The real estate businessnproject Competent Ownership (Oskito)i focuses on the role of ownership within the real estate industry. Ownership acts as the core upon which , the competitive advantages of real estate industry are for the most based. The project studies specific real estate business issues, especially ientities of possessioni that are large enough to allow the development of specialised businesses. The project is of current interest as the next phase of growth of the Finnish information technology community is likely to primarily take place in areas remote of the very largest population centres. In the start up scenario Finland is a pilot community which is in the process developing second generation information society professions. During the next 10 years, a maximum of 250.000 of such jobs can be created. In Europe the figure will be several millions. In global exchange, someone is always ahead of the others, and Finland is likely to have advantge in this particular field. However, to achieve and maintain a globally leading information technology position is by no means an easy taska and there are several risks involved. The new know-how and expertise gained during the developing of the information technology society will be highly sought-after export material for some years. Soon, however, the same skills will be mastered elsewhere, too. The process of transmitting this knowhow will lead to the creation of considerable foreign part-ownership in Finland. After this period, around 2010, Finland will have to create new tasks and professions of value to the global community, as well as achieve competence in them. In real estate business, understanding the impact of growth centres on the industry is essential. The commercial and real estate strategies of the growth centres provide a course for the entire nation. It is no longer appropriate to speak of areas of growth, in the future Finland will be considered a singke global exchange entity. Many great challenges have to be faced during the transition period. Succesfully meeting these challenges requires areal commercial strategies supporting each other. The first task of the Oskito-project is to find out, how to create a sufficiently reliable vision of the future challenges. The second task is to develop real estate business so that the risks can be kept as manageable as possible. This requires active discussion concerning proper regional real estate strategies. For this purpose, an estimate of the development in the participating towns, up to the year 2010, will be made. An annual conclusion of the number of new jobs created and the consequent building will also be made. The building sites are to be classified according to their special features. As a result a project map, which each participating town updates annually, can be drawn. Companies, city real estate professionals and owners as well as the financers will be aware of the actual situation and able to maintain an accurate, long term regional real estate strategy. In the long run Finland can keep employment high only by investing in knowledge oriented growth clusters, eg. ITC and biotechnology. At the same time new patterns of uncentralized subcontract strategies must be adapted in the industry. As the result the change is huge. On the national level, 5-10 million floor square meters of new business premises has to be built. 10-20 % of people employed year 2010 need new buildings. The amount of this demand based scenario is so high that the real estate industry is unable to carry out concurrent planning, financing, training of new professional qualifications to the employees and create a sound basis for icompetent ownershipi in this rapid process. The resources invested in adult education are the balancing factor in this development. Regions build action plans to carry out ilabour force transformation strategiesi to maintain high employment. These transformation strategies must be included in th regional real estate strategies. The new kind of planning is approached in the OSKITO study by combining single, but important pieces needed to create new practices for the business. This is the best that can be done at this stage of the study. In Vaasa, for example, (population app. 60000, number of jobs app. 30000) the required yearly adult education is calculated to be 750 people, the existing capacity is only sufficient for 250 people per year. An increase in the capacity would, in 10 years, create the need to tehcnically improve 5000 work points in Vaasa. If the adult training is not carried out, the structural unemployment will easily be over 20 %. Wellcome to the new, brave second level on information society. Being one of the first nations on the way, small and transparent Finland can be used as the test laboratory for the other countries. An issue of great importance in regional real estate strategy is understanding the next generation products that are important to the region and to the business that evolves them. Anticipating actions in this context binds the region to the development of global exchange. In the Oskito project models are built to forecast the innovations behind the next generation products and to include these innovations as a part to future oriented adult education. This example shows how knowledge about profound issues should be produced to the persons functioning in real estate business. We are facing a research model that creates genuine new concepts and ways running a business. Concurrently with the research the participating towns test the proposals of the study. The research is financed by varied/diversified participants; a number of cities, real estate owners, financers and building firms. Therefore, it is easy to test the hypothesis in real busines during the research. It seems to be possible to develop the imost intelligent way of owningi option for different real estate types. The function of the real estate strategy is to ensure, that the ownership of the real estates in the region is in the hands of the most competent operators. Only in this way it is possible to maintain the potential (or the high and sustainable employment) growth of large centres as a constant in an uncertain future. This project , with seven participating towns and a bugdet of 2,5 MFIM, is a part of REMBRAND-technology program.


Application of immobile element (Al-Ti) methods to the Galapagos mounds in the eastern Pacific Ocean allows determination of the amount of each mobile element added to or removed from precursor calcareous ooze during formation of nontronitic clay, the main hydrothermal phase in the deposits. As calcareous ooze dissolves, Si-Fe-Mg-K mass is added from low-temperature hydrothermal fluids. The calculated net mass change for granular nontronite zones in mound interiors is positive and very large relative to precursor ooze, whereas smaller mass loss occurs in intervening transitional sediment zones. The resulting volume changes produce positive sea-floor relief in the central parts of mounds and negative relief in peripheral parts, forming moats. Mass changes in mobile elements also account for large apparent variations in the concentrations of rare earth elements, which were immobile. In ancient sedimentary terranes, immobile element methods can be used to assess exploration potential by monitoring mass changes and hydrothermal alteration around mineralizing systems.


This Article contends that the legal rules regulating the search warrant process must be revised in light of the demands of digital evidence collection. Existing rules are premised on the one-step process of traditional searches and seizures: the police obtain a warrant to enter the place to be searched and retrieve the property named in the warrant. Computer technologies tend to bifurcate the process into two steps: the police first execute a physical search to seize computer hardware, and then later execute a second electronic search to obtain the data from the seized computer storage device. The failure of law to account for the two-stage process of computer searches and seizures has caused a great deal of doctrinal confusion, and makes it difficult (if not impossible) for the law to regulate the warrant process effectively. The Article concludes by offering a series of proposed amendments to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to update the warrant process for the era of digital evidence.


Based on Internet and using artificial intelligence techniques to guild remote fault diagnosis expert system can provide expert-level fault diagnosis service for remote devices. Based on the introduction of general structure and related key techniques of fault diagnosis system, the expert system was introduced into fault diagnosis system in this paper. The architecture of an open fault diagnosis expert system was brought out. A practical knowledge database update model was analyzed and designed. The working principle and process of the system were also designed and explored, which lays good foundation for the construction of practical and reliable Internet-based remote fault diagnosis expert system.


The advancement of geographic science in the area of land surface status and trends and land cover change is at the core of the current geographic scientific research of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (McMahon and others, 2005). Perhaps the least developed or articulated aspects of USGS land change science have been the identification and analysis of the ecological consequences of land cover change. Changes in land use and land cover significantly affect the ability of ecosystems to provide essential ecological goods and services, which, in turn, affect the economic, public health, and social benefits that these ecosystems provide. One of the great scientific challenges for geographic science is to understand and calibrate the effects of land use and land cover change and the complex interaction between human and biotic systems at a variety of natural, geographic, and political scales. Understanding the dynamics of land surface change requires an increased understanding of the complex nature of human-environmental systems and will require a suite of scientific tools that include traditional geographic data and analysis methods, such as remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS), as well as innovative approaches to understanding the dynamics of complex systems. One such approach that has gained much recent scientific attention is the landscape indicator, or landscape assessment, approach, which has been developed with the emergence of the science of landscape ecology.


This study aims to explore the characteristics of ultraviolet (UV) radiation over Dong Lake (DL) and Tai Lake (TL) in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and to develop an innovative model for UV estimation under all weather conditions. The characteristic analysis of UV radiation shows distinctly hourly and monthly variations at two typical sites. The maximum values can represent the hourly UV feature, and the median and the arithmetic mean values are reasonably similar with little difference for both stations. The monthly means of hourly UV radiation range from 25.68 to 70.07 kJ m^(-2) for DL and between 36.00 and 92.62 kJ m^(-2) for TL. The monthly mean hourly UV fractions vary from 3.79% to 4.93% at DL and between 4.57% and 5.94% at TL. Comparisons on the monthly mean hourly values of UV radiation and UV fraction, the values at TL are always greater than those at DL. An innovative model is constructed based on two input parameters, namely the effect of the comprehensive attenuation factors for assumed cloud-free conditions (CAF(subscript UVclear)) and the effect of the clouds (K(subscript g)). CAF(subscript UVclear) is derived from empirical models based on relative optical air mass and ozone. The effectiveness of the presented model is demonstrated by comparing with other two estimation models. This innovative model presents values of RMSE better than two reported models either at local place or a different locality. It indicates that this new model can provide satisfactory estimates of UV radiation at different localities other than the local place of origin where the relationships are developed.


In this paper we present a method intended to estimate the parameters of a prediction model based on a Bayesian neural network. The method first performed a classification of a set of 12 hours long pre-recorded wind power sequences, based on the level of their intensity of turbulence, using the Fuzzy c-Means method. Then using a Markov chain like approach, it determines the matrix of transition that gives the transition probability from the current wind power regime of turbulence defined from the most recent 12 hours recorded wind power data, to the next regime of turbulence of the wind power during the incoming hour. Finally, the classification and the matrix of transition allows us to propose an adaptive forecasting scheme that calculates the values of the prediction scheme's time scales parameters which are conditioned by the nature of the transition combinations proposed by the matrix of transition.


