The Conasauga Group constitutes part of a thick pericratonic Cambro-Ordovician passive-margin sequence along the eastern North American continent. The Cambrian carbonate platform was flanked by a high-relief shelf margin towards the east, facing the open ocean, while to the west the carbonate platform sloped into an intrashelf basin. It is this western shelf margin that is the topic of the present study. Detailed lithofacies analysis of the Middle Cambrian Maryville Limestone along a shelf-to-basin depositional transect reveals that the shelf evolved from a gently basinward sloping ramp to a rimmed platform fringed with steeper slopes. Cyanobacterial buildups (Renalcis-Girvanella) dominated the platform margin environments. Progradation of the platform occurred towards the craton. A process oriented approach is applied to define the sequences, sequence boundaries, and the stacking pattern of the Maryville Limestone. The Maryville Limestone sequence consists of two depositional subsequences. The boundary between the two subsequences is not a sequence boundary, because it does not separate rocks deposited in different environmental regimes. The two subsequences within the Maryville sequence consist of a combination of aggradational, retrogradational, and progradational units (with respect to the platform interior). The stacking pattern recognized is the result of variations in sedimentation rate, subsidence, and eustatic sea-level change. Each of the dominantly carbonate units within the Conasauga represents this gradual transition from a ramp-like platform to basin transition into a rimmed platform. In the study area, the transition between the Maryville Limestone (Middle Cambrian) and the overlying Nolichucky Shale (Late Cambrian) is a sequence boundary. This sequence boundary is both an exposure surface and a drowning unconformity, and marks a distinct shift in the pattern of sedimentation. The Maryville Limestone was subjected to a complex diagenetic history. A combined field, petrographic, and geochemical approach are applied to describe the diagenetic history of the Maryville Limestone. The stabilization history of the Maryville Limestone during early diagenesis was characterized by microscale dissolution and reprecipitation during shallow burial and fabric selective dissolution in response to subaerial exposure and influx of meteoric fluids. However, during deep burial dolomitization was the dominant diagenetic event. iv Depositional components such as intraclasts and ooids and synsedimentary fibrous (marine) cements were subjected to microscale dissolution and reprecipitation during shallow burial. Depleted oxygen isotopic composition of ooids (mean cS 1 8o = -8.7 Ofoo PDB) and fibrous cements (mean cS 1 8o = -8.4 Ofoo PDB) relative to Cambrian marine carbonate value (& 1 8o = -5 .0 Ofoo PDB) suggests that diagenetic alteration probably occurred during burial. Preserved ultrastructures of ooids and fibrous cements suggest that stabilization involved microscale dissolution and reprecipitation. Blocky, turbid calcite in intergranular pores is interpreted to be of shallow burial origin based on the presence of inclusions and cross cutting relationships. Blocky, turbid calcite spar is characterized by depleted oxygen isotopic composition (mean cS 1 8o = -8.2 °/oo PDB). Sr isotopic composition of blocky turbid calcite spar (0.7095) which is similar to Cambrian seawater values (0.7091 -0.7095) suggests that shallow burial cementation occurred within a rock dominated system. In contrast, wholesale dissolution and cementation occurred in response to the influx of freshwater during periods of subaerial exposure. Meteoric diagenesis is restricted to parts of formation near exposure surfaces. Petrographic evidence for subaerial exposure consists of planar truncation surfaces, insitu brecciation, pores partly filled with vadose silt, and fabric-selective dissolution and cementation. Fabric selective dissolution yielded biomolds. Blocky, clear calcite spar commonly occludes the moldic pores. The v stable oxygen isotope composition ofblocky, clear calcite spar (o 1 8o = -8.0 Ofoo to -9.5 Ofoo PDB) i s considerably depleted when compared to Cambrian marine carbonate values (-5 Ofoo PDB). Depleted o 1 8o values are consistent with subaerial exposure and meteoric diagenesis. However, o Be values show little shift . A possible reason for this lack of negative shift in carbon isotopic values is probably the absence of land plants developed on the surface during exposure. Blocky, clear calcite spar is enriched in Fe (avg. 1 600 ppm). Enriched Fe values in blocky, clear calcite spar suggest that the meteoric system was relatively stagnant promoting reducing conditions. 87sr;86sr values of blocky, clear calcite spar which are similar to Cambrian marine carbonate composition offers supporting evidence for meteoric origin of blocky clear calcite spar. Detailed petrographic analyses along a depositional transect from a carbonate platform to shale basin reveal that dolomite is the principal burial diagenetic phase. Four different types of dolomite were identified based on detailed petrographic and geochemical analyses. Dolomite occurs as replacement of precursor carbonate and as interand intraparticle cements. Type I dolomite occurs as small, irregular disseminations typically within mud rich facies. Type II dolomite typically occurs as inclusions of planar-e rhombs (ferroan), 5 to 300 j.lm in size, in blocky, clear ferroan calcite (meteoric) spar. Type II dolomite is non luminescent. Type I and II dolomite formed during shallow-intermediate burial diagenesis. Type III dolomite consists of subhedral to anhedral crystals approximately 1 0 j.lm to 1 50 j.lm in size. Type IV dolomite consists of baroque or saddle-shaped, 1 001 500 j.lm crystals, and is non-luminescent. Type IV dolomite formed during maximum burial. Types III and IV dolomite increase in volume downslope. Type III dolomite contains 1 .2-2 .6 wt% Fe and a maximum of 1 000 ppm Mn. The distribution of these elements displays no distinct vertical or lateral trends. In contrast, Fe and Mn distributions in Type IV dolomite exhibit distinct spatial trends. Fe and Mn values vi decrease from 3 . 5-4 .5 wt% Fe, and 0 . 1 -0 .3 wt% Mn in the west (slope/basin) to 1 . 5-2.5 wt % Fe, and less than 600ppm Mn in the east (shelf-margin), over a distance of approximately 60 km. Type III and Type IV dolomite have a mean 8 1 8o value of -7. 8 0 100 and a mean 8 Be value of+ 1 . 1 °/00 (relative to the PDB standard). Based on an assumed basinal fluid composition of 5 Of 00 SMOW, temperatures calculated from 8 1 8o values of Type III and Type IV dolomite range between 850 C to 1 050 C . 87sr/ 86sr compositions of Type III and Type IV dolomite are enriched with respect to Cambrian marine values and range from 0 .7 1 1 1 -0 .7 1 39, probably indicating that the diagenetic fluid had interacted with the siliciclastic sediments ofbasinal shales. Based on the Fe and Mn distributions in Type IV saddle dolomite, a west-east fluid flow during late burial diagenesis is indicated. Calculated temperatures indicate that the fluids were warm. The distribution ofPaleozoic facies in the southern Appalachians indicates a Cambrian shale source for these fluids, and burial curves suggest an early Ordovician age for burial fluid movement.


