evolution of zoos to the modern zoo, we can see how society had the power to influence.


Vulnerability assessment in power systems is important so as to determine how vulnerable a power system in case of any unforeseen catastrophic events. To assess the level of system strength or weakness relative to the occurrence of an undesired event, a quantitative measure based on vulnerability index is often considered. The objective of this paper is to investigate and compare the performance of various vulnerability indices used for assessing the vulnerability of power systems when subjected to various contingencies. The vulnerability indices are based on anticipated loss of load as well as vulnerability information of individual system components such as real and reactive power generation, generation loss due to outage, bus voltage, loadability, transmission line real and reactive powers and line bus voltage angle difference. The vulnerability indices are compared so as to determine the effectiveness and accuracy of the indices in assessing the system vulnerability. In this study, power flow simulations were carried out on the IEEE 24 bus test system using the power system analysis and toolbox (PSAT) and the vulnerability indices were calculated using the MATLAB program.


The paleoclimatic framework of human evolution is central to the
study of human origins. Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, has a rich paleontological
record, including four hominin species. We analyzed 177
mudstone samples from a lacustrine section, supported by a new high-resolution
geochronology, to track changes in paleolake
water chemistry. Six peaks in Al 2 O 3 /MgO indicate freshening events
occurring over a generally saline and alkaline environmental background.
Five of the six events occurred at peak climatic precession,
correlating with December insolation at 20°S. The southern monsoon
therefore may have been more effective at delivering moisture
to East Africa than today. Peak amplitude of geochemical variation
preceded the ca. 1.84 Ma eccentricity maximum by ~20 k.y., suggesting
that eccentricity modulation was unexpectedly weak in this interval,
or that other factors affected the water balance or geochemical
record. This study demonstrates that authigenic clay geochemistry
determined through whole-rock analyses can preserve a record of
astronomically forced environmental change, and documents paleohydrologic
changes in tropical Africa at a time when zonal Walker
circulation increasingly affected global climate, new stone technologies
emerged, and the genus Homo spread beyond Africa.


Background: Untreated malaria during pregnancy is detrimental to the health and survival of the mother, foetus and neonate due to its great potential to cause maternal anaemia, foetal death and intrauterine growth restriction leading to low birth weight. The foetal complications are due to impaired placental function that results from placental malaria parasitaemia as well as impaired foetal oxygenation from maternal anaemia. This study was conducted to determine the influence of placental malaria parasitaemia on infant birth weight. Methodology: This was a prospective cross-sectional analytical study of 205 parturients recruited consecutively as they presented for delivery at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. After delivery, the neonates were weighed and placental blood was collected for microscopy to detect malaria parasites. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22. Results: The prevalence of placental malaria parasitaemia was 13.7% and Plasmodium falciparum was the only parasite species detected. Placental malaria parasitaemia was associated with a reduction of the mean infant birth weight by 335 grams ( P = 0.01). Conclusion: Malaria during pregnancy is still an important public health problem among our obstetric population, with a high prevalence of placental malaria parasitaemia and a significant negative effect on the birth weight of neonates. To enable the developing foetus achieve its full genetic growth potential, pregnant women should be encouraged to register early for antenatal care and utilize all the recommended malaria preventive measures. Keywords: Placenta, malaria infestation, birth weight