Cloud database systems such as Amazon RDS or Google Cloud SQLenable the outsourcing of a large database to a server who then responds to SQL queries. A natural problem here is to efficiently verify the correctness of responses returned by the (untrusted) server. In this paper we present vSQL, a novel cryptographic protocol for publicly verifiable SQL queries on dynamic databases. At a high level, our construction relies on two extensions of the CMT interactive-proof protocol [Cormode et al., 2012]: (i) supporting outsourced input via the use of a polynomial-delegation protocol with succinct proofs, and (ii) supporting auxiliary input (i.e., non-deterministic computation) efficiently. Compared to previous verifiable-computation systems based on interactive proofs, our construction has verification cost polylogarithmic in the auxiliary input (which for SQL queries can be as large as the database) rather than linear. In order to evaluate the performance and expressiveness of our scheme, we tested it on SQL queries based on the TPC-H benchmark on a database with 6 million rows and 13 columns. The server overhead in our scheme (which is typically the main bottleneck) is up to 120 times lower than previousapproaches based on succinct arguments of knowledge (SNARKs), and moreover we avoid the need for query-dependent pre-processing which is required by optimized SNARK-based schemes. In our construction, the server/client time and the communication cost are comparable to, and sometimessmaller than, those of existing customized solutions which only support specific queries.


Risk measurement for derivative portfolios almost invariably calls for nested simulation. In the outer step one draws realizations of all risk factors up to the horizon, and in the inner step one re-prices each instrument in the portfolio at the horizon conditional on the drawn risk factors. Practitioners may perceive the computational burden of such nested schemes to be unacceptable, and adopt a variety of second-best pricing techniques to avoid the inner simulation. In this paper, we question whether such short cuts are necessary. We show that a relatively small number of trials in the inner step can yield accurate estimates, and analyze how a fixed computational budget may be allocated to the inner and the outer step to minimize the mean square error of the resultant estimator. Finally, we introduce a jackknife procedure for bias reduction and a dynamic allocation scheme for improved efficiency.


This paper proposes a simple yet effective anomaly detection method for multi-view data. The proposed approach detects anomalies by comparing the neighborhoods in different views. Specifically, clustering is performed separately in the different views and affinity vectors are derived for each object from the clustering results. Then, the anomalies are detected by comparing affinity vectors in the multiple views. An advantage of the proposed method over existing methods is that the tuning parameters can be determined effectively from the given data. Through experiments on synthetic and benchmark datasets, we show that the proposed method outperforms existing methods.


This study describes the antispasmodic activity of some fractions and cynaropicrin, a sesquiterpene lactone from Cynara scolymus, cultivated in Brazil, against guinea-pig ileum contracted by acetylcholine. The dichloromethane fraction showed the most promising biological effects, with an IC(50) of 0.93 (0.49-1.77) mg/ml. Its main active component, the sesquiterpene lactone cynaropicrin, exhibited potent activity, with IC(50) of 0.065 (0.049-0.086) mg/ml, being about 14-fold more active than dichloromethane fraction and having similar potency to that of papaverine, a well-known antispasmodic agent. The results confirm the popular use of artichoke for the treatment of gastrointestinal disturbances, and encourage new studies on this compound, in order to obtain new antispasmodic agents.


Abstract Pseudocrossidium perpapillosum M.J.Cano & J.A.Jiménez is described and illustrated as a new South American species from Argentina and Chile. It differs from other species of Pseudocrossidium R.S.Williams by the costa excurrent in an awn, elliptical in cross-section, with 4–5(6) guide cells, marginal laminal cells differentiated with rounded, thin-walled and papillose cells, paracostal distal cells with 1–2(4) bi- to quadrifurcate, long papillae, and perichaetial leaves differentiated.


The Damn Good Resume Guide: A Crash Course in Resume Writing, by Yana Parker 2002. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press 73 pages, $9.95, Softcover Intended Audience(s): A, H, I Major Headings from the Table of Contents: Ten Steps to Writing a Great Resume; Sample Resumes; Appendix A-G How Is the Book Most Useful for Its Intended Audience? Step by step directions for writing a resume. Direction on how to overcome various challenges of a person's job history. Advises on formatting techniques and writing accomplishments. Provides numerous samples The Top Five Things You Learned from Reading this Book: Determining your career direction is the most important and the first step to creating an effective resume. Do not include all jobs on a resume. How to choose the right format based on my own situation. How to write accomplishments. The need to state key points at the top of the resume. The Damn Good Resume Guide: A Crash Course in Resume Writing is an excellent resource for job seekers with no or limited experience creating a resume, particularly those at the entry or staff level. Content is somewhat conversational. Readers feel they are receiving personal advice. Format is primarily bullets and hot tips to easily breeze through the information. This resume guide begins by providing a chart of the 10 steps to write a great resume, so the reader has a clear idea of how the book proceeds. It then goes on to provide a section on each step listed. I was particularly impressed that the first step not only discusses how to determine your job target, but also points out that this is the most important step! This book clearly communicates the necessity to clarify career targets before creating a resume so the job seeker can then identify what critical skills will be important to catch an employer's eye and articulate their value proposition. One of the highlights of this book is the hot tip. Hot tips are found on most pages to draw attention to important points, including reasons people do not write effective resumes. One reason that I believe will surprise readers is including all past jobs. Further into the book there is a section on writing accomplishments. While it asks the reader to initially write their list without consideration of their career direction, it then goes on to emphasize the importance of refining the accomplishment list based on the job target. The specific examples of accomplishments provided for various positions are very helpful. Sound advice is given for those who think they do not have accomplishments. The author also discusses qualitative accomplishments when there are no quantitative, measurable results to include. Within this same section, the P-A-R approach (problem, action, and results) is defined and includes examples that are helpful in showing how job seekers can bring out their own achievements. …


There are no reliable endoscopic criteria to discriminate hyperplastic from adenomatous polyp. Mucosal biopsy remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of colonic polyps. In this study, we use magnifying endoscopy with indigo carmine dye contrast to differentiate these two types of polyp. Colonoscopic examinations were performed in 30 patients to analyze a total 30 polyps. Indigo carmine (1%) was directly sprayed on the surface of the polyps, and the magnifying endoscope (Olympus CF240Zl) was then used to observe their villi and crypts (pit pattern). The pit pattern analysis was according to Kudo's classifications. The polyps were then polypectomized or biopsy for pathological diagnosis. There were two polyps with type I; six with type II, two with type Ills; four with type IIIL; and fourteen with type IV and two with type V pit pattern. The pit pattern has good correlation with its respective histology. We therefore conclude that magnifying endoscopy with indigo carmine contrast provides detailed morphological study of colorectal polyps that hleps to distinguish non-neoplastic from neoplastic polyps. This technique may decrease the need for biopsy and polypectomy for non-neoplastic polys, and ultimately lower medical expense and avoid the unwanted complications associated with colonoscopic examination.


The nanoparticles of WO3 doped with Fe ions have been employed for University, Kermanshah photocatalytic conversion of greenhouse gaseous of CO2 and CH4 under visible-light irradiation. The photocatalysts have been characterized by XRD, FESEM, EDX, Raman, UV-vis, and PL techniques. The XRD and Raman spectroscopies confirm the monoclinic structure of WO3 nanoparticles and also the successful incorporation of Fe ions into WO3 lattice. A red shift in Raman patterns of Fe-doped WO3 samples indicate the partial substitution of W with Fe ions and the structural defects induced in WO3 crystals upon doping treatment. The recorded PL signals reveal that the charge carrier recombination rate can be inhibited by doping WO3 with Fe ions. The modified samples show high activity by photons with wavelength equal to/greater than ~500 nm, the visible-light in green region. The best photocatalytic reduction of CO2 is provided to be 38.7% by WO3 containing 4.18 at.% Fe under visible-light. Ethane, and formate and acetate derivatives are detected as the major products of CO2 reduction.


There are mainly six types of minorities in Nepal. It is categorized not only numerically but also on the basis of access in ruling process of the state. The caste, gender, region, religion, inhabitation and language, which have no access in the governing process is also categorized under minorities. Dalit is a caste which are being discriminated as an untouchable group since the beginning of Muluki Ain of Nepal. Women are marginalized politically, socially and financially and treated as the weak individuals. Western and far western regions of the country are very much backward in terms of infrastructure development, human resource, education and in all sectors in comparison to other regions of the country. All religions are discriminated by the state excluding Hindu religion. Madhesi is another part of discrimination by inhabitation of the country. We can take some affirmative action towards enhancement of minorities. Provision of proportional representation, reservation, different acts and statutes, secular state including the interim constitution, made by state is also an example of affirmative action towards promotion of minorities. Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), Page: 1-12


The International Law Association's Committee on the Legal Principles Relating to Climate Change was established in 2008. The Committee has Professor Shinya Murase, Sophia University, as its Chair, Professor Lavanya Rajamani, Centre for Policy Research, as its Rapporteur, and over 30 of the world's leading international environmental law academics as its members. The Committee, after six years of work, and three Reports, has completed its work. The Third (and final) Report of the Committee takes the form of Draft Articles titled 'Legal Principles Relating to Climate Change' and attached commentaries. The Third Report of the Committee was approved and adopted by the ILA Washington Conference in April 2014. These Draft Articles, based as they are on rigorous evidence-based research, and representing the views of leading academics and practitioners of international environmental law, have the potential to shape and influence the evolution of the climate change regime. They may also provide guidance on the design and implementation of the agreement that is slated to emerge from the UN Durban Platform negotiations due to conclude in 2015 and take effect from 2020.