In Cymbeline: Constructions of Britain, Ros King argues that because of previous misunderstanding of the nature and history of tragi-comedy, critics have mistaken the tone of Shakespeare's play. Although it is often dismissed as a pedestrian 'romance', or at best a self-parodic reworking of previous Shakespearean themes, she proposes that Cymbeline's fantastical, black comedy and its facility for keeping multiple plots all in the air together are in fact a tour de force of dramaturgical construction. King's multi-faceted approach combines strikingly perceptive commentaries on the text's most notoriously difficult passages, with descriptions of performance, and analysis of the text's historical, cultural and literary contexts. In this wide-ranging study, the play becomes a focus for considering early modern England's encounters with its Scottish king, with religious struggle in Europe, and with the indigenous peoples of North America. King demonstrates that the play's dramaturgical structure enables it to raise daring questions about the nature of government, the rights of birth and of succession, and the concepts of 'empire', supplying a curiously bitter and indeed tragic undercurrent to the final 'happy' ending while attempting to neutralise contemporary religious conflict. Having explored the influences that went into the writing of Cymbeline, King devotes her final chapter to the play's later reception and shows how it has been made to respond to different cultural pressures over time. Using as a test case the outrageously ebullient production at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, 2000, for which she was dramaturg, she outlines an ethic for interpretation and considers the problems to be faced in both criticism and performance when realising the text as living theatre for a modern audience.


The business plan fully describes the plan for tutorial service in China. After the author completing a comprehensive market analysis for Chinese university graduates groups, she made the plan of tutorial service company for helping those graduates to find a good job and solving career problems for people. The plan contains nine parts and includes information of company description, market analysis, management team, implementation task, risk assessment, financial analyses and offers to investors. The author aims to making a concrete business plan which can give an effective instruction for the entrepreneur to implement this business, seize the opportunities and exploit China graduates students market.


