Plants are constantly under stress, this may negatively affect their development and growth. The effects of stress can be visible as the reduction in rate of growth, and not evident as changes in gene expression and cellular metabolism.
Many crops (especially cereals) are sensitive to salts during the development, retarding germination and plant development, and later affecting seed and/or biomass production.
In this work, the effects of abiotic stress, particularly salts stress, heavy metal stress, and pollution, have been investigated, respectively in barley (hordeum vulgare), in Bryophyta (Leptodictyum riparium, Conocephalum conicum, Leptodon smithii ), and in holm (Quercus ilex).
The Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) play a primary role in the response to stress, counteracting the toxic effects on proteins and enzymes, protecting them from misfolding and proteolytic pathways.
Western blotting analysis in roots of barley plant, grown in presence of 150 mM NaCl, showed that 6 h after the salt stress the levels of the HSP70 increased, and after 48-72 h the Hsp70 levels returned to the initial levels.
The salt stress, provokes damages to DNA structure and organisation, in fact in barley after 8 hours of salt stress "DNA laddering" was observed. This phenomenon can be ascribed to the increase of specific endonuclease activity, causing the formation of SNA oligonucleosomal fragments that differed less than 200 bp, typical of Programmed Cell Death (PCD).
Western blotting analysis of the effects of heavy metal stress on samples of Leptodictyum riparium and Conocephalum conicum, showed a time and dose dependent increase in the levels of Hsp70, while the effects of anthropic pollution on Leptodon smithii showed that Hsp70 levels increased in the samples collected in urban areas exposed to high levels of pollution.
The effects of salt-stress on the growth and protein pattern in the roots of two barley cultivars, Nure and Tidone, were investigated. Salt stress was induced with different salt concentration (50, 150 and 300 mM NaCl) in hydroponic cultures for different periods of time (8 and 12 hrs).
Root samples were analyzed by to two-dimensional SDS gel electrophoresis. Protein spots differing in abundance were identified, suggesting differences in response to salt stress in the two cultivars.
After 8 h of exposure to 300 mM NaCl, Nure showed noticeable changes in protein patterns with respect to Tidone. Therefore it seems that Nure can adapt to increased salt stress by selective changes in protein expression in the roots. Some of the protein spots involved in stress response by mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) have been identified, and among the protein up and down-regulated it has been identified BLT63, an elongation factor.
The down-regulation of this protein in Tidone and the up-regulation of this protein in Nure, during the salt stress, could explain the differences of growth between these two different cultivars.


Sexual attraction in psychotherapy is an under researched area of psychotherapeutic practice. Literature suggests that the direction of the work with sexual attraction is determined by the therapist's emotional reaction to it which can either halt or spur its exploration with the client and occasionally cause serious ethical misconduct such as sexual acting out and premature therapeutic termination.

Given the suggestion that our socio-cultural context is particularly prohibitive of the exploration of the male client's erotic feelings towards his female therapist, this study focused on female therapists, exploring the nature of their experience working with male clients who are sexually attracted to them and the extent to which they used the experience in their work.

The study used Hollway and Jefferson's (2008) hybrid method 'Free association narrative interview'. This involved multiple unstructured interviews with five female participants. Follow up interviews provided opportunities for building trust, consideration of non-conscious communication and permitted collaborative meaning-making with participants as co-researchers, considered particularly important given the 'taboo' status of the topic.

Each participant's data was initially analysed on its own merit after which data was compared across participants.

The results of the study included participants' emphasis on the uniqueness of working with each different client, the importance of confidentiality, trust and supervision in the work and the link between issues of sexual attraction and our identity. Participants' experience differed depending on whether they felt reciprocally towards their clients or not. On occasions when therapists were not attracted towards their clients, they expressed a sense of vulnerability, discomfort with power inequality and a sense of being at fault. Conversely, when therapists felt sexually attracted to their clients, they experienced a sense of the splitting of the roles of being a woman and a therapist, as well as the experience of love and mutuality in relation to clients.

In terms of the therapists' use of the experience in their work, the ability to do so was reported within both categories of responses, albeit it seemed that this was easier done in the context of a therapeutic relationship which was described as 'mutual and loving'.

The implications of these results are manifold. In practical terms, my research suggests a need for therapists to consider the safety of the location at which they work. In relation to therapy training, the findings suggest that working with sexual dynamics is not something which can be learnt and mastered but instead needs to be explored reflectively and reflexively. From the clinical point of view, this research suggests that sexual dynamics can be experienced as merging the gap between 'personal' and 'professional' parts of therapists' identity because of which the role of personal therapy and clinical supervision are highlighted as particularly important.

Finally, my study considered the impact of power inequality on the therapists' sense of authority from the clinical perspective as well as the context of wider societal dynamics and offered links with previously published research, suggesting future areas for research and clinical practice.


To maintain the accuracy of supervised learning models in the presence of evolving data streams, we provide temporallybiased sampling schemes that weight recent data most heavily, with inclusion probabilities for a given data item decaying exponentially over time. We then periodically retrain the models on the current sample. We provide and analyze both a simple sampling scheme (T-TBS) that probabilistically maintains a target sample size and a novel reservoirbased scheme (R-TBS) that is the first to provide both control over the decay rate and a guaranteed upper bound on the sample size. The R-TBS and T-TBS schemes are of independent interest, extending the known set of unequalprobability sampling schemes. We discuss distributed implementation strategies; experiments in Spark show that our approach can increase machine learning accuracy and robustness in the face of evolving data.


Britain has always had non-indigenous bilingual speakers of English (e.g. see Visram, 2002) Patterns of immigration have been tied to Britain's historical role as a colonialist power and to more general events in international politics. However, discussions about the language needs of these groups have been framed by strong opinions on national identity and the English language. The historical record clearly indicates that ESOL, like adult literacy and numeracy, has received uneven and often unhelpful attention from government. The lobbying of what Andrea Yeatman calls "policy activists" at key moments has been extremely important (Yeatman 1998). Analysing the role of different agencies and activists contributes to our understanding about how change can happen in a field of social policy in the UK, with or without the intervention of central governments. This article focuses on the factors affecting the development of ESOL as a field of policy and practice over the last 40 years. It sets the Skills for Life policy, which currently funds much ESOL provision, in a longer-term perspective and makes comparisons with the fields of adult literacy and numeracy with which ESOL is now closely linked. Rosenberg, (forthcoming) provides a detailed examination of the history of ESOL and we offer here a more general analysis, based on a research project Changing Faces that tracked adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL from the early 1970s through to the advent of Skills for Life. The research comprised oral history interviews with many of the main players as well as collecting documentary evidence of policy and practice (Hamilton and Hillier, 2006). This material is now archived for future access by researchers, policy makers and practitioners (see details at the end of this article on our website and on-line catalogue).


The study of the genetics of longevity has been mainly addressed by GWASs that considered subjects from different populations to reach higher statistical power. The "price to pay" is that population-specific evolutionary histories and trade-offs were neglected in the investigation of gene-environment interactions. We propose a new "diachronic" approach that considers processes occurred at both evolutionary and lifespan timescales. We focused on a well-characterized population in terms of evolutionary history (i.e. Italians) and we generated genome-wide data for 333 centenarians from the peninsula and 773 geographically-matched healthy individuals. Obtained results showed that: (i) centenarian genomes are enriched for an ancestral component likely shaped by pre-Neolithic migrations; (ii) centenarians born in Northern Italy unexpectedly clustered with controls from Central/Southern Italy suggesting that Neolithic and Bronze Age gene flow did not favor longevity in this population; (iii) local past adaptive events in response to pathogens and targeting arachidonic acid metabolism became favorable for longevity; (iv) lifelong changes in the frequency of several alleles revealed pleiotropy and trade-off mechanisms crucial for longevity. Therefore, we propose that demographic history and ancient/recent population dynamics need to be properly considered to identify genes involved in longevity, which can differ in different temporal/spatial settings.


Background/Aims: Two studies have reported on the superiority of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) compared with a histamine-2-receptor antagonist for the treatment of artificial ulcers after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), but the optimal dose of PPI remains to be defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of reducing the dose of PPI. The authors thus compared 30 mg (standard-dose) and 15 mg (half-dose) lansoprazole in terms of ulcer healing, prevention of bleeding and quality of life. Methods: 91 patients with gastric mucosal neoplasm were enrolled. All patients who underwent ESD were administered lansoprazole 30 mg daily during the first week, after which they were randomly assigned to either the standard-dose or half-dose group. Results: One patient in each group developed hematemesis. The stage of ulcers, ulcer reduction ratios and scores on the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale did not differ at 28 and 56 days. The costs of PPI for the half-dose group and standard-dose group were 7,326.5 and 11,698.4 JPY, respectively, i.e. a difference of 471.9 JPY. Conclusions: A reduced dose of PPI after 1 week of ESD was equivalent in treatment performance to the standard dose and cheaper.


Blackleg of canola (oilseed rape, Brassica napus) is caused by two closely related fungal species, Leptosphaeria maculans and L. biglobosa. In Australia, with a few rare exceptions, blackleg is caused by L. maculans, whereas in Europe and north America, both species coexist. This paper reviews factors influencing the distribution of L. maculans and L. biglobosa with particular emphasis on the role of dispersal on a world-wide and local scale. The pathogens can be spread to new areas by seed movement or by wind-dispersed ascospores from fruiting bodies on crop debris. Although many ascospores travel less than 1km from the source, their aerodynamic properties suggest that some may travel considerable distances. This may explain why the breakdown of host resistance based on major genes can be widespread. Slight differences occur between L. maculans and L. biglobosa in tissue colonisation, survival on crop debris and the timing of maturation and release of airborne ascospores. These subtle differences in biology explain how the pathogens occupy different niches on the same host and so can sometimes coexist, while large differences in their geographical distribution can also occur.