This dissertation investigates the area of pronunciation modeling in speech synthesis. By pronunciation modeling, we mean architectures and principles for generating high-quality human-like pronunciations. The term pronunciation modeling has previously been applied in the context of speech recognition (e.g. Byrne et al. 1997). In that context, it describes theories and procedures for handling the pronunciation variation that naturally occurs across speakers. In contrast, our work is in the domain of text-to-speech synthesis, which, as we will show, requires modeling the pronunciation variation of an individual whose speech the synthesizer is attempting to model. We will explain our methodology for learning and reproducing pronunciation variation on an individual basis, and show how most crucial features of such variation can be easily generated using the architecture we describe. Throughout the course of this exposition, we highlight contributions to linguistic theory that such a thorough analysis of individual variation provides. We describe the postlexical module of an English text-to-speech synthesizer. This module is responsible for transforming underlying lexical pronunciations from a lexical database into contextually appropriate surface postlexical pronunciations. This transformation is achieved by machine learning of a corpus of hand-labeled postlexical pronunciations that have been aligned with lexical pronunciations. The machine learning is conducted by a neural network, whose architecture and data encoding we describe. A thorough analysis of the performance of the postlexical module is offered, with attention to the relative success of the neural network at learning a wide range of postlexical phenomena. We examine the extent to which a symbolic approach to allophony is warranted, and provide an acoustic analysis that attempts to provide an answer to this question. Assessments of the success of currently existing theories of phonetics, phonology and their interface are offered, based on the experience of generating a complete postlexical phonology of English for use in synthetic speech. Comments University of Pennsylvania Institute for Research in Cognitive Science Technical Report No. IRCS-98-09. This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/ircs_reports/55 PRONUNCIATION MODELING IN SPEECH SYNTHESIS


Caffeine is a drug substance primarily known in the form of refreshing and energizing drinks such as tea, coffee, hot chocolate etc. Although the origin of using coffee beans 'toners' is lost in the mists of time, scientific data on this substance, classified as cortical stimulant, are relatively recent and begin in 1820 when it was isolated from coffee beans. This paper aims to present the main therapeutic effects underlying caffeine use in topical medication, with an initial brief description of the pharmacodynamic actions of caffeine after its absorption into the systemic circulation. The use of caffeine in adjuvant therapy of skin conditions such as cellulitis, alopecia, erythrodermatitises, photoaging and even non-melanoma cancer leads to new scientific data that reinforce the caffeine position as an active substance at the dermal level through complex cellular and molecular mechanisms, some of which are known, others being in research.


BACKGROUND
Junctional hemorrhage is a potentially preventable cause of death. The Abdominal Aortic and Junctional Tourniquet (AAJT) compresses major vascular structures and arrests blood flow in exsanguinating hemorrhage. In a human model, the AAJT was effective in stopping blood flow in the femoral arteries via compression of the distal aorta. This study compares the ability of AAJT and Combat Gauze (CG) to stop hemorrhagic bleeding from a hemicorporectomy in a swine model.

METHOD
Six anesthetized swine were used. Carotid arterial catheters were placed for continuous mean arterial pressure (MAP) readings. A hemicorporectomy was accomplished with a blade lever device by cutting the animal through both femoral heads transecting the proximal iliac arteries and veins. Hemorrhage control was attempted with the AAJT and regular Kerlix gauze or CG packing and direct pressure followed by Kerlix gauze placed over the CG. The primary outcome measure was survival at 60 minutes.

RESULTS
The 60-minute survival was 100% for the AAJT and 0% for the CG group. During the 60-minute monitoring period, only one CG animal achieved hemostasis. For the AAJT group, the mean time to hemostasis was 30 seconds. Initial MAP was higher in the AAJT group (mean, 87mmHg) than the CG group (mean, 70mmHg). The mean 60-minute MAP was 73mmHg for the AAJT group. Mean blood loss at 5 minutes and mean total blood loss were greater in the CG group than in the AAJT group.

CONCLUSION
AAJT is superior to CG in controlling hemorrhage in a junctional wound in a swine model.


textabstractThis research describes the objective measurement of CEO narcissism and its impact on organizational outcomes. Narcissism forms an essential element for effective leadership and is as such an important personal characteristic for CEOs.

CEO narcissism can be measured by investigating five determinants of CEO behavior, comprising media exposure, compensation, power, growth and perquisites. The CEO narcissism score is based on these five determinants by a massive data collection of fifteen objective variables for 953 S&P500 CEOs. The composed CEO narcissism score reflects the psycho logically validated factor solution of narcissism. CEOs who have been identified as narcissists by leading psychologists have a top score in this research.

The results of the first empirical impact study show an intricate relationship between CEO narcissism and financial accounting performance measures which can be visualized by a concave parabola. This relationship confirms the view that narcissism is an essential element for effective CEO leadership, but is however not without its pitfalls for either too low or too high levels of narcissism.

The results of the second empirical impact study indicate a negative relationship between CEO narcissism and countervailing power of the board. High narcissistic CEOs do not tolerate contradiction and surround themselves with followers.

The third impact study examines the relationship between CEO narcissism and fraud propensity as alleged in AAERs by the SEC. The results show that high narcissistic CEOs are more inclined to commit managerial fraud to keep up appearances and retain their status.

The empirical results theoretically contribute to the psychological perspective of narcissism as a double edged sword and provide an indication to expand the upper echelon theory with the CEOs narcissistic personality.
The practical contribution of this research enables stakeholders to monitor CEO narcissism
by applying objective measures and trying to retain productive CEO narcissism levels.


Scattering from tilted fiber gratings into free space is useful in various filtering and monitoring applications. We develop a waveguide-scattering analysis based on the coupled-mode theory and new sets of radiation modes that resemble the HE and EH guided modes of an optical fiber. By simplifying the calculation of modal coupling coefficients and the scattered field, this approach allows us to verify the results from free-space perturbation models such as the volume-current method. The HE and EH radiation modes defined here are suitable for scattering analysis of cylindrical waveguides in general.


This thesis is an analysis of the ways in which images of bodily disgust function in social conflicts. It considers the necessary embodiment of political struggle: that is, the ways in which inequalities are sustained and contested through the material forms taken by human bodies and the meanings attached to bodily states.
In chapter one I map out the theoretical grounding for an inquiry into embodiment, by showing how the physical forms taken by bodies are produced by social practices. I argue that 'the body' should be seen as a biological product, a 'body project', regulated and transformed by its environment. This in turn leads me to a consideration of how such body-shapings sustain regimes of power through constructing for subjects physical forms which are designed to maintain existing systems of inequality. Through a reading of Michel Foucault's work, I show how such bodies are also able to resist power by making use of the material and discursive structures which seek, but fail, to render them wholly submissive.
In chapter two I look at the ways in which the body acts as a map of the psyche, producing a subject which understands itself in terms of its experience of its body parts. I also consider how the body acts as a social symbol, encoding anxieties about the society that it inhabits. By considering both psychoanalytic accounts, and the work of Mary Douglas, I interrogate how concepts of order, form, and integrity become central to embodied subjectivity.
In chapter three I consider how, in the Naked Lunch Quartet, William Burroughs represents the body as under threat from repulsive external substances, and how his depiction of such substances in fact relies on a notion of body matter itself as repulsive. I will show how this results from his conceptualization of bodily materiality as antithetical to freedom, and I argue that by demonstrating the impossibility of escaping from acts of invasion and possession, Burroughs's texts in fact undermine the libertarian position that he adopts. In chapter four I develop this argument through a comparison with Julia Kristeva's concept of abjection. I suggest that his representation of abject bodies enables Burroughs to critique the invasive mechanisms of authority, but requires that he collude with the stigmatizing discourses of authority in order to adopt such a position. In particular I consider how this affects his representation of gender.
In chapter five I show how David Cronenberg's Shivers may be read as a film that both sustains and critiques the notion of innate bodily disorder. I argue that this is derived from his reliance upon notions of a hierarchy of bodies derived from inequalities of race and class. In chapter six I develop this critique with a reading of Cronenberg's The Fly. I suggest that this film is much more explicit about the fact that bodily chaos is in fact a state experienced by the socially excluded. It offers a critique of the processes by which we are made to feel disgust at our bodies, suggesting that disgust inaugurates a logic of paranoid purification, which in fact impedes the possibilities of the acceptance of those bodies which fall outside certain social limits.
Finally, in my conclusion, I look at how Cronenberg's Rabid might be seen as a compendium of the issues of embodied politics, and use this to suggest possible directions in which the work of this thesis might be extended.