Finding high-quality child care may pose financial and logistical challenges and create ongoing emotional strains for some mothers. We use the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to ask (a) are childcare settings that mothers select on the basis of their own perceptions of quality rated more highly by independent observers (and more often recommended by mothers to friends) than settings that mothers selected for other reasons? (b) Do mothers report fewer depressive symptoms when they use high-quality care, as they perceive it, as assessed by independent observers and as indicated by their likelihood of recommending it? We find that mothers' reports coincide with independent observers' ratings in some respects but diverge in others, and only mothers' reports significantly relate to fewer average depressive symptoms after adjusting for confounds. Future research and policy should consider how mothers evaluate care quality and how these evaluations affect their mental health. Key Words: child care, child-care quality, maternal depressive symptoms. Although studies of child care are abundant, most associate characteristics of child care with child outcomes (Vandell, 2004). The limited research that examines parental outcomes focuses on the supply or cost of child care and its effects on maternal employment (e.g., Blau & Tekin, 2007; Danziger, Ananat, & Browning, 2004; Han & Waldfogel, 2001; Hofferth, 1996). Very little research has examined the potential associations between child care and a broader range of parental outcomes, particularly mothers' mental health. This is surprising given the near daily interactions children and parents have with caregivers and numerous popular accounts of parents' fears of entrusting child care providers with their young children and their concerns about finding affordable, stable child-care arrangements that meet their needs (e.g., Babycenter.com, 2010; Beckstrom, 2003; Grimes, 2010; Naughton, 1999; Nelson, 2010). We aim to fill this void in the literature by examining how child-care quality associates with maternal depressive symptoms. Because prior literature suggests parents' definitions of quality may differ in some regards from developmentalists' definitions, we first estimate whether mothers who report choosing for quality versus for other reasons (such as cost, hours, and location) use settings that are rated higher by trained independent observers and whether these mothers are more likely to recommend their setting to friends. We also examine whether each of these quality ratings associate with maternal depressive symptoms, anticipating stronger associations with own than independent ratings. Although our study is descriptive and cannot attribute causality, it lays important groundwork for future research and practice considering parental perceptions of child care and their consequences for mental health. CHILD-CARE QUALITY: DEVELOPMENTAL MODELS, MATERNAL PERCEPTIONS, AND CHOICE CONSTRAINTS Developmental models of what is best for child development dominate scholarly writing about high-quality child care, even though these may differ from some parents' childrearing preferences and norms (Emlen, 2010; Fuller, 2010; Harrist, Thompson, & Norris, 2007; Holloway & Fuller, 1999; Uttal, 1996). For example, Fuller's (2010) case studies identified state prekindergarten programs that followed a liberal-humanist model, offering children great latitude to direct their learning, whereas some parents and teachers preferred more structure and found children's self-directed behavior at times disrespectful or unruly. A broader literature on parents' preferences suggests that they are not always aligned with developmentalists' conceptions. For example, parents often express a desire for a homelike setting, with a provider that they can trust, especially for their infants and toddlers (Early & Burchinal, 2001 ; Johansen, Leibowitz, & Waite, 1996). …


Crowdsourcing has attracted increasing attention as a means to enlist online participants in organisational activities. In this paper, we examine crowdsourcing from the perspective of its ethical use in the support of open innovation taking a broader system view of its use. Crowdsourcing has the potential to improve access to knowledge, skills, and creativity in a cost-effective manner but raises a number of ethical dilemmas. The paper discusses the ethical issues related to knowledge exchange, economics, and relational aspects of crowdsourcing. A guiding framework drawn from the ethics literature is proposed to guide the ethical use of crowdsourcing. A major problem is that crowdsourcing is viewed in a piecemeal fashion and separate from other organisational processes. The trend for organisations to be more digitally collaborative is explored in relation to the need for greater awareness of crowdsourcing implications.


Objectives To investigate the functional consequences of the single nucleotide polymorphism rs4648889 in a putative enhancer upstream of the RUNX3 promoter strongly associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods The effects of rs4648889 on transcription factor (TF) binding were tested by DNA pull-down and quantitative mass spectrometry. The results were validated by electrophoretic mobility gel shift assays (EMSA), Western blot (WB) analysis of the pulled-down eluates, and chromatin immuno-precipitation (ChIP)-qPCR. Results Several TFs showed differential allelic binding to a 50bp DNA probe spanning rs4648889. Binding was increased to the AS-risk A allele for IKZF3 (aiolos) in nuclear extracts from CD8+ T-cells (3.7-fold, p<0.03) and several components of the NUcleosome Remodeling Deacetylase (NuRD) complex, including Chromodomain-Helicase-DNA-binding protein 4 (3.6-fold, p<0.05) and Retinoblastoma-Binding Protein 4 (4.1-fold, p<0.02). In contrast, binding of interferon regulatory factor (IRF) 5 was increased to the AS-protective G allele. These results were confirmed by EMSA, WB and ChIP-qPCR. Conclusions The association of AS with rs4648889 most likely results from its influence on the binding of this enhancer-like region to TFs, including IRF5, IKZF3 and members of the NuRD complex. Further investigation of these factors and RUNX3-related pathways may reveal important new therapeutic possibilities in AS.