Augmented Reality (AR) devices continuously scan their environment in order to naturally overlay virtual objects onto user's view of the physical world. In contrast to Virtual Reality, where one's environment is fully replaced with a virtual one, one of AR's "killer features" is co-located collaboration, in which multiple users interact with the same combination of virtual and real objects. Microsoft recently released HoloLens, the first consumer-ready augmented reality headset that needs no outside markers to achieve precise inside-out spatial mapping, which allows centimeter-scale hologram positioning. However, despite many applications published on the Windows Mixed Reality platform that rely on direct communication between AR devices, there currently exists no implementation or achievable proposal for secure direct pairing of two unassociated headsets. As augmented reality gets into mainstream, this omission exposes current and future users to a range of avoidable attacks. In order to close this real-world gap in both theory and engineering practice, in this paper we design and evaluate HoloPair , a system for secure and usable pairing of two AR headsets. We propose a pairing protocol and build a working prototype to experimentally evaluate its security guarantees, usability, and system performance. By running a user study with a total of 22 participants, we show that the system achieves high rates of attack detection, short pairing times, and a high average usability score. Moreover, in order to make an immediate impact on the wider developer community, we have published the full implementation and source code of our prototype, which is currently under consideration to be included in the official HoloLens development toolkit. ACM Reference format: Anonymous Author(s). 2016. HoloPair : Securing Shared Aug-


'The Surrey Scholar' was commissioned by the University of Surrey for the historic town of Guildford to mark the millenium. The brief for the design was that 'it should be original, figurative, dynamic, contemporary in feel, and incorporate references to the Guildford Book Festival and the International Music Festival'. A number of sculptors were invited to submit drawings and maquettes for selection by committee. Work began in 2001, and the sculpture was unveiled by HRH The Duke of Kent KG on the 29th May 2002. Sly's design paid particular attention to the demands of the site, with its steep gradient, vehicle and pedestrian traffic, exposure to strong winds and potential for vandalism.

Sly was concerned to interpret the figure so that the viewer responded to the human qualities of its representation and suggested movement through gesture and balance. The larger than life figure enabled the viewer to engage with the subject from a distance and to become absorbed in its form and three-dimensional description when underneath it. The 11-foot high figure is balanced on one toe, and was modelled to full size in clay in the studio, on steelwork specifically devised by Sly to support the loading of the clay on a sculpture of this scale. The size, scale, weight and equilibrium of the sculpture presented the structural engineers with exacting problems in relation to the steep incline of the site.

Working alongside the engineers to resolve these problems, Sly tested the steel structures devised for the original model to see if this would carry the weight of the final bronze on the incline of the site. The solution devised in the studio to Sly's specification provided a sculpture-led solution to the engineering problems and achieved a new solution to the problems of siting the sculpture for the engineers.


Find Leicester Square massage parlor girls, 1 minute from Tube Station. Incalls and outcalls, roleplay, all services given, good reviews, real photos.


PURPOSE
Neuropathy is a common and potentially disabling complication of adjuvant taxane therapy. Recent studies have identified candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with taxane-induced neuropathy. Therefore, we sought to determine whether neuropathy was associated with breast cancer recurrence in a clinical trial population who received adjuvant taxane therapy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Trial E1199 included 4,554 eligible women with operable breast cancer who received up to four cycles of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide every 3 weeks followed by paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks for four cycles (P3), paclitaxel 80 mg/m(2) weekly for 12 cycles (P1), docetaxel 100 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks for four cycles (D3), or docetaxel 35 mg/m(2) weekly for 12 cycles (D1). A Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine the relationship between neuropathy and disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) by treating neuropathy status as a time dependent covariate and using a landmark analysis.

RESULTS
Of 4,554 patients who received at least one taxane dose, grade 2 to 4 neuropathy developed in 18%, 22%, 15%, and 13% of patients in the P3, P1, D3, and D1 arms, respectively. In a model that included age, race, obesity, menopausal status, tumor size, nodal status, treatment arm, neuropathy, and hyperglycemia, no significant relationship was found between neuropathy and DFS, OS, or RFS.

CONCLUSION
There was no association between taxane-induced neuropathy and outcome.


Recent composition research has demonstrated that metacognition plays an important role in student success and working through challenges at times of consequential transitions. This study examines students' uptake of metacognitive practices and learning concepts while enrolled in a linguistically and culturally diverse writing course located at the transition into university life. This study investigates the immediate and long-term value of a writing course, Writing Ready, that inhabits what composition scholars have defined as a third space, or locations outside of traditional classrooms where writing knowledge is exchanged, and provides a framework to identify and measure metacognition in students' written and spoken narratives. My research investigates how this early fall start bridge writing course—by explicitly teaching metacognitive strategies and learning concepts through writing and by supporting students in developing confidence, selfefficacy, and reflective strategies—is remembered by students over their first year and how this pedagogical memory aides them in writing knowledge transfer. Through a study design based in grounded theory, I draw on focus group data from both students and instructors as well as student writing and interview data to show how this third space course, which explicitly teaches learning concepts and metacognition, enables students to activate their writing knowledge in a variety of contexts. Understanding the complex nature of metacognition enables writing instructors to facilitate the development of students' reflective practice, understanding of writing assessment, and confidence in their writing abilities. Expanding the focus of composition research beyond the traditional writing classroom into the interstitial space between high school and college provides insight into how students' prior writing knowledge can be transformed into pedagogical memories that persist over time. Developing a positive academic disposition is especially important for students who feel underprepared for college writing, namely immigrant and international multilingual students, students of color, and first-generation college students.


The cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p27 is degraded at the G0-G1 transition of the cell cycle by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in a Skp2-independent manner. We recently identified a novel ubiquitin ligase, KPC (Kip1 ubiquitylation-promoting complex), consisting of KPC1 and KPC2, which regulates the ubiquitin-dependent degradation of p27 at G1 phase. We have now investigated the structural requirements for the interactions of KPC1 with KPC2 and p27. The NH2-terminal region of KPC1 was found to be responsible for binding to KPC2 and to p27. KPC1 mutants that lack this region failed to mediate polyubiquitylation of p27 in vitro and expression of one such mutant delayed p27 degradation in vivo. We also generated a series of deletion mutants of p27 and found that KPC failed to polyubiquitylate a p27 mutant that lacks the CDK inhibitory domain. Interestingly, the cyclin E·CDK2 complex prevented both the interaction of KPC with p27 as well as KPC-mediated polyubiquitylation of p27. A complex of cyclin E with a kinase-negative mutant of CDK2 also exhibited these inhibitory effects, suggesting that cyclin E·CDK2 competes with KPC1 for access to the CDK inhibitory domain of p27. These results suggest that free p27 is recognized by the NH2-terminal region of KPC1, which also associates with KPC2, and that p27 is then polyubiquitylated by the COOH-terminal RING-finger domain of KPC1.


The purpose of this document is to describe methodology specific to
the benchmarking of multicast IP forwarding devices. It builds upon
the tenets set forth in RFC 2544, RFC 2432 and other IETF Benchmarking
Methodology Working Group (BMWG) efforts. This document seeks to
extend these efforts to the multicast paradigm. The BMWG produces two
major classes of documents: Benchmarking Terminology documents and
Benchmarking Methodology documents. The Terminology documents present
the benchmarks and other related terms. The Methodology documents
define the procedures required to collect the benchmarks cited in the
corresponding Terminology documents. This memo provides information
for the Internet community.


Internal repetition within proteins has been a successful strategem on multiple separate occasions throughout evolution. Such protein repeats possess regular secondary structures and form multirepeat assemblies in three dimensions of diverse sizes and functions. In general, however, internal repetition affords a protein enhanced evolutionary prospects due to an enlargement of its available binding surface area. Constraints on sequence conservation appear to be relatively lax, due to binding functions ensuing from multiple, rather than, single repeats. Considerable sequence divergence as well as the short lengths of sequence repeats mean that repeat detection can be a particularly arduous task. We also consider the conundrum of how multiple repeats, which show strong structural and functional interdependencies, ever evolved from a single repeat ancestor. In this review, we illustrate each of these points by referring to six prolific repeat types (repeats in beta-propellers and beta-trefoils and tetratricopeptide, ankyrin, armadillo/HEAT, and leucine-rich repeats) and in other less-prolific but nonetheless interesting repeats.


Wet leasing is widely used in the airline industry, particularly in Europe. For many years the only approvals required for such an arrangement were in relation to safety compliance. The authors highlight an important new development by which merger control has been applied to certain wet leasing arrangements. There have been two instances where competition authorities have investigated wet lease agreements under merger control rules. The first was the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office in relation to Lufthansa/Air Berlin, and more recently the UK Competition and Markets Authority in relation to Aer Lingus/CityJet. In each case the question arose whether the broad commercial context of the wet lease meant that the lessee was somehow taking over the market position of the lessor. The authors outline the reasoning of the authorities and explore the implications for wet leasing and competition law compliance moving forward.