Obesity is one of the major health problems in the United States (U.S.). As Asian Indian students immigrate to the U.S., the effect of acculturation to the U.S. lifestyle is an area of concern. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) examine the health-risk status of Asian Indians with respect to agreement in classifications of percent body fat (PF) and body mass index (BMI), and 2) examine the effects of U.S. residence duration on body composition of Asian Indian college students. METHODS: Forty-two Asian Indian males and females were divided into two groups according to length of residence. First year residents resided in the U.S. for ≤ 4 months, second year residents had resided in the U.S. for ≥ 1 year. Height and weight were recorded for BMI. PF was measured by whole body air displacement plethysmography. Percent agreement was determined between the health risk classifications of both BMI and PF. The effect of gender and U.S. residence duration were determined on both BMI and PF using Factorial ANOVA. RESULTS: The percent agreement between BMI and PF on classification of health status was 69.05%. Two exclusive 2 (gender) x 2 (residence duration) between subjects factorial ANOVAs were calculated comparing the BMI and PF by group and gender. For BMI, the main effect for gender was not significant (F(1,38)=0.023, p>0.025). A significant effect for U.S. residence duration was found (F(1,38)=20.193, p<0.025). Students of the second year demonstrated a higher mean BMI (m=26.52, sd=0.78) than the first year (m=21.57, sd=0.78). The interaction was not significant (F(1,38)=0.647, p>0.025). Thus, the difference in BMI due to U.S. residence duration is not influenced by differences in gender. For PF, a significant main effect for the gender was found (F(1,38)=31.354, p<0.025). A significant main effect for U.S. residence duration was found (F(1,38)=13.044, p<0.025). Second year students demonstrated a higher mean PF (m=33.98, sd=1.61) as compared to the first year (m=25.78, sd=1.61). The interaction was not significant (F(1,38)=0.97, p>0.05). The effect of gender was not influenced by residence duration. CONCLUSION: Agreement information indicates the discrepancy between the two methods of determining health status in Asian Indians. Additionally, this study demonstrates that as a result of one year in the U.S., second year students had higher body composition values than first year students.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the frequency of 21-hydroxylase deficiency in The Bahamas and the spectrum of this disorder

METHODS
Patients referred for evaluation of virilization, precocious puberty, ambiguous genitalia and salt wasting had blood taken for 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OH progesterone) which was measured by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).

RESULTS
Nine patients had elevated 17-OH progesterone levels--confirming 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Range of levels was 174.9 nmol/l to 81678.7 nmol/L (normal less than 13 nmol/L). There were six females and three males and the age at diagnosis ranged from 21 days to 16 years. Five had precocious development, three had salt wasting, and there was one with virilization. One of the salt wasters had ambiguous genitalia. Incidence of 2l-hydroxylase deficiency--20/100,000; salt wasting--35/100,000; the prevalence of 21-Hydroxylase deficiency 10/100,000).

CONCLUSION
The frequency of 21-Hydroxylase deficiency in The Bahamas is one of the highest worldwide.


The provision of textbooks in apartheid South Africa (1948-1994), a source of controversy and media interest in recent years, is placed in historical perspective, with particular reference to History textbook production. Michael W Apple (1993) proposes an analytical framework of political economy to enable better understanding of the tensions behind textbook production and distribution.
During apartheid bureaucratic structures and commercial imperatives gave rise to a conformist ethos that stifled innovation. The textbook approval and adoption processes led publishers into adopting strategies to ensure approval for and approval of their textbooks. To avoid friction with education departments, editors urged selfrestraint on their writers and instructed them in how to write officially approvable manuscripts. While some authors were disappointed, most wrote to satisfy their publishers, often resorting to copying the content and style of previously-approved textbooks. Focusing on History textbooks as a field of publishing history, this study synthesises existing primary and secondary sources, further supplemented by interviews with former History textbook writers and editors.


Metropolises are currently regarded as nodes in a global network of flows, becoming the driving forces for territorial development, characterised by high potential of creativity and the innovations generated as a result. A contemporary challenge is to find adequate concepts for analysing and understanding metropolitan innovativeness. The objective of the article is to provide the necessary features by which a new approach to studying metropolitan inventiveness can be adopted. The formulation of this model was inspired by the independently functioning concepts of metropolisation, innovativeness, and the concepts of place. By considering these three perspectives together and their specific methods of analysis, it is possible to describe and explain the process of generating innovations in contemporary metropolises. This article is divided into three main sections illustrating how the concepts of innovation environments, networks, and districts combined with the dynamic concept of place, all relate to innovation place. The analysis presented serves as the basis for the model of an innovation place, it being essential to future initiatives in this sphere of study. The article concludes with methodological remarks indicating the potential use for "innovation space" model.


The research presented herein embodies three subject area specifically aimed at the investigation and application of the spiral geometry. These areas are: the derivation of a spiral coordinate system in E2; the formulation of a new metric suitable for spiral pipe structures; the numerical simulation of an incompressible viscous fluid flowing through spiral pipe structures.

The spiral coordinate system is first derived and then proven admissible using differential geometry. Validation is achieved using the spiral coordinate system as an alternative transformation for mapping from Cartesian to Polar coordinates for the solution domain of the general wave equation from a square to a circular elastic membrane.