We present a regional model of plate geometry and kinematics of Southeast Asia since the Late Cretaceous, embedded in a global plate model. The model involves subduction polarity reversals and sheds new light on the origin of the subduction polarity reversal currently observed in Taiwan. We show that this subduction zone reversal is inherited from subduction of the proto–South China Sea plate and owes its current location to triple junction migration and slab rollback. This analysis sheds new light on the plate tectonic context of the Taiwan orogeny and questions the hypothesis that northern Taiwan can be considered an older, more mature equivalent of southern Taiwan.


Ahmad ibn Tulun (835-84), the son of a Turkic slave in the Abbasid court of Baghdad, became the founder of the first independent state in Egypt since antiquity, and builder of Egypt's short-lived third capital of the Islamic era, al-Qata'i' and its great congregational mosque. After recounting the story of Ibn Tulun and his successors, architectural historian Tarek Swelim presents a topographic survey of al-Qata'i', a city lost since its complete destruction in 905. He then provides a detailed architectural analysis of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, which was spared the destruction and is now the oldest surviving mosque in Egypt and Africa, from the time of its completion until today. Rare archival illustrations and early photographs document the changing appearance and uses of the mosque in modern times, while extraordinary 3D computer renderings take us back in time to recreate its architectural development through its early centuries. Plans, drawings, and maps complement the history, while striking modern color photographs showcase the elegant simplicity of the building's architecture and decoration.This definitive and generously illustrated book will appeal to scholars and students of Islamic art history, as well as to anyone interested in or inspired by the beauty of early mosque architecture.


We present Soft Scissors, an interactive tool for extracting alpha mattes of foreground objects in realtime. We recently proposed a novel offline matting algorithm capable of extracting high-quality mattes for complex foreground objects such as furry animals [Wang and Cohen 2007]. In this paper we both improve the quality of our offline algorithm and give it the ability to incrementally update the matte in an online interactive setting. Our realtime system efficiently estimates foreground color thereby allowing both the matte and the final composite to be revealed instantly as the user roughly paints along the edge of the foreground object. In addition, our system can dynamically adjust the width and boundary conditions of the scissoring paint brush to approximately capture the boundary of the foreground object that lies ahead on the scissor's path. These advantages in both speed and accuracy create the first interactive tool for high quality image matting and compositing.


The rapid growth of new information services and business-oriented applications entails the consideration of quality of service (QoS) in content distribution. This paper investigates the QoS-aware replica placement problems for responsiveness QoS requirements. We consider two classes of service models: replica-aware services and replica-blind services. In replica-aware services, the servers are aware of the locations of replicas and can therefore optimize request routing to improve responsiveness. We show that the QoS-aware placement problem for replica-aware services is NP-complete. Several heuristic algorithms for fast computation of good solutions are proposed and experimentally evaluated. In replica-blind services, the servers are not aware of the locations of replicas or even their existence. As a result, each replica only serves the requests flowing through it under some given routing strategy. We show that there exist polynomial optimal solutions to the QoS-aware placement problem for replica-blind services. Efficient algorithms are proposed to compute the optimal locations of replicas under different cost models.


This thesis begins by addressing the problems and challenges faced in a multimedia, ATM compatible. Wireless LAN environment. A brief overview of the ATM will also be presented. An extension to the conventional wireless (cellular) architecture, which takes advantage of the ATM characteristics, is considered. The needs of the applications that will use such a network along with the services this network is expected to offer, are discussed. The existing wireless protocols (both in the wireless LANs and in the cellular architecture) are presented. The differences among the MAC schemes and discussion on the criteria they must satisfy to support ATM are brought up. Finally, the most promising MAC schemes are discussed in further details. Furthermore, the introduction of terminal and user mobility in an ATM LAN causes the need for modification of the existing network functions. There are new problems, associated with the mobile stations that must be addressed, such as location management, paging, registration, authentication and network security and handover implementation. Furthermore, existing functions of the fixed ATM, such as Connection Admission Control and traffic shaping need to be extended to support the requested QoS in the wireless environment. The next part of the report discusses the different types of handover mechanisms and presents possible extensions of the UNI and PNNI that support the exchange of handover messages. The concept of the Mobile Agent (MA) is also introduced and its use in the extended UNI and PNNI for handover execution, registration and location management purposes is presented. Finally, a further extension of the PNNI protocol, which could be used among the different MAs, in order to support portability across different private ATM LANs, is being discussed. Without a doubt there will be a requirement for interworking between ATM and the already established wireless networks (e.g. HIPERLAN, DECT, IEEE 802.). The use of ATM as a wireless network backbone is particularly advantageous in microcell and/or integrated voice/data scenarios, and is cost-competitive with other possible implementations. Taking that into consideration, the transmission of ATM cells over a WLAN, based on the IEEE 802.11 MAC layer has been investigated. Initially, the IEEE 802.11 MAC layer and its model (developed in BONeS software package), are being discussed. The simulation results show the existence of upper bound delays for delay sensitive applications, such as voice and video, which are not affected by the traffic load on the network. Moreover, a power saving addition to a Dynamic Time Division Multiple Access (D-TDMA) MAC protocol, suitable for ATM cell transmission, discussed in [APOS95], will be proposed. A short presentation of the MAC protocol and the proposed power saving algorithm will follow. The trade-off between the power saving gain and the size of the buffer in the Access Point (AP) are shown for different kinds of services. Finally (based on Markov chains), the calculation of the call blocking and dropping probabilities for different services in a radio environment will be addressed. This method considers both the different QoS requirements for each service and the load on the network. The results obtained with the analysis are being compared to the ones obtained from simulations.