Finite fields, and the polynomial rings over them, have many neat algebraic properties and identities that are very convenient to work with. In this paper we will start by exploring said properties with the goal in mind of being able to use said properties to efficiently irreducibly factorize polynomials over these fields, an important action in the fields of discrete mathematics and computer science. Necessarily, we must also introduce the concept of an algorithm's speed as well as particularly speeds of basic modular and integral arithmetic operations. Outlining these concepts will have laid the groundwork for us to introduce the Berlekamp algorithm, as well as the Cantor-Zassenhaus algorithm: two different approaches to the problem of factoring polynomials over finite fields, both in the algebraic properties the utilize as well as how the algorithms actually operate. This will lead us to a much harder problem, factoring polynomials over the integers. We will explain and prove how an elegant solution to this problem is directly related to finding the shortest vector in a lattice which also happens to use factoring over finite fields as a starting point. To conclude, we will give an efficient algorithm for factoring polynomials over the integers that circumvents the shortest vector requirement via an approximate solution, the LLL lattice basis reduction algorithm.


Abstract A quantitative analysis of the amount, size and number of particles that precipitate in situ in titanium- and aluminium-treated Hadfield steel cast during pilot-scale experiments has been performed. SEM with EDS and automated particle analysis abilities was utilized for the analysis. Additionally, Thermo-Calc was used for thermodynamic calculations and Magma 5 for solidification and cooling simulations. Predicted particles sizes calculated with a model based on the Ostwald ripening mechanism were compared with the experimental data. The effect of solute availability, cooling rate and deoxidation practice on the particle population characteristics was determined. It was concluded that the amount, size and number of precipitating particles in Hadfield steel castings is possible to be controlled according to certain requirements by a careful selection of proper additives in proper amounts and also by the optimization of the casting process in aspects of deoxidation timing and control of the cooling rate of the castings.


The United States patent system was born during the Industrial Age — at a time where the focus was on promoting innovation in machines, and tangible means of changing the world. With the dawn of the Information Age, innovation is increasingly intangible. The industrial age laws, as currently interpreted, are not well-suited for the changing and evolving technological world. Information age innovators face challenges at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, through the judicial system and at the United States International Trade Commission. It is time for a change in the system to reflect the realities of modern technology. Adequate protection is not currently provided for intangible innovations. This lack of protection has wide-ranging implications, especially now as data processing is increasingly migrating to "the cloud,�? geographic boundaries are eroding, and intangible technology is advancing in importance. The industrial age laws can incentivize innovation in the information age — and it is time to recognize this before private ordering subsumes the public interest.


Hailstorms occur frequently in metropolitan Syd-ney, in the eastern Australian State of New South Wales, which is especially vulnerable due to its building exposure and geographical location. Hailstorms challenge disaster response agencies and pose a great risk for insurance companies. This study focuses on the Sydney hailstorm of 14 April 1999 – Australia's most expensive insured natural disaster, with supporting information from two other storms. Comparisons are drawn between observed hailstone sizes, radar-derived reflectivity and damage data in the form of insurance claims and emergency calls. The " emergency response intensity " (defined by the number of emergency calls as a proportion of the total number of dwellings in a Census Collection District) is a useful new measure of the storm intensity or severity experienced. The area defined by a radar reflectivity ≥55 dBZ appears to be a good approximation of the damage swath on ground. A preferred area for hail damage is located to the left side of storm paths and corresponds well with larger hailstone sizes. Merging hail cells appear to cause a substantially higher emergency response intensity, which also corresponds well to maximum hailstone sizes. A damage threshold could be identified for hailstone sizes around 2.5 cm (1 cm), based on the emergency response intensity (insurance claims). Emergency response intensity and claims costs both correlate positively with hailstone sizes. Higher claim costs also occurred in areas that experienced higher emergency response intensities .


Room-temperature photoreflectance spectroscopy is performed on a series of GaN-AlGaN quantum wells grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We show that the potentialities of this powerful investigation method previously demonstrated on many low-dimensional systems can be extended to nitride-based quantum wells for accurate large-scale characterisation. In particular, this technique allows us to get rid of optical interferences that usually prevent the observation of free-exciton transitions below the band-gap of GaN. Such transitions occur in wide quantum wells, due to large built-in electric fields which also quench the oscillator strength of the transitions. Also, this technique allows us to magnify the features of confined excited states, which are difficult to observe by standard reflectance.


We used in vivo 31P-NMR to examine biochemical events during development in
embryos of southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma. Adult southern flounder
broodstock held under an artificial photothermal regime simulating natural seasonal
changes spawned volitionally or following hormone induction by LHRH-a. Buoyant
eggs were collected and incubated in 34-ppt seawater at 16o C, and their fertilization rate
was monitored. Eggs of a prescribed developmental stage were transferred from the
incubator to aerated seawater in a 5-mm NMR tube, and spectra were collected
immediately. 31P-NMR peaks were observed for inorganic phosphate (Pi), the a, s, and
?-phosphates of ATP, NAD(P)H, phosphocreatine (PCr), sugar phosphates, and the
phospholipids: phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylinositol (PI), and
phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Levels of PC, PI, and a, s, and ?-phosphates of ATP,
remained at relatively constant levels in unfertilized eggs over time. However, in eggs
that were fertilized, there was a significant increase in PE as they developed, which was
not observed in unfertilized eggs. Using the chemical shift of the Pi peak, intracellular
pH (pHi) was determined. In fertilized floating eggs the pHi decreased from 7.1 (15 h
post-spawn) to 6.2 (24 h post-spawn) and then increased to 6.8 (48 h-post-spawn). ATP
showed an inverse relationship with pH, starting to decline when pH reached its
minimum value. This suggested that ATP was used to stabilize embryonic pH through
active transport of nitrogenous waste, such as ammonia, outside of the developing
embryo. By the pre-hatching embryo stage, the ATP phosphates, PCr, and NAD(P)H levels declined to undetectable levels, indicating an embryonic requirement for these
compounds.
Fatty acid profiles during development in embryos were also examined using
HPLC. Lipid and fatty acid composition were compared between embryos (blastula
stage) of high quality (fertilization rate = 91.5%, survival to first feeding = 39.0%) and
low quality (fertilization rate = 39.0%, survival to first feeding = 13.1%). The most
abundant fatty acids (proportion of total fatty acids) included, 16:0 (palmitic acid,
21.5%), 18:1 n-9 (oleic acid, 17.5%), and 22:6 n-3 (docosahexanoic acid, DHA, 26.1%).
There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) between low and high quality embryos
in total lipids (4.4% wet wt), DHA (26.7%), EPA (3.3%) and ARA (1.9%) and
DHA/EPA ratio (8.3). There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in total lipid and
fatty acid profiles in high quality eggs at the blastula, gastrula, early embryo, and late
embryo stages.
In summary, southern flounder eggs that were viable were characterized by an
increase in PE during development and decreasing levels of ATP, PCr, and NADP(H).
The increase in PE is possibly a way to conserve DHA important to neuro-visual tissue
development. Southern flounder eggs contained high levels of polyunsaturated fatty
acids, mainly DHA. High levels of the saturate, palmitic acid, as well as the
monounsaturate, oleic acid were also present. Fatty acid profiles were not correlated with
egg quality. Lack of significant decreases in phospholipids and fatty acids during
embryogenesis suggested that other components (e.g. glycogen and free amino acids)
accounted for embryonic energy needs. We hypothesize that in southern flounder, lipid
is conserved for utilization after hatching, and that catabolic substrate consumption in embryos starts with glycogen, followed by free amino acids, and then lipid after hatching.
We further hypothesize that this pattern may be characteristic of subtemperate marine
fish eggs with an oil globule.


The Performance Engineering Institute (PERI) originally proposed a tiger team activity as a mechanism to target significant effort optimizing key Office of Science applications, a model that was successfully realized with the assistance of two JOULE metric teams. However, the Office of Science requested a new focus beginning in 2008: assistance in forming its ten year facilities plan. To meet this request, PERI formed the Architecture Tiger Team, which is modeling the performance of key science applications on future architectures, with S3D, FLASH and GTC chosen as the first application targets. In this activity, we have measured the performance of these applications on current systems in order to understand their baseline performance and to ensure that our modeling activity focuses on the right versions and inputs of the applications. We have applied a variety of modeling techniques to anticipate the performance of these applications on a range of anticipated systems. While our initial findings predict that Office of Science applications will continue to perform well on future machines from major hardware vendors, we have also encountered several areas in which we must extend our modeling techniques in order to fulfill our mission accurately and completely. In addition, we anticipate that models of a wider range of applications will reveal critical differences between expected future systems, thus providing guidance for future Office of Science procurement decisions, and will enable DOE applications to exploit machines in future facilities fully.


Training robust deep video representations has proven to be much more challenging than learning deep image representations. This is in part due to the enormous size of raw video streams and the high temporal redundancy; the true and interesting signal is often drowned in too much irrelevant data. Motivated by that the superfluous information can be reduced by up to two orders of magnitude by video compression (using H.264, HEVC, etc.), we propose to train a deep network directly on the compressed video. This representation has a higher information density, and we found the training to be easier. In addition, the signals in a compressed video provide free, albeit noisy, motion information. We propose novel techniques to use them effectively. Our approach is about 4.6 times faster than Res3D and 2.7 times faster than ResNet-152. On the task of action recognition, our approach outperforms all the other methods on the UCF-101, HMDB-51, and Charades dataset.