Abstract. A paleomagnetic study was carried out on Paleogene sedimentary rocks from Bering Island, Komandorsky islands, located at the far western end of the Aleutian Island Arc. The age of these sediments has been debated at length, but the combination of magnetostratigraphy with the fossil record indicates that the base of the section is of early Eocene (approximately 55 Ma) and the top latest Eocene age. Paleomagnetic data were obtained from 260 samples from 60 individual bedding units. The combined data show a clockwise rotation R=26.3°±8.5°, F=8.1°±2.5° with respect to the North American Plate and R=38°±8.8°, F=8.7°±2.7° with respect to the Eurasian Plate. They also show a shallowing of the inclination which yields a paleolatitude of 53°, 12° south of its expected latitude. The shallowing may have a component due to compaction, but the wide variation in sampled lithologies, combined with internal consistency of the data set, would argue against the shallowing being significant. To compare these data with other Aleutian Arc data we compiled a comprehensive survey of all available data sets. Out of these we selected four islands for which the data passed basic reliability criteria, namely Umnak, Amlia, Amchitka and Medny islands. All four showed significant clockwise rotation with respect to both North American and Eurasian polar wander paths. Several mechanisms can generate the observed rotation, ranging from block rotation driven by oblique relative motion of the Pacific plate, through lateral transport along the curve of the arc, to whole-arc rotation about its eastern end. The distribution and age spread of the rotation data are insufficient to discriminate between mechanisms, but it seems likely that different mechanism may have operated at different times and in different locations.


Marine primary productivity is an important agent in the global cycling of carbon dioxide, a major 'greenhouse gas', and variations in the concentration of the ocean's phytoplankton biomass can therefore explain trends in the global carbon budget. Since the launch of satellite-mounted sensors globe-wide monitoring of chlorophyll, a phytoplankton biomass proxy, became feasible. Just as satellites, the Forel-Ule (FU) scale record (a hardly explored database of ocean colour) has covered all seas and oceans – but already since 1889. We provide evidence that changes of ocean surface chlorophyll can be reconstructed with confidence from this record. The EcoLight radiative transfer numerical model indicates that the FU index is closely related to chlorophyll concentrations in open ocean regions. The most complete FU record is that of the North Atlantic in terms of coverage over space and in time; this dataset has been used to test the validity of colour changes that can be translated to chlorophyll. The FU and FU-derived chlorophyll data were analysed for monotonously increasing or decreasing trends with the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test, a method to establish the presence of a consistent trend. Our analysis has not revealed a globe-wide trend of increase or decrease in chlorophyll concentration during the past century; ocean regions have apparently responded differentially to changes in meteorological, hydrological and biological conditions at the surface, including potential long-term trends related to global warming. Since 1889, chlorophyll concentrations have decreased in the Indian Ocean and in the Pacific; increased in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, the Chinese Sea, and in the seas west and north-west of Japan. This suggests that explanations of chlorophyll changes over long periods should focus on hydrographical and biological characteristics typical of single ocean regions, not on those of 'the' ocean.


Digital Ground is an architect's response to the design challenge posed by pervasive computing. One century into the electronic age, people have become accustomed to interacting indirectly, mediated through networks. But now as digital technology becomes invisibly embedded in everyday things, even more activities become mediated, and networks extend rather than replace architecture. The young field of interaction design reflects not only how people deal with machine interfaces but also how people deal with each other in situations where interactivity has become ambient. It shifts previously utilitarian digital design concerns to a cultural level, adding notions of premise, appropriateness, and appreciation. Malcolm McCullough offers an account of the intersections of architecture and interaction design, arguing that the ubiquitous technology does not obviate the human need for place. His concept of "digital ground" expresses an alternative to anytime-anyplace sameness in computing; he shows that context not only shapes usability but ideally becomes the subject matter of interaction design and that "environmental knowing" is a process that technology may serve and not erode. Drawing on arguments from architecture, psychology, software engineering, and geography, writing for practicing interaction designers, pervasive computing researchers, architects, and the general reader on digital culture, McCullough gives us a theory of place for interaction design. Part I, "Expectations," explores our technological predispositions -- many of which ("situated interactions") arise from our embodiment in architectural settings. Part II, "Technologies," discusses hardware, software, and applications, including embedded technology ("bashing the desktop"), and building technology genres around life situations. Part III, "Practices," argues for design as a liberal art, seeing interactivity as a cultural -- not only technological -- challenge and a practical notion of place as essential. Part IV, "Epilogue," acknowledges the epochal changes occurring today, and argues for the role of "digital ground" in the necessary adaptation.


Recent ancient DNA studies of western Eurasia have revealed a dynamic history of admixture, with evidence for major migrations during the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The population of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia has been notable in these studies – Neolithic individuals from mainland Europe cluster more closely with Sardinian individuals than with all other present-day Europeans. The current model to explain this result is that Sardinia received an initial influx of Neolithic ancestry and then remained relatively isolated from expansions in the later Neolithic and Bronze Age that took place in continental Europe. To test this model, we generated genome-wide capture data (approximately 1.2 million variants) for 43 ancient Sardinian individuals spanning the Neolithic through the Bronze Age, including individuals from Sardinia's Nuragic culture, which is known for the construction of numerous large stone towers throughout the island. We analyze these new samples in the context of previously generated genome-wide ancient DNA data from 972 ancient individuals across western Eurasia and whole-genome sequence data from approximately 1,500 modern individuals from Sardinia. The ancient Sardinian individuals show a strong affinity to western Mediterranean Neolithic populations and we infer a high degree of genetic continuity on the island from the Neolithic (around fifth millennium BCE) through the Nuragic period (second millennium BCE). In particular, during the Bronze Age in Sardinia, we do not find significant levels of the "Steppe" ancestry that was spreading in many other parts of Europe at that time. We also characterize subsequent genetic influx between the Nuragic period and the present. We detect novel, modest signals of admixture between 1,000 BCE and present-day, from ancestry sources in the eastern and northern Mediterranean. Within Sardinia, we confirm that populations from the more geographically isolated mountainous provinces have experienced elevated levels of genetic drift and that northern and southwestern regions of the island received more gene flow from outside Sardinia. Overall, our genetic analysis sheds new light on the origin of Neolithic settlement on Sardinia, reinforces models of genetic continuity on the island, and provides enhanced power to detect post-Bronze-Age gene flow. Together, these findings offer a refined demographic model for future medical genetic studies in Sardinia.


Due to the great cultural distance between Germany and Thailand, German leaders who work in Thailand may encounter several intercultural concerns. In order to effectively lead Thai employees, these leaders may need to behave differently from what they used to do in their home country in some aspects. Thus, this study examines the changing perception of leadership due to the effect of Thai culture form German managers who are working in German organizations in Thailand.
GLOBE project and its culturally endorsed leadership theory were the key literature explored in this study. To attain the outcomes, both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. Twenty-three questionnaires were collected from German expatriate managers in German organizations in Thailand. While two in-depth interview were acquired from Thai employees who worked closely with German superiors.
The results confirm German managers greatly value inspirational and trustworthy attributes as well as avoid being tyrannical, tender and provocateur in order to work in German-Thai boundary. The leadership styles such as Charismatic/Value-Based or Transformational and Team-Oriented leadership also suit German leaders to work in Thai culture.


Despite the rise of the Internet, state-dominated media—especially television—remain a crucial tool for regime control in authoritarian societies. Governments in China and Russia are the forefront of the state media model, but such systems dominate in countries as diverse as Azerbaijan, Iran, Rwanda, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. To achieve dominance state media seek to influence four audiences: regime coalition elites; the populace at large; Internet users; and the opposition and civil society. The authoritarian media strategy is not designed to block everything, but instead is aimed at obstructing news about politics or other sensitive issues from consistently reaching key audiences. The Internet may offer a freer alternative to state-dominated media, but the Internet's fragmented character makes it a poor match for the disciplined messaging of authoritarian regimes that have a single-minded focus on self-preservation.


One of Spain's independent drug bulletins, Butlleti Groc , is being sued by Merck Sharp & Dohme for an article that claimed that the company committed scientific fraud in a trial of its cyclo-oxegenase-2 (COX 2) inhibitor rofecoxib (Vioxx). The case opened in Madrid last week.

The company wants the bulletin to retract its article on the Vioxx gastrointestinal outcomes research (VIGOR) trial and publish a new one reproducing text prepared by the company. However, Professor Joan-Ramon Laporte, the bulletin's editor, refuses to do so.

He said: "I feel this is an attack on independent information on drugs. The pharmaceutical industry has almost a monopoly on information on drugs and therapeutics." Professor Laporte claimed that the company's text was "mainly propaganda" for rofecoxib.

The article, entitled "The so called advantages of celecoxib and rofecoxib: scientific fraud," was published in the July-September 2002 issue of the bulletin (2002;15: 13-5) but was not based on new material. It summarised earlier commentaries in the Lancet ( 2002;360: 100-1)and the BMJ ( 2002;324: 1287-8) on irregularities in the conduct and analysis of the VIGOR trial and the celecoxib long term arthritis safety study (CLASS). These large trials compared the gastrointestinal safety of …


Article type: Original Article Background: The prevalence of migraine headaches significantly increased in girls after menarche. This indicated that there is a closely relation between hormonal changes especially the estrogen level with migraine headaches. Objectives: The aim of this work was to determine the frequency of migraine and its associated factors in medical students affected with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 218 of medical students (between 18 to 30 years old) in Mashhad in the NorthEast of Iran from March 2015 to March 2016. Premenstrual syndrome was confirmed by Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST). Migraine headache was determined according to International Headache Society (HIS) criteria. The frequency of menstrual migraine and its associated factors including educational degree, life style, marital status, menstrual regularity, family history and type of migraine were determined among the participants with PMS. Data analyze was performed by SPSS 21 and STATISTICA 10. Results: Of 218 students with premenstrual syndrome, 32 persons (14.7%) had migraine headache. 84.4% of migraines were without aura and the mean attacks per months were 4.34±1.93. The most prevalence of migraine observed in students with 22.09±2.44 years old, intern students (16.1%), Mariel students (20%), students with irregular menstruation (26.3%), students with positive family history (36.5%) and students which lived in dorm (26.1%). Conclusion: According to our results, the prevalence of migraine in students with PMS is in the range of 14.7%. Therefore, it is recommended that women suffering from PMS be evaluated for migraine based on diagnostic criteria of HIS.