The main aim of our chapter is a methodological one, that of comparing a largely data-driven approach to regional variation in world Englishes and a corpus-based approach. As a case study, we examine tense, aspect and modality (TAM) differences between five varieties. Our investigation uses frequency differences in verb chunks and tags, based on syntactically annotated material from the International Corpus of English. Most of our results corroborate previous, corpus-based findings. The data-driven findings guide our qualitative investigation of the perfect tense, modal verbs and the progressive. While our approach is far from being fully automatic, only minimal manual interaction
is needed for going through and filtering the top one or two dozen entries in ranked lists.


Mechanical cutting provides one of the most fl exible and environmentally friendly excavation methods. It has attracted numerous efforts to model the rock chipping and fragmentation process, especially using the explicit fi nite element method (FEM) and bonded particle model (BPM), in order to improve cutting ef fi ciency. This study investigates the application of a general-purpose graphic-processing-unit parallelised hybrid fi nite-discrete element method (FDEM) which enjoys the advantages of both explicit FEM and BPM, in modelling the rock chipping and fragmentation process in the rock scratch test of mechanical rock cutting. The input parameters of FDEM are determined through a calibration procedure of modelling conventional Brazilian tensile and uniaxial compressive tests of limestone. A series of scratch tests with various cutting velocities, cutter rake angles and cutting depths is then modelled using FDEM with calibrated input parameters. A few cycles of cutter/rock interactions, including their engagement and detachment process, are modelled for each case, which is conducted for the fi rst time to the best knowledge of the authors, thanks to the general purpose graphic processing units (GPGPU) parallelisation. The failure mechanism, cutting force, chipping morphology and effect of various factors on them are discussed on the basis of the modelled results. Finally, it is concluded that GPGPU-parallelised FDEM provides a powerful tool to further study rock cutting and improve cutting ef fi ciencies since it can explicitly capture different fracture mechanisms contributing to the rock chipping as well as chip formation and the separation process in mechanical cutting. Moreover, it is concluded that chipping is mostly owed to the mix-mode I-II fracture in all cases although mode II cracks and mode I cracks are the dominant failures in rock cutting with shallow and deep cutting depths, respectively. The chip morphology is found to be a function of cutter velocity, cutting depth and cutter rake angle.


BACKGROUND
Ethanol consumption is thought to enhance the release of endogenous opioids acting at opioid receptors (ORs) in the central nervous system. Prior studies have shown that chronic ethanol consumption in alcohol-preferring rats uncouples mu-ORs from Gi proteins. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential for uncoupling of the delta- and the mu-OR after chronic ethanol consumption in a nonpreferring rat strain.

METHODS
We used radiohistochemical methods to study mu- and delta-OR-stimulated G-protein coupling in brain tissue of rats ingesting liquid diets containing 6.7% ethanol (v/v) for 16 days, as compared with 0% ethanol pair-fed control rats. Sections of brain from pair-fed and ethanol-treated rats were incubated with guanylyl 5'-[gamma-[35S]-thio]-triphosphate ([35S]-GTPgammaS) in the absence and presence of d-Pen2,d-Pen5 enkephalin (DPDPE), a delta-OR agonist, or Tyr-d-Ala-Gly-N(me)Phe-Gly-ol-enkephalin (DAMGO), a mu-OR agonist.