The festive meal texts of Deuteronomy 12–26 depict Israel as a unified people participating in cultic banquets – a powerful and earthy image for both preexilic Judahite and later audiences. Comparison of Deuteronomy 12:13–27, 14:22–29, 16:1–17, and 26:1–15 with pentateuchal texts like Exodus 20–23 is broadened to highlight the rhetorical potential of the Deuteronomic meal texts in relation to the religious and political circumstances in Israel during the Neo-Assyrian and later periods. The texts employ the concrete and rich image of festive banquets, which the monograph investigates in relation to comparative ancient Near Eastern texts and iconography, the zooarchaeological remains of the ancient Levant, and the findings of cultural anthropology with regard to meals.


The main focus of the research is on the concept of territorial competitiveness (TC). In TC literature, territory is assumed either as a set of locations that can be sold in a sort of market or as a set of assets that can influence firms' competitiveness. In both case, TC concept cannot be addressed without an explicit theorisation of the economic importance of territory. The aim of this thesis, on a theoretical level, is to use autopoietic system theory as a framework for conceptualising the territory-economy linkage introducing the concept of Territorial Productive Systems (TPS). TPS can be defined as a set of components (mainly firms, but also public administration, research centres, universities, employers' and employees' associations, training centres etc.) systemically linked by relationships founded on territorial proximity, that is both organisational and physical proximity. What makes the TPS different from other geographical and economic objects - like industrial districts, clusters, mere agglomerations - is its explicit systemic construction, focusing on the differentiation between organisation (the basic set of processes that define the distinctiveness of a given TPS) and structure (the set of contingent characters). In the second part of the dissertation, the TPS is applied to analyse Turin's economic and productive transformation. Though traditionally identified as one of the main cases for Fordist organisation in Europe, Turin has always escaped the traditional features of the one-company-town. Grounding on literature review, previous studies, and a survey of about 400 face-to-face interviews we will try to describe how Fiat's supply-chain has been changing over the last decades, setting local sub-systems free to follow new development and learning patterns. In particular, we will be claiming that the existence of continuity over time does not imply the existence of a unique development path and a reification of the territory, but rather the fact that continuity can cope with variety and change in an evolutionary perspective.


Workflow computations have become a major programming paradigm for scientific applications. However, acquiring enough computational resources to execute a workflow poses a challenge in a batch queue controlled resource due to the space-sharing nature of the resource management policy. This paper introduces a scheduling technique that aggregates a workflow application into several subcomponents. It then uses the batch queue to acquire resources for each subcomponent, overlapping resource provisioning overhead (wait time) of one with the execution of others. We implemented a prototype of this technique and tested it using five high performance computing centers job submission logs. The results show that our approach can eliminate as much as 70% of the wait time over more traditional techniques that request resources for individual workflow nodes or that acquire all the resources for the whole workflow at once.


While dentistry remains firstly a health profession, it is naive and unrealistic not to realise that business considerations and financial compensation for services rendered play an important role in achieving a successful private practice. A fundamental principle of professional ethics in healthcare is that serving a patient's best interests should always take precedence over any consideration of profit or personal gain. George Merck, the founder of Merck Pharmaceuticals said "Medicine is for the patient, not for the profits. The profits follow...". the same can be said for dentistry. However, since dentists are in a position to gain financially from their professional recommendations, there is a risk of their having a conflict of interest, whether actual or perceived.


Most animals live in seasonal environments and experience very different conditions throughout the year. Behavioral strategies like migration, hibernation, and a life cycle adapted to the local seasonality help to cope with fluctuations in environmental conditions. Thus, how an individual utilizes the environment depends both on the current availability of habitat and the behavioral prerequisites of the individual at that time. While the increasing availability and richness of animal movement data has facilitated the development of algorithms that classify behavior by movement geometry, changes in the environmental correlates of animal movement have so far not been exploited for a behavioral annotation. Here, we suggest a method that uses these changes in individual–environment associations to divide animal location data into segments of higher ecological coherence, which we term niche segmentation. We use time series of random forest models to evaluate the transferability of habitat use over time to cluster observational data accordingly. We show that our method is able to identify relevant changes in habitat use corresponding to both changes in the availability of habitat and how it was used using simulated data, and apply our method to a tracking data set of common teal (Anas crecca). The niche segmentation proved to be robust, and segmented habitat suitability outperformed models neglecting the temporal dynamics of habitat use. Overall, we show that it is possible to classify animal trajectories based on changes of habitat use similar to geometric segmentation algorithms. We conclude that such an environmentally informed classification of animal trajectories can provide new insights into an individuals' behavior and enables us to make sensible predictions of how suitable areas might be connected by movement in space and time.


An exceptionally dramatic life of Joan of Arc and her previously unchronicled mentor, Yolande of Aragon. How did an illiterate seventeen-year-old peasant girl manage to become one of histories most salient females? It is almost 600 years since Joan of Arc heard the voices of angels that would change her life for ever: in a breathtaking story her quest saved France from English domination and restored France's hereditary monarchy. Just thirteen when her life was turned upside down, Joan's holy guidance led her on an arduous eleven-day journey into the unknown, restoring the Dauphin back to his original birthright in an official coronation, allowing him to resume his rule as France's legitimate king. Joan summoned and led an impressive army of French loyalists against the English; the siege at Orleans was an exhilarating English defeat that liberated the city. The following year witnessed Joan's capture by the enemy. After a series of heroic endeavours to escape cruel adversaries, she was subjected to trial by inquisition and then in Rouen, the heart of France, Joan's courageous journey came to a heartbreaking conclusion. This is the story at the core of centuries of myth-making. But what if we no longer accept this tale? What if we question whether the Heavens and their angels were truly Joan's only source of strength and power? What if we demand a different narrative? This revisionist biography unearths the secular and verifiable basis for Joan's heroic exploits: Yolande of Aragon, a forgotten mentor. This is a story of not one life, but two; two lives that together were intertwined in the restoration of France's greatness.


This thesis investigates the impact of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code on the management of occupational health and safety in the global maritime industry. The Code - which introduced regulated self-regulation to the industry in 1998 - is seen as a major instrument to safeguard seafarers from workplace hazards and a mechanism to counter the consequence of economic globalisation on the regulation in the maritime industry. However, its effectiveness has been widely debated. A case study approach is used in this study to examine the operation of the Code in two shipping organisations involving ethnographic fieldwork onboard ships and at company offices using semi-structured interview, observation and documentary analysis as the research techniques. The study specifically looked into the factors that influenced the perceptions of the managers and seafarers on the operation of three central elements of the ISM Code: risk assessment, incident reporting and audit and review. My findings showed significant differences in the experiences of operation of the Code of the managers and seafarers in the organisations studied and revealed that although the two organisations implemented the ISM Code in theory there was a considerable gap between its purpose and what it achieved in practice. Significantly it indicated that seafarers' fear of job security, low-trust work environment and lack of organisational support were some of the main impeding factors for seafarers' participation in the management of occupational health and safety. Further analysis revealed that the organisational context and the employment relations affecting seafarers, as well as their social relations onboard ships and between the managers and seafarers in the companies studied were not conducive to a participatory style of management of occupational health and safety. The thesis argues that to be effective self-regulation of occupational health and safety management - such as envisaged by the ISM Code - requires a participatory approach. However, the thesis demonstrates that the preconditions that have been shown to be necessary to achieve this in land-based workplaces are much reduced or absent from the maritime situation which undermines the potential for the effective operation of the ISM Code.


Travis Hirschi's control or social bonding theory argues that those persons who have strong and abiding attachments to conventional society (in the form of attachments, involvement, investment, and belief) are less likely to deviate than persons who have weak or shallow bonds. Later, Gottfredson and Hirschi moved away from the social bond as the primary factor in deviance, and toward an emphasis on self-control. In short, low self-control is associated with higher levels of deviance and criminality irrespective of the strength or weakness of one's social bonds. In this article I argue that Talcott Parsons' AGIL schema easily incorporates Hirschi's social bond into its broader analytical framework. Furthermore, from within the logical framework of Parsons' system, Hirschi's move from an emphasis on social bonds to an emphasis on self-control is wholly compatible with, and even anticipated by, the AGIL schema. The article illustrates, and argues for, the continuing importance of theoretical subsumption in sociology and criminology. Lastly, a set of testable hypotheses is generated based upon this theoretical reformulation.


Becker''s theory of human capital predicts that minimum wages should reduce training investments for affected workers because they prevent these workers from taking wage cuts necessary to finance training. In contrast, in noncompetitive labor markets, minimum wages tend to increase training of affected workers because they induce firms to train their unskilled employees. We provide new estimates on the impact of the state and federal increases in the minimum wage in the US between 1987 and 1992 on the training of low-wage workers. We find no evidence that minimum wages reduce training, and little evidence that they tend to increase training. We therefore develop a hybrid model where minimum wages reduce the training investments of workers who were taking wage cuts to finance their training, while increasing the training of other workers. Finally, we provide some evidence consistent with this hybrid model.


This paper reports the results of a pre-test in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, of four methods designed to assess the level and nature of participation by local people in forest management quickly and easily. Two of the methods the "Iterative Continuum Method" (ICM) and the participatory card sorting method were deemed helpful. One method, the communication network analysis, was discarded in its current form. The final method, the researcher guide on the functions of participation, was felt in need of revision. Although the hypothesised firnctions of participation are not wrong, in our opinion, they reflect a way of looking at forest management which, we concluded, needs rethinking.In our discussion of the change needed we make use of Jordan's concept of "authoritative knowledge" and "social" or "cultural capital" (Berkes and Folke 1994; Ostrom 1994).We also suggest substituting "rights and obligations to manage the forest co-operatively " for "participation"in places like Danau Sentarum Wildlife Reserve (DSWR), where sustainable forest management is being assessed. Finally we conclude that, given the dynamism and complexity that characterise natural forests and their inhabitants, co-operation among all stakeholders in an ongoing dialogue is probably the only way that sustainable forest management can in fact occur.We urge researchers to continue the search for simple, inexpensive and reliable tools for assessing the issue we have called "participation in forest management."