AIMS
Brugada syndrome (BrS) is characterized by a unique electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern and life-threatening arrhythmias. However, the Type 1 Brugada ECG pattern is often transient, and a genetic cause is only identified in <25% of patients. We sought to identify an additional biomarker for this rare condition. As myocardial inflammation may be present in BrS, we evaluated whether myocardial autoantibodies can be detected in these patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS
For antibody (Ab) discovery, normal human ventricular myocardial proteins were solubilized and separated by isoelectric focusing (IEF) and molecular weight on two-dimensional (2D) gels and used to discover Abs by plating with sera from patients with BrS and control subjects. Target proteins were identified by mass spectrometry (MS). Brugada syndrome subjects were defined based on a consensus clinical scoring system. We assessed discovery and validation cohorts by 2D gels, western blots, and ELISA. We performed immunohistochemistry on myocardium from BrS subjects (vs. control). All (3/3) 2D gels exposed to sera from BrS patients demonstrated specific Abs to four proteins, confirmed by MS to be α-cardiac actin, α-skeletal actin, keratin, and connexin-43, vs. 0/8 control subjects. All (18/18) BrS subjects from our validation cohorts demonstrated the same Abs, confirmed by western blots, vs. 0/24 additional controls. ELISA optical densities for all Abs were elevated in all BrS subjects compared to controls. In myocardium obtained from BrS subjects, each protein, as well as SCN5A, demonstrated abnormal protein expression in aggregates.

CONCLUSION
A biomarker profile of autoantibodies against four cardiac proteins, namely α-cardiac actin, α-skeletal actin, keratin, and connexin-43, can be identified from sera of BrS patients and is highly sensitive and specific, irrespective of genetic cause for BrS. The four involved proteins, along with the SCN5A-encoded Nav1.5 alpha subunit are expressed abnormally in the myocardium of patients with BrS.


Evidence is presented for facultative apomictic seed formation in indigenous hardwood trees, shrubs and lianas in Riccarton Bush, Christchurch, and in indigenous woody species elsewhere in the New Zealand Botanical Region, including its offshore and outlying islands. For the most part, this evidence is based on the formation of abundant mature fruit in female plants isolated from pollen sources, and the subsequent germination of seeds and emergence of seedlings beneath these plants. In a few species, apomixy has been confirmed by cytological techniques. Sexual reproduction occurs in facultative apomicts and genetic diversity is maintained. Apomixis may be widespread among species central to the recovery and management of degraded forests and shrublands, and nationally threatened woody taxa with sparse, local, or restricted distributions. Unequivocal confirmation of the apomixis status hypothesised here and more information on the breeding systems of these species is needed if the extent and ecological role of the phenomenon in the New Zealand indigenous woody flora is to be understood.


Background: Uncontrolled use of chemical drugs increases microbial strains resistant to antibiotics. There is an urgent need for discovery of new anti microbial compounds. Nowadays, many researchers have been done to introduce antibacterial compounds with natural origin. Aim of this study was in vitro assessment of antimicrobial effects of methanolic extract from dried fruits of Silybum marianum. Materials and methods: Hungarian seeds of Silybum marianum were defatted by ethyl acetate. The flavonolignans were extracted with methanol. Antimicrobial effects of methanolic extract (pure extract, 2000, 1000, 500, 250 125, 62.5 and 0 mg/ml) were examined on six species of microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus antheracis) with three methods such as disk diffusion, well diffusion, porpelite and spread-plate methods. The experiment was performed three times with three replicates. Results: According to results of this investigation, there was no growth inhibition zone in disk diffusion method for all dilutions of plant extract. The highest growth inhibition zone (19 mm) was observed in Strep. pyogenes in well diffusion method. In porpelite method, the growth inhibition zone was indicated in all of dilutions plant extract for B. cereus culture, in 2000 and 1000 mg/ml for B. antheracis and in 2000 mg/ml for Strep. pyogenes. Our results showed that, the extract had antibacterial effect on B. Cereus, B. anthracis and Strep. pyogenes in spread-plate method but had less effect on S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli. Conclusion: With attention to our finding, it could be concluded that methanolic extract of Silybum marianum has antibacterial effects on current clinical pathogen microorganisms. Therefore, it must be evaluated in vivo and clinically.


Kinematic analysis of Neogene and Quaternary faults demonstrates that the direction of extension in the Malawi rift rotated from east-northeast to southeast. Rift development commenced with the formation of half-grabens bounded by northwest-, north-, and northeast-striking normal faults. Owing to slightly oblique rifting, the northwest-striking faults in the northernmost rift segment show a small dextral oblique-slip component, whereas north- and northeast-oriented faults in the central part of the rift display a sinistral oblique-slip component. This first event resulted in block faulting and basin subsidence, which is largely responsible for the present-day basin morphology of Lake Malawi. A major change in fault kinematics occurred because of rotation of the extension direction and permutation of the principal compressive and intermediate axes. The structural pattern inherited from the first rifting phase was no longer suitably oriented to accommodate extensional deformation, and strike-slip faulting assumed a major role. The strike-slip regime amplified uplift of basement ridges within the rift in regions of local transpression, but it also created alluvial basins because of local transtension. This new kinematic style is compatible with the recent seismicity. Older faults that show mainly the first deformational increment are restricted to the outermost parts of the rift. Toward the center, the faults depict an increase in strike-slip components of movement, suggesting deformation propagation toward the rift center, which results in a narrowing of the active rift environments with time.


Ayruveda , the science of life covers a wide range of subjects and issues of living beings in relation to total approaches of individual development and health care. Different Ayurvedic literature preaches wide and in depth knowledge of ideal living including promotive, preventive and curative aspect of health sciences. It is observed that in modern time many of diseases are arises due to human body's internal environment become acidic because of major dietetic change with modern civilization. This results in the origin of many new diseases. This problem is seriously discussed by acharyas in ancient time and concept of antah1parimarjana kshara is described for the neutralization of acids to prevent its consequences.


How do people live together in cities shaped by inequality? This comparative ethnography of two African cities, Maputo and Johannesburg, presents a new narrative about social life in cities often described as sharply divided. Based on the ethnography of entangled lives unfolding in a township and in a suburb in Johannesburg, in a bairro and in an elite neighborhood in Maputo, the book includes case studies of relations between domestic workers and their employers, failed attempts by urban elites to close off their neighborhoods, and entanglements emerging in religious spaces and in shopping malls. Systematizing comparison as an experience-based method, the book makes an important contribution to urban anthropology, comparative urbanism and urban studies.


Modelling and characterization of the Power Line Communication (PLC) channel is an active research area. The research mainly focuses on ways of fully exploiting the existing and massive power line network for communications. In order to exploit the PLC channel for effective communication solutions, physical properties of the PLC channel need to be studied, especially for high bandwidth signals. In this dissertation, extensive simulations and measurement campaigns for the channel transfer characteristics are carried out at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in selected offices, laboratories and workshops within the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering. Firstly, we employ the Parallel Resonant Circuit (PRC) approach to model the power line channel in chapter 4, which is based on two-wire transmission line theory. The model is developed, simulated and measurements done for validation in the PLC laboratory for different network topologies in the frequency domain. From the results, it is found that the PRC model produces similar results to the Series Resonant Circuit (SRC) model, and hence the model is considered for PLC channel modelling and characterization. Secondly, due to the time variant nature of the power line network, this study also presents the multipath characteristics of the power line communication (PLC) channel in chapter 5. We analyse the effects of the network characteristics on the received signal and derive the multipath characteristics of the PLC channel from measured channel transfer functions by evaluating the channel impulse responses (CIR). The results obtained are compared with results from other parts of the world employing similar approach based on the Root Mean Square (RMS) delay spread and are found to be comparable. Based on the CIR and extracted multipath characteristics, further research in PLC and related topics shall be inspired.


Introduction The classification of patients with prostate cancer is used to determine treatments based on risk factors. The presence of secondary circulating prostate tumour cells (CPCs) detected in peripheral blood after a curative treatment has been associated with a worse prognosis. We present a prospective study of CPC detection post radiotherapy and the oncological results. Patients and methods All of the patients classified as low and intermediate risk that were treated with radiotherapy were included. Three months after finishing treatment, an 8-ml blood sample was taken to detect CPCs. Mononuclear cells were obtained using gel centrifugation, and CPCs were identified using immunocytochemistry with anti-prostate-specific antigen. Patients were classified as low-risk CPC positive or negative and intermediate-risk CPC positive or negative. The biochemical relapse-free survival analysis was determined based on a follow-up of up to 15 years using the Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression models. Biochemical failure was defined according to the Pheonix II criteria. Results Of 241 patients, 181 (75.1%) were classified as low risk and 60 (24.9%) as intermediate risk. Biochemical failure was observed in 27.1% (49/181) of the low-risk prostate cancer participants and in 53.3% (32/60) of intermediate-risk participants after 15 years of follow-up. 20.4% (37/181) of the low-risk cancer participants had detectable CPCs in comparison with 43.3% (26/60) of the intermediate-risk cancer participants (p < 0.001 overall risk 2.98, confidence interval (CI) 95% 1.59–5.56; relative risk 2.12, CI 95% 1.41–3.19). Positive CPC patients had a worse prognosis, and a shorter time period until biochemical relapse, regardless of risk group. The biochemical relapse-free survival curves show that intermediate-risk participants who were CPC negative had a higher survival rate and slower disease progression than those participants who were low risk but CPC positive. Conclusions CPC detection is a risk factor for biochemical relapse and could be useful in identifying patients that will need additional treatment.