Problems associated with curves that do not possess natural-parameterisation in terms of arc-length, and as such cannot use the standard form of the Frenet-Serrat formulae, are solved with the derivation of a generalized metric. This metric is presented and proven for use on an arbitrary shaped pipe of class 'n' and is especially suited for spiral pipe structures.

The associated Christoffel symbols of the second kind are also derived and presented in association with the generalized metric for use with the tensorial form of the Navier-Stokes and continuity equations.

Finally, the spiral coordinates system is extended into E3 for two types of pipe; the spiral conic and the spiral parabolic. The Continuity and Navier-Stokes equations are numerically solved for an incompressible viscous Newtonian fluid for these pipe structures with various inlet conditions and geometric constraints. A correlation is made with these solutions and solutions found for the helical pipe structure, the nearest equivalent to the spiral found in the open literature.


Developing countries have increasingly opened their economies to trade. Research about trade policy in developed countries focuses on a bottom-up process by identifying economic preferences of domestic groups. We know less about developing countries. We analyze how economic and political variables influenced Costa Rican voters in a referendum on CAFTA-DR, an international trade agreement. We find little support for Stolper–Samuelson models of economic preferences, but more support for specific factor models. We also isolate the effects of political parties on the referendum, controlling for many economic factors; we document how at least one party influenced voters and this made the difference for CAFTA-DR passage. Politics, namely parties using their organizational strength to cue and frame messages for voters, influenced this important trade policy decision. Theories about trade policy need to take into account top-down political factors along with economic interests.


capital is an important determinant of individual and aggregate economic outcomes, and a major input to sci- entific progress. It has been suggested that advances in genomics may open up new avenues to enhance human intel- lectual abilities genetically, complementing environmental interventions such as education and nutrition. One way to do this would be via embryo selection in the context of in vitro fertilization (IVF). In this article, we analyze the feasibil- ity, timescale, and possible societal impacts of embryo selection for cognitive enhancement. We find that embryo selec- tion, on its own, may have significant (but likely not drastic) impacts over the next 50 years, though large effects could accumulate over multiple generations. However, there is a complementary technology - stem cell-derived gametes - which has been making rapid progress and which could amplify the impact of embryo selection, enabling very large changes if successfully applied to humans.


Within St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS), Black teachers taught on the north side of the city, while the White teachers taught on the south side. Because of the divide within teaching locations, there followed a larger rift between teacher organizations. The National Education Association (NEA) before the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling (1954) did not affiliate themselves with Black teachers whereas the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) was supportive of the integration of civil rights from the beginning. In the years from the Brown ruling until 1980, St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) had two teacher organizations the St. Louis Teachers' Association, predominately White and the St. Louis Teachers Union-Local # 420, predominately Black union. During the St. Louis Public School teachers' strike of 1973, the teacher organizations were divided, but then decided that it was best to unite as one when entering the strike of 1979. This was partly because African American teachers transferred to schools in south St. Louis. This study examined historical race relations between the AFT, the NEA, and Black teachers and how their history influenced the 1973 and 1979 St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) teacher strikes. The archival information, newspaper clippings and existing literature obtained did not paint a complete picture of the strikes. However, using Critical Race Theory (CRT) helped in depicting the racial dynamics that existed within teacher organizations and their relationship with Black teachers.


Underlying the creation of the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP) as a global alliance was the recognition that antibiotic resistance is a global problem, that some of the tools needed to understand and manage it could be shared globally, but that actions to control it and to ensure access to antibiotics when they are needed must take place at the national level. South Africa is fortunate in having a well-developed cadre of health care professionals already addressing antibiotic use, evident from the wealth of programmes and information included in this report but, even so, resistance is a growing problem. In countries that lack a strong medical system, the challenges are even greater.