In this paper, we propose a research model of the continuance of usage intention of a social networking site (Facebook) based on the theory of planned behavior and taking into account users' gender and their perceived shyness degree. Our findings suggest that for men and women alike, the continuance of usage intention is determined by the attitude and the perceived behavioral control (PBC). Both hedonic and utilitarian outcomes are important to shape the users' attitude towards Facebook. While non-shy people (male and female) behave exactly the same and are only led by attitude to decide to continue using Facebook, for shy people, the gender effect seems to be significant in shaping the attitude towards the SNS and in determining the role of PBC: for shy men, the decision to continue using Facebook is only affected by PBC whereas for shy women both attitude and PBC are important. For all the categories of users considered, social influence does not play any significant role.


Oil & Gas pressure components found on power plants and refineries must be inspected on a regular basis to ensure fitness-for-service. Corrosion is one of the most critical and recurrent degradation that must be inspected under API-579 code. Various non-destructive methods have been used to measure corrosion. A contact method is always problematic due to the deteriorated external surface. Encoding a scan is also a challenge, requiring mechanical scanners or fixture to fit the specific component geometry for referencing the defect position. 3D laser scanning is emerging as an efficient alternative for accurate surface degradation and offers the versatility needed to inspect various geometries with a same system. The analysis is performed using post-treatment software to generate all required measurements for assessment. This paper describes how metal loss can be measured from a 3D laser mesh file compared to a reference surface. Case study of a corroded spherical pressure vessel will be discussed.


For the past thirty years, the National School Lunch Act (Act) has attempted to advance two objectives; the preservation of the health and well-being of the nation's youth and the encouragement of domestic consumption of agriculture commodities. The Act provides for aid to state educational agencies that elect to participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The national standard for eligibility for free lunches is governed by 42 U.S.C. 1758. It is unclear whether the language of section 1758 which states "[l]unches served by schools participating in the school-lunch program," applies to individual participating schools or entire school districts with at least one participating school. Additionally, the denial of free lunch to a student based on the school he attends has also been challenged as an arbitrary classification of students in violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. The Act's general mandate that every eligible child shall receive a free lunch can only be effectuated by an amendment to the statute by Congress, because it is doubtful that a constitutional attack would be successful.


The closed greenhouse is an innovative concept in sustainable energy management. The closed greenhouse can be considered as a large commercial solar building. In principle, it is designed to maximize the utilization of solar energy through seasonal storage. In a fully closed greenhouse, there are not any ventilation windows. Therefore, the excess sensible and latent heat must be removed, and can be stored using seasonal and/or daily thermal storage technology. The available stored excess heat can be utilized later in order to satisfy the heating demand in the greenhouse, and also in neighbouring buildings. A model for energy analysis of a greenhouse has been developed using the commercial software TRNSYS. With this model, the performance of various design scenarios has been examined. The closed greenhouse is compared with a conventional greenhouse using a case study to guide the energy analysis. In the semi-closed greenhouse, a large part of the available excess heat will be stored through thermal energy storage system (TES). However, a ventilation system can still be integrated in order to use fresh air as a rapid response indoor climate control system. The partly closed greenhouse consists of a fully closed section and a conventional section. The fully closed section will supply the heating and cooling demand of the conventional section as well as its own demand. The results show that there is a large difference in heating demand between the ideal closed and conventional greenhouse configurations. Also, it can be concluded that the greenhouse glazing type (single or double glass) and, in the case of the semi-closed and partly closed greenhouse, the controlled ventilation ratio are important for the thermal energy performance of the system. A thermo-economic analysis has been done in order to investigate the cost feasibility of various closed greenhouse configurations. From this analysis, it was found that the load chosen for the design of the seasonal storage has the main impact on the payback period. In the case of the base load being chosen as the design load, the payback period for the ideal closed greenhouse might be reduced by 50% as compared to using peak load. Thus, future studies should explore innovative combinations of short term and seasonal storage. Finally, several energy management scenarios have been discussed in order to find alternatives for improving the energy performance of the closed greenhouses. However, no specific optimal solution has so far been defined.


The O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation status is a predictive parameter for the response of malignant gliomas to alkylating agents such as temozolomide. First clinical trials with temozolomide plus bevacizumab therapy in metastatic melanoma patients are ongoing, although the predictive value of the MGMT promoter methylation status in this setting remains unclear. We assessed MGMT promoter methylation in formalin-fixed, primary tumor tissue of metastatic melanoma patients treated with first-line temozolomide and bevacizumab from the trial SAKK 50/07 by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. In addition, the MGMT expression levels were also analyzed by MGMT immunohistochemistry. Eleven of 42 primary melanomas (26%) revealed a methylated MGMT promoter. Promoter methylation was significantly associated with response rates CR + PR versus SD + PD according to RECIST (response evaluation criteria in solid tumors) (p<0.05) with a trend to prolonged median progression-free survival (8.1 versus 3.4 months, p>0.05). Immunohistochemically different protein expression patterns with heterogeneous and homogeneous nuclear MGMT expression were identified. Negative MGMT expression levels were associated with overall disease stabilization CR+PR+SD versus PD (p=0.05). There was only a poor correlation between MGMT methylation and lack of MGMT expression. A significant proportion of melanomas have a methylated MGMT promoter. The MGMT promoter methylation status may be a promising predictive marker for temozolomide therapy in metastatic melanoma patients. Larger sample sizes may help to validate significant differences in survival type endpoints.


In this study, a dynamically recursive general equilibrium model of Morocco is used to examine alternative trade and domestic policy scenarios involving the implementation of the EU Association Agreement for the period 1998-2012. The model has a detailed treatment of the agricultural and rural economy in Morocco. The results for the trade liberalization scenarios indicate that tariff unification has small aggregate effects whereas the removal of non-tariff barriers has strong positive aggregate effects: factor incomes and household welfare expand considerably more rapidly than for the base. However, trade liberalization disfavors the rural poor, especially in rainfed areas. We simulate the introduction of complementary domestic policies with a non-distorting transfer program that fully compensates the owners of rainfed resources and skill upgrading for the rural labor force. The results indicate that, if combined with at least one of these complementary domestic policies, trade liberalization can lead to a win-win outcome: the welfare of all household groups increases significantly more rapidly than if status-quo policies are followed.


Divorce in socially monogamous species can result from different mechanisms, for example, chance events, active desertion of the partner, or the intrusion of a third individual ousting the partner. We compared the predictions associated with such mechanisms with data from common guillemots (Uria aalge) breeding on the Isle of May, Scotland. The data cover the years 1982--2005 and show a yearly divorce rate of 10.2%. In most divorces (86%), one of the original partners moved to another breeding site, whereas the other bird stayed and bred with a new partner. On average, movers had a significantly lower breeding success after divorce, stayers were largely unaffected, whereas the incoming birds benefited significantly from the change. This pattern fits best the predictions of the "forced-divorce" hypothesis, suggesting that many divorces were caused by incoming birds rather than the original partners or chance events. Although we are unable to document the precise behavioral sequence that led to divorces, our interpretation is supported by observations of frequent fights over breeding-site ownership. Our data also indicate within-population diversity of divorce mechanisms: some divorces were apparently accidental, others desertion of partners and sites if the latter were of low quality. Our study finally illustrates that a negative correlation between breeding success and probability of divorce (which our data show) need not indicate the adaptiveness of divorce for the original partners. Because such a connection has often been made, adaptive divorce may in general be less common than usually assumed. Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press.


Metallic taints elicited when consuming food can be unpleasant for the consumer, and are therefore problematic to food manufacturers. Although metallic has been proposed as a taste in the past, evidence remains inconclusive. This study investigates the oral and nasal contributions to metallic perception using sensory evaluation and headspace analysis using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). When sniffing the headspace over divalent salt solutions some were discriminated from water. GC-MS did not detect volatiles in the sample headspace, one hypothesis being that sample volatiles react with phospholipids in the nasal cavity and it is lipid oxidation products which are perceived. Copper sulphate was reported as metallic when tasted with the nose occluded to eliminate retronasal perception, suggesting a gustatory or trigeminal mechanism may be involved. This work indicates orthonasal stimulation is involved in metallic perception, and contributes to the ongoing debate over metallic being a taste, trigeminal or flavour response.


A 2-year field experiment was conducted on a high country brown stony soil in the Lees Valley, North Canterbury. Two forms of lime ('AgLime' and 'Quicklime') were applied at 4 rates (0, 2, 4 and 8 t/ ha) and plots sown with 'Grasslands Kaituna' lucerne. Soil pH was strongly (R2=0.73) related to exchangeable aluminium (Al), with a sharp rise in plant-available Al levels below a pH of 5.8. Soil pH changes of 0.15 units/t lime applied in the 0-7.5 cm horizon, and lower, variable, pH changes in the 7.5-15 and 15-30 cm horizons were achieved. Soil exchangeable Al dropped to low levels (< 0.3 me/100g) at all liming rates in the 0-7.5 cm soil horizon, and had a moderate to low effect in deeper soil horizons. Increases in soil exchangeable Al below soil pH 5.8 were linear, increasing at 0.2 me Al/100g per 0.1 pH unit decrease in soil pH. Effects of lime form were unclear. Lucerne yields were often low, in the order of 700-1 200 kg DM/ha, and were not influenced by lime rates or soil exchangeable Al. Other, soil and climate variables are discussed in relation to current DM yields. Measurements at this site are ongoing.