RESULTS
DPDPE significantly stimulated [35S]-GTPgammaS binding in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG), CA1, cerebellum, and inferior colliculus of untreated pair-fed controls. By contrast, DPDPE-stimulated [35S]-GTPgammaS binding was reduced significantly in those brain regions in the ethanol-consuming group. DAMGO stimulated [35S]-GTPgammaS binding in cortex, caudate, nucleus accumbens, DG, CA1, and superior and inferior colliculi, whereas the DG, CA1, and colliculi showed a significant reduction of binding after chronic ethanol. Basal [35S]-GTPgammaS binding was not different between the two diet groups. CONCLUSIONS These data are the first to demonstrate functional uncoupling of delta-ORs from G proteins after chronic ethanol consumption. Uncoupling may result from modulation of receptors, possibly by internalization or phosphorylation. Alterations in functional coupling of both delta- and mu-ORs and subsequent effects may contribute to continued ethanol consumption.


Drawing on the concept of resilience, this paper discusses a narrative-based research which explores rural/urban disparities among young people who face various obstacles to continue their higher education in recently announced 'urban' Jumla. I explore major adversities faced by the youths in rural-urban disparities, their promotive and protective measures, and cultural and family assets to cope with adversities.  The three narratives illustrate how the youths develop their assets to overcome geographical and social adversities in rural-urban disparities. In doing so, I mainly deal with the youths' issues of higher education attainment. They experience that it has been more privileged living in urban than in rural areas to continue their higher education.  However, they could not detach themselves from the rural values and tradition. I generate meaning of youths' educational resilience that overcomes such rural urban disparities.


This paper presents the concept of opacity as a philosophical concept in Edouard Glissants writing in Le Discours Antillais (1981), Poetique de la Relation (1990) and Philosophie de la Relation. Poesie en etendue. (2009). It shows how opacity can be understood as a form of resistance both on an intersubjective level and on an ontological level. On an intersubjective level opacity is a resistance to being grasped as knowledge, and expressed as each and everyone's right this becomes an ethics. On an ontological level opacity is a resistance to being assimilated into a dominant discourse, with Clevis Headleys words an ontological self-defense. The paper also explains how opacity is not an opposite to transparency but function in a more equal, integrated and complex relation to transparency. In a reading of Glissant as an advocate for an alternative concept of knowledge formulated as a poetics, opacity is also presented as enabling and supporting this alternative concept of knowledge. Thus the poetic become political constituted by opacity.


While telemedicine and technology-enabled education are not new concepts and have significant bodies of research, in depth application to management and treatment of veteran Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is relatively new. The conflicts in the Southwest Asia over the last two decades have significantly increased the need for healthcare and support services for these returning warriors. Creative thinking and innovative technologies are needed to meet the growing and changing demand of these patients in the face of many competing demands within the U.S. healthcare sector. This doctoral research study investigated the potential for a platform-agnostic (ad hoc) networking technology to serve as a trusted social networking and training platform for healthcare providers who are striving to provide quality healthcare that meets the needs of veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI. This research study analyzed the effectiveness of a digitally networked environment to deliver desired training and certification outcomes in a military healthcare environment. The level of acceptance of an ad hoc network technology (GridstreamRx) by healthcare professionals using it as an enabler of collaboration during the training process was evaluated. The results also assessed the readiness of healthcare professionals to use this Information Communications Technology (ICT), or analogous new applications and services, to help them perform their healthcare responsibilities. This thesis study, accomplished with the support of the U.S. Army and National Science Foundation, took place at two large military medical centers over a twelvemonth period of time. Data was gathered from 568 healthcare professionals using quantitative survey instruments. Ninety-six respondents provided additional quantitative and qualitative inputs at various times during a proscribed training regimen. DeLone and McLean's 2003 Information System Success Model, modified by findings of more recent research, provided the theoretical lens for analyzing the data from 32 of the training participants in determining the perceived net benefit of the GridstreamRx technology. The data gathered for the study showed, at the 95% level of confidence, that a majority of the professionals of these two medical centers would perceive a positive net benefit from using GridstreamRx in a healthcare training environment. The conclusion from this analysis was that not only are the healthcare providers in this study ready to use ICT and social networking in this professional setting, but also that GridstreamRx is an acceptable platform for performing these functions. The study participants provided input with respect to their priorities regarding information sharing techniques, functionality, and suggestions for improving the platform. The outcomes confirmed that GridstreamRx can be a successful introduction of ad hoc networking to telemedicine. This thesis concluded with recommendations for scholars and practitioners to pursue in the future; and should be followed up with further research and actions in order to build toward a Fully Integrated Virtual Healthcare Environment (FivHe). INTRODUCING WIRELESS GRIDS TECHNOLOGY TO THE FIELD OF TELEMEDICINE


The geometry of foreland basins is controlled by a dynamic balance between thrust-belt migration, flexural subsidence, and fluvial deposition. To improve our ability to quantify the relationships between tectonics, climate, and foreland basin geometry, I developed analytic solutions for basin topography and stratigraphy using a classic two-dimensional mathematical model of foreland basin evolution. Model predictions for basin topography are successfully tested against observed profiles along a humid-to-arid climatic gradient in the central Andes. Using published estimates for the thrust-belt migration rate, flexural parameter, and thrust-front basin depth in this region, I show that basin topographic profiles can be used to estimate the upstream erosion rate at any point along a foreland basin. Basin-averaged erosion rates estimated in this way vary from 0.025 to 0.045 mm/yr in the central Andes, increasing from semiarid to humid climates.