With the current movement of patient filing system from paper-based system towards Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, it is necessary to protect patient privacy on EMR efficiently. This research incorporate faces biometric system into EMR in order to provide a twolayer security for patient confidential information. However, the issue of face with distortion such as expressions, aging, background illumination etc. which often affects the performance of face biometric system during authentication stage was addressed. We utilized optimized Principal Component Analysis and Support Vector Machine (PCA-SVM) to extract features and address this issue of patient's face with distortions. We conducted an experiment with 100 test cases. This result shows that facial biometrics can be used for securing patient electronic medical record in hospitals based on the system accuracy obtained. The result demonstrated 78% system performance accuracy with distorted face, which shows that optimized PCA-SVM exhibit a reliable performance for promising security work in term of False Rejection Rate(FRR) and False Acceptance Rate (FAR).


Commercial Court and Arbitration Pleadings provides detailed, expert guidance on the techniques and skills that can be learnt and built upon by all Barristers and Solicitor Advocates involved in this specialised area of law. Step-by-step the authors explain the applicable rules, advise on the art of good pleading and provide precedents for common forms of pleadings, applications and other formal documents most likely to be encountered in the commercial field. This book will provide you with: detailed guidance for preparing a lucid and effective commercial court or arbitration pleading; a summary of the substantive law the pleader must bear in mind; a precedent based on stated facts, showing the form the relevant pleading should take.


Continuous transistor scaling due to improvements in CMOS devices and manufacturing technologies is increasing processor power densities and temperatures; thus, creating challenges to maintain manufacturing yield rates and reliable devices in their expected lifetimes for latest nanometer-scale dimensions. In fact, new system and processor microarchitectures require new reliability-aware design methods and exploration tools that can face these challenges without significantly increasing manufacturing cost, reducing system performance or imposing large area overheads due to redundancy. In this paper we overview the latest approaches in reliability modeling and variability-tolerant design for latest technology nodes, and advocate the need of reliability- aware design for forthcoming consumer electronics. Moreover, we illustrate with a case study of an embedded processor that effective reliability-aware design can be achieved in nanometer-scale devices through integral design approaches that covers modeling and exploration of reliability effects, and hardware-software architectural techniques to provide reliability-enhanced solutions at both microarchitectural- and system-level.


Agricultural and urban land use increase nitrogen (N) concentrations in streams, which can saturate biotic demand by plants, algae, and bacteria via assimilative uptake, and by nitrification and denitrification. We studied six streams per year in each of three land‐use categories (agricultural, urban, and forested) for 3 yr (n = 18 streams), and we compared whole‐stream N uptake and microbial N transformation rates during spring, summer, and autumn. We measured whole‐stream removal of added ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3−) in the field and quantified sediment nitrification and denitrification rates in laboratory assays. Relative demand for NNH4+ (as uptake velocity, Vf) was highest in spring and in streams with open canopies, implying a link with aquatic autotrophy. In agricultural and urban streams, whole‐stream removal (as areal uptake, U) of NH4+ and NO3−, nitrification, and denitrification rates approached saturation at higher inorganic N concentrations. Nitrification and denitrification rates measured in redox‐optimized laboratory assays were roughly equivalent, suggesting that in situ redox conditions will determine whether stream sediments are a net source or sink of NO3−. Though nitrification and denitrification rates were measured under ideal redox conditions, they were always more than an order of magnitude lower than whole‐stream NO{3 uptake, demonstrating their limited influence on wholestream NO3− dynamics. Assimilatory processes, which temporarily store N removed from the water column, dominated whole‐stream N demand and controlled downstream N flux. The ultimate fate of assimilated N remains unknown; in‐channel storage cannot account for it, and thus a key question is what fraction may eventually be stored in downstream depositional zones or denitrified upon remineralization.


Metronomic chemotherapy is the protracted, dense administration of low sub-toxic doses of chemotherapy, to inhibit tumor angiogenesis. Vinorelbine is an orally bioavailable vinca alkaloid shown to be useable for metronomic administration. In clinical trials, metronomic vinorelbine has been demonstrated to generate sustainable antitumor efficacy at low nanomolar (nM) concentrations with negligible toxicity. We sought to determine whether the clinically relevant metronomic concentration of vinorelbine is anti-angiogenic in vitro and whether hypoxia, often induced by anti-angiogenic therapy, modifies its effectiveness. We found that the metronomic concentration of 10 nM vinorelbine inhibited human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) proliferation, migration, tube formation and sprouting. Severe hypoxia, did not affect the inhibitory effect of metronomic vinorelbine on migration, tube formation and sprouting. However, severe hypoxia reduced its anti-proliferative effect by decreasing its ability to induce G2/M block as it shifted the cell population to the G1 phase and decreased the fraction of the cells in the DNA synthesis S phase. Furthermore, the pro-apoptotic effects of 10 nM vinorelbine were also decreased. Metronomic vinorelbine decreased the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in normoxia whereas the ratio was reduced in severe hypoxia but unaltered by vinorelbine treatment. Akt signals to an anti-apoptotic pathway and we demonstrated that the Akt inhibitor V reversed the protective effect of severe hypoxia. Thus, we provide evidence for the anti-angiogenic basis of metronomic vinorelbine and we show that severe hypoxia mediates resistance to its anti-proliferative effect on endothelial cells. Akt warrants further investigation as a potential target to circumvent this hypoxic resistance.


Entropy And Its Physical Meaning-J. S. Dugdale 2018-10-08 This text gives students a clear and easily understood introduction to entropy a central concept in thermodynamics, but one which is often regarded as the most difficult to grasp. Professor Dugdale first presents a classical and historical view of entropy, looking in detail at the scientists who developed the concept, and at how they arrived at their ideas. This is followed by a statistical treatment which provides a more physical portrait of entropy, relating it to disorder and showing how physical and chemical systems tend to states of order at low temperatures. Dugdale includes here a brief account of some of the more intriguing manifestations of order in properties such as superconductivity and superfluidity.Entropy and Its Physical Meaning also includes a number of exercises which can be used for both selflearning and class work. It is intended to provide a complete understanding of the concept of entropy, making it valuable reading for undergraduates in physics, physical sciences and engineering, and for students studying thermodynamics within other science courses such as meteorology, biology and medicine.


Sustainability is important to the well-being of our planet, continued growth of a society, and human development. Concrete is one of the most widely used construction materials in the world. However, the production of portland cement, an essential constituent of concrete, leads to the release of significant amounts of CO2, a greenhouse gas ( GHG ); production of one ton of portland cement produces about one ton of CO2 and other GHGs. The environmental issues associated with GHGs, in addition to natural resources issues, will play a leading role in the sustainable development of the cement and concrete industry during this century. For example, as the supply of good-quality limestone to produce cement decreases, producing adequate amounts of portland cement for construction will become more difficult. There is a possibility that when there is no more goodquality limestone in, say, a geographical region, and thus no portland cement, all the employment associated with the concrete industry, as well as new construction projects, will be terminated. Because of limited natural resources, concern over GHGs, or, both, cement production is being curtailed, or at least cannot be increased to keep up with the population increase, in some regions of the world. It is therefore necessary to look for sustainable solutions for future concrete construction. A sustainable concrete structure is constructed to ensure that the total environmental impact during its life cycle, including its use, will be minimal. Sustainable concrete should have a very low inherent energy requirement, be produced with little waste, be made from some of the most plentiful resources on earth, produce durable structures, have a very high thermal mass, and be made with recycled materials. Sustainable constructions have a small impact on Vasu Krishna et al 82 the environment. They use "green" materials, which have low energy costs, high durability, low maintenance requirements, and contain a large proportion of recycled or recyclable materials. Green materials also use less energy and resources and can lead to high-performance cements and concrete. Concrete must keep evolving to satisfy the increasing demands of all its users. Designing for sustainability means accounting for the short-term and long-term environmental consequences in the design


Ever since the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, the quest for 'sustainability' has gained increased prominence on the business landscape. The King Report on Corporate Governance has further heightened awareness of social and environmental considerations which had previously been overlooked, thus broadening the business agenda beyond meeting the needs of owners and shareholders. Within the South African context, transformation imperatives have placed additional obligations on our businesses, requiring a change in corporate attitudes and business practices. Thus, in today's business climate, where companies compete globally for customers as well as talent, where reputation is as important as financial outcome, and where social and environmental risks have become key business dynamics, companies are increasingly being called to account, by a broader range of stakeholders, across a far wider spectrum of activities and operations. The dissertation reflects on the complexity of developing an inclusive and participatory approach to understanding the dimensions of sustainability and developing a sustainable development agenda for IlIovo Sugar Sezela business. The study presents an opportunity to apply systems thinking to consider the various perspectives and worldviews of the participating stakeholders, and to promote democratic decision-making in formulating possibilities. In this regard, it is imperative that the inquiry involves the use of methodologies appropriate to the structure and nature of the organisation, and that the outcome of the inquiry involves a 'product' that is owned by the organisation.