The Model Schedule for a Capital Improvement Program described in this paper encourages school leaders to consider a more holistic view of the planning process. It is intended to assist those responsible for educational facility planning, who must assure that all important and relevant tasks are accomplished in a timely manner. The model's six phases are: (1) assessment of current facilities, programs, and community beliefs; (2) preliminary planning for facility master plan development; (3) implementing the facility master plan; (4) marketing the master plan; (5) implementation of projects in the master plan; and (6) post-occupancy evaluation. Each phase includes a list of tasks and responsible persons, and an estimated time frame. (EV)


Asphaltene deposition is a common cause of flow assurance problems in wellbores and production equipment as well as near-wellbore regions in oil reservoirs. Therefore, understanding the mechanism by which asphaltenes deposit onto solid surfaces is highly desirable. Here we present our results for visualizing real time asphaltene deposition from model oil w/ and w/o commercial waxes (C18, C32) as well as dispersants (inhibitor X and Y from the Middle East, 4-hexyl-, 4-octyl-, and 4-dodecylphenol) using microfluidic devices. In particular, we consider porous-media micromodel designs to represent various flow conditions typical of that found in the near well-bore regions of oil flow processes. Deposition rate and patterns with micron-sized circular posts for 0.5 wt% model oil will be discussed with the properties of aggregates, including the radius of gyration and fractal dimensions. Also, four stages of deposition have been found and investigated in the pore scale and with qualitatively macroscopic total collector efficiency. A permeability reduction model is also proposed for this system. By understanding the nature and the mechanisms of asphaltene deposition, we increase our ability to design cost effective mitigation strategies that includes the development of a new generation of asphaltene deposition inhibitors and improved methods for prevention and treatment of this problem.


Active forces generated at kinetochores move chromosomes, and the dynamic spindle must robustly anchor kinetochore-fibers (k-fibers) to bear this load. We know that the mammalian spindle body can bear the load of chromosome movement far from poles, but do not know where and how – physically and molecularly – this load is distributed across the spindle. In part, this is because perturbing and reading out spindle mechanics in live cells is difficult. Yet, answering this question is key to understanding how the spindle generates and responds to force, and performs its diverse mechanical functions. Here, we map load-bearing across the mammalian spindle in space-time, and dissect local anchorage mechanics and mechanism. To do so, we laser ablate single k-fibers at different spindle locations, and in different molecular backgrounds, and quantify at high time resolution the immediate relaxation of chromosomes, k-fibers, and microtubule speckles. We find that load redistribution is locally confined in all directions: along the first 3-4 μm from kinetochores, scaling with k-fiber length, and laterally within ~2 μm of k-fiber sides, without neighboring k-fibers sharing load. A phenomenological model constrains the mechanistic underpinnings of these data: it suggests that dense, transient crosslinks to the spindle along k-fibers bear the load of chromosome movement, but that these connections do not limit the timescale of spindle reorganization. The microtubule crosslinker NuMA is needed for the local load-bearing observed, while Eg5 and PRC1 are not, suggesting specialization in mechanical function and a novel function for NuMA throughout the spindle body. Together, the data and model suggest that widespread NuMA-mediated crosslinks locally bear load, providing mechanical isolation and redundancy while allowing spindle fluidity. These features are well-suited to support robust chromosome segregation.


The expanding use of decentralized wastewater management has resulted in an increased interest in small-scale wetland treatment systems. However, there is limited information available on the use, distribution of and performance of these small-scale systems. The purpose of this study was to address this knowledge gap by developing criteria for the feasibility, design, operation, and maintenance of small-scale wetland treatment systems. Information on 1,789 existing small-scale wetland treatment systems in 19 countries was collected.

Monitoring data from the assembled small-scale wetland database was used to develop sizing criteria for FWS and VSB wetlands. Loading rates and corresponding effluent quality were developed for BOD, TSS, TKN, phosphorus, and fecal coliform bacteria. Where there was adequate data, the variation in monthly vs. annual average effluent concentration was assessed to provide a factor-of-safety approach to wetland sizing. Information on internal processes, hydraulic design, operation, maintenance, cost, and industrial applications of constructed wetlands is also presented in this report.

This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series

ISBN: 9781843397281 (Print)

ISBN: 9781780403991 (eBook)


Critics of responsible political parties often point to the sorry experience of policymaking by the national parties, but these criticisms are based upon rather limited examinations of actual policymaking efforts by the parties. A more careful review of the policymaking efforts of the Democratic National Committee from 1956 to 1960 and of the Republican National Committee from 1976 to 1980 shows that they were more successful than is usually thought. These past successes suggest the potential for current and future party leaders to influence public policy.