Land use laws, such as comprehensive plans, site plan reviews, zoning, and building codes, greatly affect community resilience to climate change. One often-overlooked area of land use law that is essential to community resilience is the regulation of infrastructure on private property. These regulations set standards for the construction of infrastructure built by private developers. Such infrastructure is completed in conjunction with millions of commercial and residential projects and is necessary for critical services, including potable water and energy distribution. Throughout the fifty states, these land use laws regulating infrastructure constructed by private developers encourage or compel "gray infrastructure." Marked by human-made, engineered solutions, including pipes, culverts, and detention basins, gray infrastructure reflects a desire to control, remove, and manipulate ecosystems. Left untouched, often these ecosystems provide critical services that strengthen a community's resilience to disasters and slow changes. This article describes the current state of land use laws and their focus on human-engineered, gray infrastructure developed as part of private projects. It explores how that infrastructure is reducing community resilience to change. By creatively combining human-engineered solutions with ecosystem services already available and by incorporating adaptive governance into the regulation of infrastructure erected by private parties, the article describes how land use laws can enhance community resilience. The article concludes with several examples where land use laws are relied upon to help build cost-effective, adaptive infrastructure to create more resilient communities.


ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of multi-layer governance mechanisms on the level of bank risk disclosure. Using a large dataset from 14 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries over a period of 8 years, our findings are three-fold. First, our results suggest that the presence of a Sharia supervisory board is positively associated with the level of risk disclosure. Second and at the bank-level, we find that ownership structures have a positive effect on the level of risk disclosure. At the country-level, our evidence suggests that control of corruption has a positive effect on the level of bank risk disclosure. Our study is, therefore, a major departure from much of the existing accounting literature that offers new crucial insights that show that firms' disclosure choices are not mainly shaped by firm-level (internal) governance arrangements, but also country-level (external) governance and religious factors. Our findings have important implications for corporate boards, investors, regulatory authorities, standards-setters and governments relating to the development, implementation and enforcement of corporate and national governance standards.


Quality assessment of autonomously acquired microscopic images is an important issue in high‐throughput imaging systems. For example, the presence of low quality images (≥10%) in a dataset significantly influences the counting precision of fluorescently stained bacterial cells. We present an approach based on an artificial neural network (ANN) to assess the quality of such images. Spatially invariant estimators were extracted as ANN input data from subdivided images by low level image processing. Different ANN designs were compared and >400 ANNs were trained and tested on a set of 25,000 manually classified images. The optimal ANN featured a correct identification rate of 94% (3% false positives, 3% false negatives) and could process about 10 images per second. We compared its performance with the image quality assessment by different humans and discuss the difficulties in assigning images to the correct quality class. The computer program and the documented source code (VB.NET) are provided under General Public Licence. © 2009 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry


Abstract. Long-term (10 years) application of conservation tillage following conversion from conventional tillage (CT) can achieve a new equilibrium in the soil environment, which is vital to reverse soil biodiversity declines and fulfil the goal of maintaining agroecosystem sustainability. However, in such a situation, how the soil community regulates nutrient cycling impacting crop yield is not well documented. Therefore, the relations between mineralized nitrogen (N) delivered by soil food web and soybean (Glycine max Merr.) yield were investigated after 14 years application of CT, reduced tillage (RT) and no tillage (NT) in a black soil (Typic Hapludoll) of Northeast China. We hypothesized that soil mineralizable N would increase with the complexity of the soil food web, and that the trophic groups involved in associating N mineralization with crop yield will vary with soil depth in the conservation tillage practice. During the soybean growing season, soil organisms, including bacteria, fungi, nematodes, mites and collembolans, were extracted and identified monthly from 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depths to estimate the complexity of the food web indicated by the species richness and connectance indices, and to simulate the mineralized N using energetic food web modelling. The species richness and connectance of
the food web at both soil depths were significantly affected by tillage
practices, and their values decreased of the order of NT  >  RT  >  CT. A similar trend was also revealed for the simulated N mineralization, that is, the mineralized N released either from the functional feeding guilds or from the energy pathways of the food web were greater in RT and NT than in CT at both soil depths. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that soil organisms involved in coupling the mineralized N with soybean yield were different at different soil depths, in which fungal and root pathways at 0–5 cm and bacterial pathway at 5–15 cm were the driving factors for the supply of mineralized N to soybean in NT and RT soils. These results support our hypothesis and highlight the essential role of soil food web complexity in coupling N mineralization and crop yield after long-term application of conservation tillage. Additionally, the current modelling work provides basic hypotheses for future studies to test the impact of soil biodiversity or specific functional guilds on the fate of N in agro-ecosystems.