We present a new abstraction algorithm for sequential imperfect information games. While most prior abstraction algorithms employ a myopic expected-value computation as a similarity metric, our algorithm considers a higher-dimensional space consisting of histograms over abstracted classes of states from later stages of the game. This enables our bottom-up abstraction algorithm to automatically take into account potential: a hand can become relatively better (or worse) over time and the strength of different hands can get resolved earlier or later in the game. We further improve the abstraction quality by making multiple passes over the abstraction, enabling the algorithm to narrow the scope of analysis to information that is relevant given abstraction decisions made for earlier parts of the game. We also present a custom indexing scheme based on suit isomorphisms that enables one to work on significantly larger models than before. We apply the techniques to heads-up limit Texas Hold'em poker. Whereas all prior game theory-based work for Texas Hold'em poker used generic off-the-shelf linear program solvers for the equilibrium analysis of the abstracted game, we make use of a recently developed algorithm based on the excessive gap technique from convex optimization. This paper is, to our knowledge, the first to abstract and game-theoretically analyze all four betting rounds in one run (rather than splitting the game into phases). The resulting player, GS3, beats BluffBot, GS2, Hyperborean, Monash-BPP, Sparbot, Teddy, and Vexbot, each with statistical significance. To our knowledge, those competitors are the best prior programs for the game.


Context. Agile methods address the challenges of an unpredictable world by relying on "people and their creativity rather than on processes", accelerate delivery of software and considered as a reaction to plan-based or traditional methods. Distributed software development helps to access a pool of skilled personnel, completion of tasks around the clock and more. Incorporating of agile methods in distributed software development could help to solve some problems of distributed software development such as lack of communication and its dependencies, close collaboration and so on. Objectives. In this study we investigate the proposed benefits of pair programming, an XP development technique used by agile, and its effects on performance and social practices in distributed software development. Methods. Systematic literature review and an experiment are utilized to fulfill the objectives of this study. In the systematic review a sub-set of the research articles are selected relevant to the subject of this study from the electronic sources including, ACM Digital Library, IEEE, Xplore, EiVillage (Compendx, Inspec), Science Direct and ISI Web of Science. Experiment is conducted to investigate the pair programming effects on performance and social practices. Results. Many proposed benefits of pair programming in existing literature are identified and reported in both collocated and distributed settings. Pair programming is reported as an effective software development technique as well as a pedagogical tool. Experimental results showed that pair programming also effects performance in distributed software development, and positively impacts the social practices (human or social factors). Conclusions. There are many benefits of pair programming reported in collocated settings and less in distributed software development. Pair programming impacts the performance and social practices positively. However, we also conclude that the effective use of pair programming in distributed software development will yield the concrete results as well as the programmers' pairs should be trained, experienced and well motivated for an effective use of pair programming and to overcome the challenges of distributed software development.


Long-term mine plans are based on forecast future metal prices. By the time the development is put in place, the forecasts may have been proved wrong and the production plan might not meet the company's financial objectives. At that point, the common reaction to this situation is to create a new revised long-term plan and spend more capital, only to find out at a later time that the metal prices have changed again. This results in an inefficient use of capital with low returns to the investors. The objective of this thesis is to develop a methodology to determine the cut-off grade and production rate of a narrow-vein underground mine such that the long-term strategic plan is robust. As a requirement to do so, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the resources, revenues, capital and operating costs as a function of the design parameters. Also, the operational limits of the mine must be determined so that the solution is practical. Afterwards, annual metal prices are randomly generated with a Monte Carlo process on stochastic metal price model, and the combination of production rate and cut-off grade yielding the highest net present value is identified and recorded. This process is repeated many times, and the probabilities of the solutions occurring at any given design combination are calculated. The results are plotted on a bubble graph, where the size of a bubble is directly proportional to the probability a solution occurs at that point. Finally, the combination with the largest i bubble is the solution, as this point has the highest probability of yielding the highest net present value in most circumstances. The model was first tested on an actual gold-copper orebody where very detailed resource and cost information was available. The methodology was applied with success and the solution reflected the important impact of the copper milling and roasting process on revenues. Other tests were then done on an hypothetical gold orebody and the results showed a great degree of sensitivity to the average grade of the deposit, and less to the discount rate and to the gold price-reversion factor.


ABSTRACT The article constitutes a critical intervention in the current, dramatic debate on the consequences of algorithms and automation for society. While most research has focused on negative outcomes, including ethical problems of machine bias and accountability, little has been said about the possibilities of users to resist algorithmic power. The article draws on Raymond Williams' work on media as practice to advance a framework for studying algorithms with a focus on user agency. We illustrate this framework with the example of the media activist campaign World White Web by the Swedish artist and visual designer Johanna Burai. We suggest that user agency in relation to algorithms can emerge from alternative uses of platforms, in the aftermath of algorithmic logics, and give birth to complicit forms of resistance that work through 'repair' politics oriented towards correcting the work of algorithms. We conclude with a discussion of the ways in which the proposed framework helps us rethink debates on algorithmic power.


Background: This study explored the key physical and social factors within the home environment that influence the participation of children with an ASD in home activities. Method: Step 1 used a correlational research design to identify relationships between the home environment and participation patterns of children with ASD. Twenty-two children, ages 3 to 6 years, with a diagnosis of ASD participated. Data were collected using the Preschool Activity Card Sort (PACS), Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory (HOME), Parenting Stress Index (PSI), Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), and Hollingshead Four Factor Index of Social Status (ISS). In Step 2, an electronic survey gathered information from 20 occupational therapists, attempting to identify their perceptions related to factors within the home environment that influence the participation of children with ASD. Results: Significant correlations were found among parenting stress, the availability of learning materials, and parent responsiveness toward the child and the participation patterns of children in home activities. Themes relating to designated play areas for children at home, parents' awareness of the needs of the child, and parents' responsiveness toward their child emerged from the occupational therapists' qualitative survey data. Conclusion: The results indicated that home environments do contribute to a child's ability to participate in home activities.


The negotiating strategies of parties to a corporate bankruptcy are shaped by the rules and procedures of bankruptcy law. The rules have an asymmetric impact on the debtor and its creditors. To analyze the effect of this asymmetry, the paper develops a model of bankruptcy negotiation based on a binomial process for firm value. The analysis produces five novel results. First, bankruptcy rules are shown to produce incentives which lead to significant deviations from strict priority even when the costs of bankruptcy are negligible. This result is consistent with observed high levels of deviation from strict priority. Under conditions of pure risk with no uncertainty, the model predicts that a 'pre-packaged' bankruptcy plan incorporating deviations from strict priority will negotiated before any filing. Deviations from strict priority – and creditor losses – are seen to be highly sensitive to firm volatility and to the maximum protection period allowed by bankruptcy rules. Second, in the presence of bankruptcy costs, risk free (or martingale) pricing for claims on the bankrupt corporation is shown to be inappropriate since the requisite hedges cannot be formed. Third, the introduction of uncertainty produces conditions where pre-pack negotiations will fail and where periods of protection will be prolonged. Fourth, the model identifies a shareholder interest in postponing many opportunities for restructuring even where such reorganization raises the value of the firm. Longer allowable protection periods increase the significant deadweight costs arising from this mechanism. Finally, when applied to the pre-filing period, the model allows the timing for a filing to be treated as a choice variable for both the debtor and its creditors. The choice is shown to be crucially dependent on the likely results of any bankruptcy filing, and hence on the volatility and trend in firm value. The model identifies the essential interdependence of bankruptcy strategies of the debtor and its creditors which is typical of most bankruptcies.


Background: The production of recombinant proteins for therapeutic use represents a great impact on the biotechnology industry. In this context, established mammalian cell lines, especially CHO cells, have become a standard system for the production of such proteins. Their ability to properly configure and excrete proteins in functional form is an enormous advantage which should be contrasted with their inherent technological limitations. These cell systems exhibit a metabolic behaviour associated with elevated cell proliferation which involves a high consumption of glucose and glutamine, resulting in the rapid depletion of these nutrients in the medium and the accumulation of ammonium and lactate. Both phenomena contribute to the limitation of cell growth, the triggering of apoptotic processes and the loss of quality of the recombinant protein. Results: In this review, the use of alternative substrates and genetic modifications (host cell engineering) are analyzed as tools to overcome those limitations. In general, the results obtained are promising. However, metabolic and physiological phenomena involved in CHO cells are still barely understood. Thus, most of publications are focused on specific modifications rather than giving a systemic perspective. Conclusions: A deeper insight in the integrated understanding of metabolism and cell mechanisms is required in order to define complementary strategies at these two levels, so providing effective means to control nutrients consumption, reduce by-products and increase process productivity.