This study aimed to determine the effect of pH on the production of antibacterial by lactic acid bacteria. This study uses a completely randomized design factorial 3X 5 (3 X 5 treatment of bacterial isolates pH) with three replications. The first factor consisted of pH 4, pH 5, pH 6, pH 7, pH 8, and the second factor that isolates B2, B7, B8, whereas the parameters consists of a clear zone. The amount of production is determined by the size of the diameter of antibacterial inhibition zone against Salmonella sp. Differences in the production of antibacterial determined based on the results of analysis of variance. The treatment significantly further test BNT at 5% level. The results showed that the effect of media pH test based on the potential for the production of antibacterial effect. The diameter of the largest clear zone produced by B7 isolates at pH 6 was 17.2 mm, 17.1 mm B8 and B2 at pH 7 at 16.7 mm. The smallest diameter of the clear zone produced by B8 at pH 4 was 15.1 mm, B2 at pH 6 there is a clear zone of 12.7 mm and isolate B7 at pH 5 of 11.5 mm Keywords : A ntibacterial , Lactic Acid Bacteria , pH, Salmonella sp, Clear zone


Aims To study the relationship between the neoplastic cells of in situ lobular neoplasia (ILN) and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and the surrounding CD10-positive myoepithelial cells. Materials and methods Twenty consecutive cases of ILN and 51 of DCIS were stained for CD10 using the immunoperoxidase technique. The presence of CD10-positive cells was assessed semiquantitatively on a scale of 0–3 where 0 indicates their absence and 3 indicates the presence of multiple layers, which can be focal. Results Ninety per cent of ILN cases scored 3, compared with none of DCIS (p=0.0001). There was a significant relationship between DCIS grade and CD10 score, with the mean scores being 1.43, 0.82 and 0.5 for low, intermediate and high grade, respectively. CD10-positive cells were always present around low-grade DCIS, but absent in 27% of high-grade cases. CD10-positive cells were more frequent in ER-positive than in ER-negative DCIS, and in HER2-negative than in HER2-positive cases, but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions There is a distinct relationship between the type and grade of in situ neoplasia of the breast and the surrounding CD10-positive myoepithelial cells, suggesting the presence of a 'cross talk' between the two elements.


Augmented tabletops have recently attracted considerable attention in the literature. However, little has been known about the effects that these interfaces have on learning tasks. In this paper, we report on the results of an empirical study that explores the usage of tabletop systems in an expressive collaborative learning task. In particular, we focus on measuring the difference in learning outcomes at individual and group levels between students using two interfaces: traditional computer and augmented tabletop with tangible input.

No significant effects of the interface on individual learning gain were found. However, groups using traditional computer learned significantly more from their partners than those using tabletop interface. Further analysis showed an interaction effect of the condition and the group heterogeneity on learning outcomes. We also present our qualitative findings in terms of how group interactions and strategy differ in the two conditions.


In recent years, transnational corporations (TNCs) have been greenwashing their dismal environmental performance by posing as friends of the environment. This new book provides an overview of TNCs in the global economy and of their impacts on the global environment. It gives a general introduction to greenwashing and Provides profiles of the environmental claims of 20 global corporations involved in the chemical, energy, logging, and fishing industries. TNCs profiled in this book include DuPont, Royal Dutch/Shell, Mitsubishi, Ciba, Asea Brown Boveri, Westinghouse, Norsk Hydro, and Solvay. Drawing on a wealth of sources, and with numerous illustrations, this book contrasts corporate greenwashing with the many damaging effects of TNCs' actual behavior, and shows how TNCs remain the primary creators and peddlers of dirty, unsustainable technologies. Additionally, to help citizens move from recognizing to challenging greenwashing and the harm caused by corporate activities, the book offers guidelines and principles which citizens and communities everywhere can use to hold TNCs accountable and to regain control of their lives and environment.


This paper examines conceptualizations of temperature in contemporary Persian, from the perspective of Cultural Linguistics. Several expressions in which temperature terms are used reflect cultural metaphors where temperature is used as a source domain for conceptual mapping to the domain of emotion. The paper also examines particular cultural (folk) categorizations of food, fruit, and human nature pertaining to the concept of 'temperature' in Persian, and traces back the root of these categorizations to Iranian Traditional Medicine. Temperature terms are also used to describe and categorize things such as color and smell. Overall, the observations made in this paper support the view that conceptualizations of temperature provide an interface for the interaction between sensory and bodily experiences, human conceptual faculties, and cultural conceptualizations.


A model of market making by firms with heterogeneous consumers, suppliers and price-setting intermediaries is examined. Consumers and suppliers engage in time-consuming search for the best price and discount future returns. There exists a unique symmetric equilibrium pricing strategy. In equilibrium, there are non-degenerate distributions of ask and bid prices that straddle the Walrasian price. As the discount rate goes to zero, the ranges of the bid and ask prices, and the total output approach the Walrasian equilibrium values. As the discount rate becomes large, the ask and bid prices approach the monopoly pricing policies. An increase in the discount rate leads to an increase in the equilibrium number of active firms, profit per firm, the mean spread between ask and bid prices, and the variance of ask and bid prices, while lowering the number of active consumers and suppliers. The model is extended to examine the steady-state market equilibrium with continual entry and exit of consumers and suppliers.


We first study growth and risk sharing in a stochastic growth model with preference shocks and two risk-averse agents. In periods in which one of the agents needs extra consumption (insurance), it is socially optimal to reduce the consumption of the other agent (redistribution) and also to accumulate fewer resources for the future (disinvestment). The latter hurts growth while the former only affects the distribution of aggregate consumption. Then, to analyze if information matters, we study if the same allocation would be implementable under private information. We find that it depends on the state of the economy. The provision of insurance that is implemented by reducing capital accumulation deteriorates the prospects of all agents in the economy and thus helps to alleviate informational frictions. The size of redistribution versus disinvestment and the outlook of economic growth at the time of disinvestment affects the possibilities of implementing the best possible allocation when the preference shock is private information. Therefore, we conjecture that under private information the best allocation compatible with incentives would tend to hurt growth and to concentrate resources in agents with private information in order to provide incentives to report the shock truthfully.


We examined habitat composition of territories, habitat use during foraging, and nestsite selection in the curlew Numenius arquata in two arable farmland areas in western Finland 1996–1997. Tall vegetation types, especially grassland, occurred more frequently within territories than expected by their availability. Habitat utilisation during foraging was significantly non-random in one of the two study areas where tillage was preferred to taller vegetation while in the other area curlews appeared to prefer tall vegetation. In both areas curlews showed a marked preference for taller vegetation types and avoided short vegetation (tillage) when selecting their nest-sites. Individuals also appeared to avoid nesting close to forest edges and ditches although this pattern was not significantly consistent between years. Breeding dispersal (the extent of movements between years) was high in the study area where curlew density was low and nest predation was frequent. In this area, breeding dispersal was higher among pairs that had failed in their previous breeding attempts than among successful pairs. Curlews preferred habitats which are relatively uncommon in an intensive agricultural regime, and we suggest that lack of suitable habitats in intensively cultivated farmland areas may be one reason for poor reproductive success and decline of curlew populations in Finland.


CO2 photoreduction over KTaO3 photocatalysts in water has been investigated. Both reduction (mainly carbon monoxide and hydrogen) and oxidation products (oxygen) were simultaneously detected in the absence of cocatalysts, sacrificial reagents and electrical bias. KTaO3 (KTO) samples were synthesized by solid-state reaction (SSR-KTO) and solvothermal methods in a hexane-water mixture (Hex-KTO) and pure ethanol (Eth-KTO). The different synthesis methods were used to control particle sizes and morphologies of KTaO3 and their correlation towards photocatalytic activity has been further investigated. Strikingly, KTO prepared in a hexane-water mixture solvent represents a nanoflake-like structure, resulting in a seven fold increase in CO2 reduction and hydrogen evolution activities in comparison to conventional cubic structure KTO under UV light irradiation. CO with trace amounts of CH4 is produced from CO2 photoreduction. Upon addition of a silver cocatalyst on KTO, the reduction selectivity has been controlled to favour CO2 photoreduction, and the CO2 to CO yield has been doubled compared to bare KTaO3.


Although during the last sixty years philology has attained a high degree of development, looking at the literature available, Etymology appears only to have reached the level of philology at the turn of the century. This dictionary is the first major work of its kind in the 20th century, and as such, embodies the findings of modern philological scholarship. For example, full reference is made to Tocharian, the extinct language rediscovered at the end of the Nineteenth Century which often provides the key to the important transition form between the Old-Indian and the Indo-European group of languages to which English belongs. Several hundred words previously defined as being "of unknown etymology" are fully analyzed.The etymology of words of Semitic origin in the English language is given, the transliteration of Semitic words is based on a concept which renders exactly every consonant, vowel and diacritical sign. Hybrids are not only referred to, but in many cases a new, correctly formed word is suggested. Special attention is paid to loan translations (important elements in the cultural interrelationship between the nations) especially in regard to their passage from one language to another. The dictionary also provides the etymologies of proper and mythological names. Exhaustive cross-referencing, allows the reader to trace all words derived from one and the same base.


Public participation in the form of informing, consulting and actively involving all interested parties is required during the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). This paper discusses progress with implementation of the WFD in Denmark and the measures taken to conform to the requirements for public participation. The first aim of the paper is to establish whether enough is being done regarding participation in Denmark, the conclusion being that whilst Denmark is in line with statutory requirements, consultation appears limited whilst evidence of active involvement is lacking. The paper then presents the Danish AGWAPLAN project which actively involved farmers in selecting measures to reduce diffuse nutrient pollution from agriculture. The second aim of the paper is to establish whether nationwide implementation of the AGWAPLAN concept is worthwhile. AGWAPLAN resulted in outcomes which could potentially increase the effectiveness of the WFD. Furthermore, the adoption of the project approach would also be one way to satisfy the requirement for active involvement in the Directive. However, some problems exist, relating to time, administrative costs, problems with control and the fact that additional measures to reduce N leaching would be necessary. Whether national implementation is worthwhile requires the weighing up of the advantages and disadvantages of the concept, which is ultimately a political decision.


The International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group (ITMIG) has periodic tumor board meetings to discuss perplexing cases. Two of these cases from the October 2017 meeting are discussed in this article. The diagnoses of a simple thymic cyst and a thymoma are confirmed. Radiology imaging from both cases and pathology slides from the thymoma are reviewed. Treatment and surveillance recommendations are discussed for both cases, as well as lessons learned from group discussion.


Objective To assess the adjunctive diagnostic value of intra-arterial cone-beam CT angiography (IA-CBCTA) relative to digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in the anatomic identification/localization of intracranial/spinal arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) and utility for surgical/endovascular treatment planning. Methods Retrospectively, two blinded observers scored DSA and IA-CBCTA images of 32 patients with intracranial/spinal AVFs based on a qualitative scale. The following parameters were scored: arterial feeders, venous drainers and course, fistula site, and adjacent anatomic landmarks for cross-sectional localization. The total score was defined as the overall diagnostic value. Differences between IA-CBCTA and DSA scores were defined as the IA-CBCTA efficacy value. Observers described the treatment strategy at the end of DSA and IA-CBCTA grading, respectively. Mann–Whitney U test, Wilcoxon's signed rank test, and Kendall's tau (τ) coefficient were used for statistical analysis. Results Interobserver agreement of overall diagnostic value for IA-CBCTA was good (τ=0.59, p=0.001) with no significant variance between the two observers' IA-CBCTA efficacy values (p=0.2). Significantly higher scores were assigned to IA-CBCTA for overall diagnostic value (both observers: p<0.0001), delineation of fistula site (observer 1: p<0.0001, observer 2: p=0.0003), and adjacent anatomic landmarks (both observers: p<0.0001). Observers found IA-CBCTA helpful, enabling a more confident treatment approach in 30 and 29 cases for observer 1 and observer 2, respectively. Both observers altered the treatment plan in two cases based on IA-CBCTA findings. Conclusions IA-CBCTA as an adjunctive technique to DSA improves the anatomic delineation of AVFs, particularly for the fistula site and cross-sectional localization, and has the potential to improve treatment planning.


CONTEXT
The associations between timing of first live birth and previous sexual behavior and pregnancies are not well understood.

METHODS
Members of a 1972-1973 New Zealand birth cohort were surveyed at ages 21, 26 and 32 about their sexual and reproductive histories; 506 men and 479 women participated in at least one assessment. Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Poisson regression to examine associations between the likelihood of first live birth at specific ages (prior to age 21, at age 21-25, at age 26-31) and selected characteristics.

RESULTS
Birth prior to age 21 was more likely for men and women who initiated intercourse before age 15 (relative risks, 3.1 and 2.0, respectively), and less likely for those who initiated at age 18 or later (0.3 and 0.1, respectively), than for those aged 15-17 at first coitus. Prior miscarriage was associated (although sometimes marginally) with an elevated likelihood of first birth across genders and ages (1.7-1.8). Prior abortion was associated with an elevated likelihood of first birth at age 21-25 for women (1.6) and a reduced likelihood at age 26-31 for men (0.5). Having multiple sexual partners at age 21-25 was negatively associated with the likelihood of a first birth at age 26-31 for men. Marriage and cohabitation were positively associated with birth timing.

CONCLUSIONS
Early sexual initiation and relationship instability may promote parenthood at younger ages, whereas greater relationship stability may do so at older ages.


ABSTRACT Despite implausible cosmopolitanism, the species Scorpiodinipora costulata (Canu & Bassler, 1929) has been attributed with reservations to small encrusting colonies with similar morphological features whose known distribution is scattered in tropical and subtropical seas: Pacific Ocean (Philippines), Indian Ocean (Oman), Red Sea, SE Mediterranean, SE Atlantic (Ghana) and SW Atlantic (Brazil). This material raised questions about its generic assignment. The genus Scorpiodinipora Balavoine, 1959 is redescribed with Schizoporella costulata Canu & Bassler, 1929, from the Philippines as the type species, as Balavoine misidentified the specimens to define the genus as Cellepora bernardii Audouin, 1826. Moreover, SEM examination of the cotypes of S. costulata showed that Canu & Bassler confused two genera among them. A lectotype and paralectotype were thus chosen from Canu & Bassler's syntypes corresponding with the present morphotype. Hippodiplosia ottomuelleriana var. parva Marcus, 1938, from Brazil, which presents the same morphotype, is provisionally considered as the junior synonym of S. costulata. Considering the broad allopatric distribution of this morphotype across the oceans and the low capacity of dispersal of species with short-lived larvae, it is likely that this material includes several sibling species. However, the role of man-mediated dispersal is not excluded, at least in regions with high shipping activity, such as that comprising the Suez Canal.


Academician Barthold's famous work begins in the late 7th century with the Muslim invasions of what became Russian Central Asia and carries the history of the region through the period of Abbasid centralization, that of the rise of local Muslim dynasties and successive phases of Turkish dominance down to the arrival of Chingiz Khan in the early 13th. Barthold's mastery of the historical and geographical sources and his sound critical judgement were remarkable and 'Turkestan' remains a basic work of reference for the area it covers. The book first appeared in St Petersburg in 1900 in the form of a Russian doctoral theses. The English edition of 1928 was thoroughly revised by the author, and that of 1968 supplemented by the translation of a further chapter found among his papers after his death: 'Turkestan under Mongol Domination (122769)'.


The project aimed to promote autonomous learning through the implementation of group work and a case study approach to teaching in a large class size, year one module. The module was evaluated by the students through a structured questionnaire. These evaluations were compared to the student evaluations of the same module, taught in a more traditional way in the previous year, therefore involving a different cohort. This ensured that the effectiveness of the case study approach to teaching was checked and compared to the traditional methods of teaching, rather than following a cohort of students, who might have matured in terms of their 'learning to learn' ability. Assessment by student response reinforced the effectiveness of cooperative-learning strategies compared to the traditional lecture-based classroom in terms of their perceptions of enhanced autonomous learning, transferable skills and increasing their attendance. A significant difference was observed between groups for the questions related to the 'learning process' (p <0.001). Specifically students felt more able to work independently, using effective planning and time management skills, and were better at evaluating their own performance through self-appraisal and reflection within the intervention group. The group taught through traditional methods reported significantly lower levels of satisfaction with their ability to work in groups than the intervention group (p <0.001), the intervention group also felt that more transferable skills were gained during the module (p <0.001), rated the quality of the module as a whole significantly higher (p <0.01) and also felt they learnt more on this module compared to other modules than the traditional taught group (p <0.001). ISSN 1750-8428 (online) www.pestlhe.org.uk  PESTLHE Backx Work in Progress 69


A large number of different biologically active and therapeutic potential phytochemicals are drawn from the plant kingdom. The utilization of these natural compounds (secondary metabolites) for human aliments as well as animals begins from time immemorial. In the present paper six plants (Achyranthes aspera, Acorus calamus, Curcuma zedoria, Eruca sativa, Verbascum thapsus and Vitex negundo) are viewed for their chemical constituents, medicinal and antioxidant property. Free radicals or reactive oxygen species induce damage mainly to bio-membranes and DNA due to peroxidation mechanism, which ultimately leads to tissue damage resulting in a number of degenerative diseases. Antioxidants have been reported to prevent oxidative damage caused by free radicals and may prevent the body from various disorders. In recent years, the search for effective and more reliable non-toxic natural compounds with antioxidant activity has been intensified. The present review undertakes a brief account of research report on plants with antioxidant potential.


The Middle Jurassic Hugin Formation in the Sleipner area has been studied in five wells in the southern Viking Graben in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The main objective is to understand how the diagenetic development has influenced the reservoir quality by the use of petrographical methods, in combination with core plug measurements of porosities and permeabilities. The Hugin Formation sandstones are characterized by textural and compositional maturity, and are classified as quartz arenites, subarkoses and sublitharenites. Mechanical compaction and diagenetic minerals (such as calcite cement and quartz overgrowths) contributed the most to the reduction of reservoir quality. Porosity measurements from the core plugs vary from 6 to 16%, which is somewhat below the average regional trend at similar depths. Calcite cement does not follow any specific trend related to depth, but the amount of quartz cement clearly increases with increasing depth. The main source of quartz cement is dissolution of detrital quartz grains at stylolites. The stylolites are formed where thin laminae of clay and insoluble organic material occur between detrital quartz grains, and the dissolved silica precipitated close to the stylolites. Authigenic clay minerals are also involved in the reduction of the reservoir quality. Kaolinite and illite are present in varying amounts throughout the wells, and their abundance is closely related to the presence of alkali feldspar. It is believed that the variation of alkali feldspar is responsible for the varying degree of illitization seen in the Hugin Formation. The illitization of feldspar is an additional source of the quartz cement. Secondary dissolution of alkali feldspar has occasionally contributed to preserve the reservoir quality, and this process is most commonly seen in the subarkoses.