Preorganized ligands have proven to be important to inorganic chemistry, yielding higher
stability constants and sharper metal ion selectivity than their more flexible analogs. These
ligands may have important applications in the biomedical, environmental, and industrial fields,
to name a few. The ligand, 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylate (PDA), was chosen for
research and crystals of 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylic acid were synthesized and then
characterized by NMR and IR to determine their purity. Titration experiments were performed
on aqueous solutions of the metal and PDA. A competing ligand, EDTA, was also introduced to
the titration experiments and aided in the determination of formation constants, log K1, for metal
ions with PDA. UV/Vis spectrophotometry was used as a detection method for the formation of
metal-PDA complexes. The log K1 values for metal-PDA complexes were determined from UV
absorbance data as a function of pH. Formation constants for metal ions such as Ca(II), Cd(II),
Zn(II), Gd(III), and Pb(II) are reported, as well as the crystal structure of [Ca(PDA)(H2O)2].
153Gd(III)-radiolabeling experiments were also performed to indicate the stability of the Gd(III)-
PDA complex. Overall, these experiments were used to obtain an understanding of the metal ion
complexes of PDA.


BACKGROUND
One-third of patients who suffer from depression are resistant to conventional treatments. An acute course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can lead to remission of depressive symptoms in a substantial portion of the treatment-resistant patients. However, prevention of relapse with depressive symptoms after the index course of ECT can be challenging. We review pertinent studies on the topic and analyze the best strategies to avoid relapse and recurrence of depressive symptoms.

METHODS
We performed a systematic literature review of PubMed through April 2014 for clinical trials published in English to determine if continuation ECT (C-ECT), continuation medication, continuation psychotherapy, or combinations of these are the best strategy to avoid relapse and recurrence of depressive symptoms after an acute course of ECT. Clinical trials comparing ≥2 of the above strategies were included in the review.

RESULTS
Although there are few rigorous randomized clinical trials in this area, most studies suggest that combined C-ECT and continuation pharmacotherapy are the most effective strategy in relapse prevention.

CONCLUSIONS
C-ECT and continuation pharmacotherapy may be more effective than either alone for preventing relapse. However, more definitive randomized clinical trials are needed.


What makes a headmaster successful? And what does a successful headmaster do? This article presents some results from a research project – Successful school leadership in different school cultures – that aims to provide answers to these questions. The results derive from interviews, questionnaires, observations and pupils' essays, and comprise the criteria by which different parties involved in schools assess the success of headmasters. As with other research in this field, this article establishes that headmasters find themselves in tension fields that are constituted by the varied interests of the different parties involved in schools. These relationships are analysed with regard to three tension fields that affect Swedish schools today: between employer and employees; between pupils and adults; and between change and continuity. However, the work lives of headmasters isn't characterised by tensions only, but by alliances as well. Hence, headmasters' alliances with various other parties within the school are also analysed. These alliances are both a way of dealing with the tensions that headmasters meet on a daily basis, and a way of creating both success and a leadership based on the school culture. However, the general development trend that we find in Swedish schools, which lift the headmaster out of the school to become the last among superiors rather than the first among equals, constricts the latitude for more culture‐specific school leadership.


Gallbladder carcinosarcoma is a rare gastrointestinal tract malignant tumour, which contains both epithelial cancer component and mesenchymal sarcoma component. Because of its unique anatomic location and unspecific medical presentation, preoperative diagnosis is difficult. The prognosis of gallbladder carcinoma is poor with median survival time of 5.5 months. T- and N-staging system has no role in cancer prognostic stratification. Currently, we still have limited experience in managing this form of notorious cancer. Surgical resection is the common practice in treating gallbladder carcinoma though recurrence rate is high (80%). Here, we report a 59-year-old female with new diagnosed gallbladder carcinosarcoma. She was found to have a carcinosarcoma masse at gallbladder extending into proximal bile ducts with no metastatic lesion. She underwent a radical cholangiocholecystocholedochectomy and Roux-en-Y hepatocholangioduodenostomy. Postsurgery, she received six cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil. She maintains in complete remission 6 months after adjuvant chemotherapy.


»Energiediplomatie. Westdeutschland, die Sowjetunion und die Ölkrisen der 1970er Jahre«. This article analyzes West German energy policy and negotiations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Archival sources from the West German government show that long-term energy diplomacy became a carefully built link which guaranteed cooperation even during political crises, such as the one in 1980/81. This article argues that energy diplomacy catalyzed Brandt's Ostpolitik. In particular, natural gas pipelines implied mutual trust within a stable relationship, which led to further collaborations, including cooperation in nuclear power. It points out that, from this perspective, 1973 was not exactly a turning point, and some grandiose plans in the years after the first oil crisis failed. Furthermore the article shows how the second oil crisis in 1979 increased cooperation cooperation between West Germany and the Soviet Union, although this strained West Germany's relationship with the United States. Archival documents reveal that energy policy matters remained wellcalculated and persistent. Thus, the Soviet Union became a more reliable partner than many Arab countries.


Bacterial chromosomes, because of the much smaller size of prokaryotic cells, have traditionally been analyzed by genetic rather than cytological means. Indeed, Kohiyama et al. (p. 802) celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of bacterial conjugation (or "sex"), which has been the foundation of bacterial genetics; revealing, for example, that bacterial chromosomes are circular, rather than linear as in eukaryotes.

Contents

Reviews and Viewpoints

Bacterial Chromosome Dynamics

D. J. Sherratt

[Chromosome Choreography: The Meiotic Ballet][1]

S. L. Page and R. S. Hawley

Prokaryotic Chromosomes and Disease

J. Hacker et al.

Structual Dynamics of Eukaryotic Chromosome Evolution

E. E. Eichler and D. Sankoff

[Heterochromatin and Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression][2]

S. I. S. Grewal and D. Moazed

Bacterial Sex: Playing Voyeurs 50 Years Later

M. Kohiyama et al.

See also related material on [Science's STKE][3].

E ukaryotic chromosomes were first (unwittingly) observed over 100 years ago because of their highly dynamic nature during cell division. Understanding their sheer physicality—the spectacular events that result in the segregation of a complete set of chromosomes to two daughter cells—has been a major driving force in chromosome research ever since. The fact that they also happen to harbor the genome has added (among other elements) the dimension of evolutionary time to their study.

Nevertheless, bacteria, too, have a complex and dynamic chromosome segregation process that, like that of eukaryotes, must be able to cope with multiple chromosomes. But here the multiple chromosomes are all copies of the single circular genomic DNA, which continues to be replicated during the act of segregation (Sherratt, p. [780][4]). Despite these differences, many proteins guiding the dynamics of bacterial chromosomes (such as their replication, recombination, and repair) have evolutionarily related counterparts in eukaryotes.

Unlike bacterial sex, sex in eukaryotes—at least in terms of chromosome dynamics during meiosis, the specialized cell division required to generate germ cells—is of necessity a highly regimented affair. Ensuring the correct segregation of chromosomes to the daughter cells has required the evolution of a vastly complex segregation machinery that is only starting to yield up its secrets, as discussed by Page and Hawley (p. 785).

As well as being highly dynamic within the cell, the structure of the chromosomes and the genome has varied widely across evolutionary time, driven in part by the recombination intermediates often required for chromosome alignment during meiosis. This dynamism has had a profound effect on the course of evolution of both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Perhaps the greatest impact of the evolutionary variability of prokaryotic chromosomes on humans and human history has been through infectious disease (Hacker et al. , p. 790). Eukaryotic chromosomes have also seen tremendous flux over the course of evolution, with the malleability of the genome often being concentrated at "hotspots" at the centromeres, telomeres, and other repeated sequences but also including chromosome and entire genome duplications (Eichler and Sankoff, p. [793][5]).

But what of the constituents of chromosomes? In eukaryotes, histones are the principal protein components of chromatin. Although histones were once thought of as little more than inert packaging material, it is now clear that covalent histone modifications are crucial for the regulation of gene expression through the formation of refractile heterochromatin and permissive euchromatin (Grewal and Moazed, p. 798). Surprisingly, noncoding RNA is also involved in the formation of centromeric heterochromatin, which is essential for the chromosome segregation first seen over 100 years ago.

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1086605
 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1086887
 [3]: http://stke.sciencemag.org/
 [4]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1084780
 [5]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1086132


With increasing numbers of international students enrolling in universities in English speaking countries such as Australia, the question of the level of English language proficiency (ELP) necessary for academic success becomes critical. The main question for this study was the usefulness of IELTS and TOEFL (the two main measures of ELP used for selection to universities in Australia) respectively as predictors of readiness for the Australian academic context. However, earlier research suggests that ELP is only one of a number of factors impinging on academic success (Davies 1990; Criper and Davies, 1988). This study was, therefore, also concerned with additional factors which may influence academic progress, such as the effect of English language support. The research was carried out at the University of Melbourne. Data for the study included students' IELTS and/or TOEFL scores and Grade Point Average as well as questionnaire and interview data. The relationship between GPA and IELTS scores was found to be moderately strong whereas the correlation between achievement and TOEFL score was relatively weak. These results appear to be consistent with the results of previous studies. In the interview and questionnaire data students identified non-linguistic factors affecting their academic performance which may help to explain the weak correlations between ELP score and academic success.


This article reflects on some ethical dilemmas presented by an ethnographic study of prostitution that I conducted in the 1990s. The study drew one research subject into a long and very close relationship with me, and though she was an active and fully consenting participant in the research, she was also objectified within both the field relationship and the textual products it generated. This kind of contradiction has been recognized and discussed as a more general problem for ethnography by feminist and critical ethnographers. In this article it is considered specifically in relation to informed consent as an ethical issue. If an ethnographer secures the free and informed consent of a research subject, does this necessarily make the intimacy of their subsequent relationship ethical? Is it possible for anyone to genuinely consent to being objectified through the research process?