Undiscovered relationships in a data set may confound analyses, particularly those that assume data independence. Such problems occur when characters used for phylogenetic analyses are not independent of one another. A main assumption of phylogenetic inference methods such as maximum likelihood and parsimony is that each character serves as an independent hypothesis of evolution. When this assumption is violated, the resulting phylogeny may not reflect true evolutionary history. Therefore, it is imperative that character non-independence be identified prior to phylogenetic analyses. To identify dependencies between phylogenetic characters, we applied three data mining techniques: 1) Bayesian networks, 2) decision tree induction, and 3) rule induction from coverings. We briefly discuss the main ideas behind each strategy, show how each technique performs on a small sample data set, and apply each method to an existing phylogenetic data set. We discuss the interestingness of the results of each method, and show that, although each method has its own strengths and weaknesses, rule induction from coverings presents the most useful solution for determining dependencies among phylogenetic data at this time.


Israel in Transition 2 is the second in a two-volume work addressing some of the historical problems relating to the early history of Israel, from its first mention around 1200 BCE to the beginnings of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. During this four century transition period Israel moved from a group of small settlements in the Judean and Samarian hill country to the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, occupying much of the land on the west side of the Jordan. The present volume engages with the relevant texts. These include various inscriptions, such as the Tel Dan inscription and the Assyrian inscriptions, but also an examination of the biblical text. The articles discuss various individual problems relating to Israelite history, but ultimately the aim is to comment on historical methodology. The debate among Seminar members illustrates not only the problems but also suggests solutions and usable methods. The editor provides a perspective on the debate in a Conclusion that summarizes the contributions of the two volumes together.


An improved method which can analyze the eddy current density in conductor materials using finite volume method is proposed on the basis of Maxwell equations and T-formulation. The algorithm is applied to solve 3D electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation (E'NDE) benchmark problems. The computing code is applied to study an Inconel 600 work piece with holes or cracks. The impedance change due to the presence of the crack is evaluated and compared with the experimental data of benchmark problems No. 1 and No. 2. The results show a good agreement between both calculated and measured data.


Nowadays, Human Capital is recognized as the key factor in enhancing corporate performance of companies. However, very little is known about the efficiency of human capital in value creation for organizations and the key factors that can improve Human Capital Efficiency (HCE). This research aims to investigate the efficiency of Human Capital and its impact on the financial performance of Dutch production companies. Using data from 33 Dutch production companies for a period of 6 years (2007-2012) and applying the human capital component of the VAIC methodology the monetary value created by the companies' knowledge workers is measured. Multiple linear regression models are used for analyzing the relationship between the performance of Human Capital and organizational performance measures including ROTA, ROE and EP. The study results revealed that there is positive relationship between HCE and all three corporate performance measures, amongst which it should be referred to the strongly statistically significant relationship between HCE and Employee Productivity (EP). This study contributes to the existing human capital theories by revealing the HCE of Dutch production companies and its impact on companies' financial performance. Furthermore, it is significant in the sense that it will provide the companies' managers with vital information required for making decisions on proper deployment of their human capital and investment in this strategic asset. Keywords: Human Capital Efficiency, Return on Total Asset, Return on Equity ,Employee Productivity, Value Added Intellectual Coefficient, Corporate Performance, Dutch production companies


Proxy wars are a key pattern of political conflict and interstate competition. Rather than resorting to direct conflicts, which are costly and entail a higher level of uncertainty, governments may opt for proxy wars, which may last longer, but are less costly and render them more immune to exogenous shocks. We start with the modeling of a direct war with two players where a static equilibrium may be neither realizable nor sustainable in the long run. Then, we offer a model of proxy war where the proposed equilibria are realizable, but not always sustainable in the long run. The consolidation level of the double principal-agent relationship predicts the continuation of conflict and thus the emergence of peace.


The results of a field experiment carried out to assess the accuracy and efficiency of a new in-vehicle navigation algorithm, whose aim is to incorporate and consider travel time reliability and route the guided vehicle along uncongested roads, in the absence of real-time traffic information are presented. Using historical travel time profiles deduced from floating vehicle data, the algorithm is implemented in a purpose-developed software tool and tested in the London Congestion Charging Zone. The experiment consists of driving a vehicle along routes computed by the algorithm and comparing the outcome with that of a conventional navigation system installed in a second vehicle. The results indicate that the new algorithm outperforms the conventional system in most cases, thus suggesting that it is a step forward towards a more intelligent navigation system.


Abstract:  An exceptionally preserved herd of the ceratopsian dinosaur Psittacosaurus was recovered from the Lujiatun Beds of the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, north‐east China. This specimen provides the earliest direct evidence of post‐nestling gregarious behaviour in this important dinosaur clade. The sediment in which the skeletons occur represents a lahar (volcanic mudflow), indicating that the six individuals present were entombed simultaneously during a catastrophic mass mortality event. Reconstruction of the herd age profile shows it was composed of offspring from at least two clutches, revealing that group fidelity in these dinosaurs extended beyond time spent together in the nest. This demonstrates that sociality appeared much earlier in ceratopsian evolution than is generally acknowledged and that such behaviour preceded the evolution of the elaborate horns and frills seen in derived ceratopsids.


Combining the pulsating drive of Showtime's Homeland with the fascinating historical detail of such of narrative nonfiction bestsellers as Double Cross and In the Garden of Beasts, Dark Invasion is Howard Blum's gritty, high-energy true-life tale of German espionage and terror on American soil during World War I, and the NYPD Inspector who helped uncover the plot—the basis for the film to be produced by and starring Bradley Cooper. When a "neutral" United States becomes a trading partner for the Allies early in World War I, the Germans implement a secret plan to strike back. A team of saboteurs—including an expert on germ warfare, a Harvard professor, and a brilliant, debonair spymaster—devise a series of "mysterious accidents" using explosives and biological weapons, to bring down vital targets such as ships, factories, livestock, and even captains of industry like J. P. Morgan. New York Police Inspector Tom Tunney, head of the department's Bomb Squad, is assigned the difficult mission of stopping them. Assembling a team of loyal operatives, the cunning Irish cop hunts for the conspirators among a population of more than eight million Germans. But the deeper he finds himself in this labyrinth of deception, the more Tunney realizes that the enemy's plan is far more complex and more dangerous than he suspected. Full of drama and intensity, illustrated with eight pages of black and-white photos, Dark Invasion is riveting war thriller that chillingly echoes our own time.


Abstract To contribute to the understanding of the vulnerability of young adolescent cyclists, ages 12–14 years, this experiment compared adolescent and adult cyclists on the effects of distraction on hazard perception skills (HP) to test the hypotheses that (a) young adolescent cyclists would perform worse in HP than adults (H1), (b) HP would deteriorate when distracted in both age groups (H2), and (c) this detrimental effect would be greater for adolescents than for adults (H3). In this counterbalanced experiment, with age as a between factor and distraction as a within-subject factor, HP was measured as the performance on a task consisting of traffic videos clips from a cyclist's perspective. The distraction task consisted of a peer delivered captivating distraction task: a 'guessing game.' The results showed that age differences were only apparent in hazard decisions, and not in visual search and hazard localisation. Adults assessed more frequently a situation as being hazardous than adolescents did (H1). In both age groups hazard localisation and decisions were both negatively affected by distraction (H2), whereas visual search was not. In contrast to expectations, the detrimental effect of distraction was not greater in adolescents than in adults (H3).


The use of in-flight Oxygen Collection has shown to significantly improve space launcher performance. The conceptual approach followed by the Royal Military Academy of Brussels (RMA) has tried to widen the available design margins in order to reduce the required technological leap and limit the economical risk associated with such a development. The aim of the ESA-funded theoretical and experimental study on an air separation device is to demonstrate the possibility of performing efficient air distillation in a compact rotating column. An integration of the vehicle, propulsion system and separation unit designs is presented aiming to optimise the overall vehicle performance while keeping technological difficulty and system complexity at a reasonable level. Reference vehicles are presented in their specific mission profiles with an emphasis on TSTO's. Different layouts of the internal energy and mass flowsheets are compared, in order to make best use of the refrigeration capacity of the hydrogen fuel running though the propulsion system during the first phase of the flight considering the separator as a classical distillation column. This analysis provides the requirements in terms of heat exchange capacity, compression ratios and number of so-called transfer units needed in the separator. Here, the system is intentionally kept simple, to limit complexity, but the analysis is thorough and accurate, including, for example, the effect of the presence of argon. An analysis of the separation unit to reach those requirements is proposed. That includes internals, practical building with estimates of pressure drop, separation performance and flow limitation. Analysis of size reduction of the distillation unit from usual 1-g column to the high-g unit is provided as well as the scale up methodology of laboratory results. First experimental results obtained with our centrifugally enhanced distillation separation system are presented and perspectives for a larger on-board operational unit proposed.