We evaluated cyanopsia by means of achromatic-point settings at several time points started from the day before intraocular lens (IOL) implantation for cataract removal surgery. We intensively measured the initial drift in color appearance; we started the measurement less than 30 min after eyepatch removal, and the measurement continued for several weeks. The shifts were mainly observed in the direction of color space that selectively varies short-wavelength-sensitive cone (S-cone) responses. The time constant of shifts in color appearance was estimated at the initial stage of cyanopsia by fitting exponential curves. The result of fitting suggests that color appearance is recalibrated during cyanopsia by some neural mechanisms with a time constant of several hours. It also became clear that the migration of the achromatic point becomes slower within approximately 12 h after eyepatch removal.


What value do we place on our cultural heritage, and to what extent should we preserve historic and culturally important sites and artefacts from the ravages of weather, pollution, development and use by the general public? This innovative book attempts to answer these important questions by exploring how non-market valuation techniques – used extensively in environmental economics – can be applied to cultural heritage. The book includes twelve comprehensive case studies that estimate public values for a diverse set of cultural goods, including English cathedrals, Bulgarian monasteries, rock paintings in Canada, statues in the US, and a medieval city in Africa.


Christmas is the perfect time for kids to get creative - so let them craft and bake their way to the most magical of Christmases. Catherine Woram's craft projects put busy little hands to work on per fect gifts to give, as well as great ideas for wrapping them and greetings cards to make. Kids can deck the halls with colourful garlands and make a stocking to hang up for Santa! Annie Rigg's tasty Christmas treats - from Marshmallow Snowmen to Coconut Ice - are per fect for giving as gifts, if they last that long! Irresistible edible decorations include snowflake cookies to hang on the tree and an adorable gingerbread house, while party foods will help get the festivities underway. Including over 60 exciting festive projects, which are suitable for children from ages 3 up to 11, this is the perfect guide to introducing kids to a world of exciting homemade Christmas crafts.


We consider a setup in which confidential i.i.d. samples X1, ..., Xn from an unknown discrete distribution PX are passed through a discrete memoryless privatization channel (a.k.a. mechanism) which guarantees an ϵ-level of local differential privacy. For a given ϵ, the channel should be designed such that an estimate of the source distribution based on the channel outputs converges as fast as possible to the exact value PX. For this purpose we consider two metrics of estimation accuracy: the expected mean-square error and the expected Kullback-Leibler divergence. We derive their respective normalized first-order terms (as n → ∞), which for a given target privacy ϵ represent the factor by which the sample size must be augmented so as to achieve the same estimation accuracy as that of an identity (non-privatizing) channel. We formulate the privacy-utility tradeoff problem as being that of minimizing said first-order term under a privacy constraint ϵ. A converse bound is stated which bounds the optimal tradeoff away from the origin. Inspired by recent work on the optimality of staircase mechanisms (albeit for objectives different from ours), we derive an achievable tradeoff based on circulant step mechanisms. Within this finite class, we determine the optimal step pattern.


Large eddy simulation (LES) was made to solve the flow around two simplified CRH2 high speed trains passing by each other at the same speed in a long tunnel base on the finite volume method and dynamic layering mesh method and three dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Wind tunnel experimental method of resting train with relative flowing air and dynamic mesh method of moving train were compared. The results of numerical simulation show that the flow field structure around train is completely different between wind tunnel experiment and factual running. Two opposite moving couple of point source and point sink constitute the whole flow field structure during the high speed trains passing by each other. All of streamlines originate from point source (nose) and finish with the closer point sink (tail). The flow field structure around train is similar with different vehicle speed in a long tunnel, and they have a little difference with on the ground.


The use of services, especially Web services, became a common practice. In Web services, standard communication protocols and simple broker-request architectures are needed to facilitate exchange of services, and this standardization simplifies interoperability. In the coming few years, services are expected to dominate software industry. There are increasing amount of Web services being made available in the Internet, and an efficient Web services composition algorithm would help to integrate different algorithm together to provide a variety of services. In this paper, we provide a dynamic Web service composition algorithm with verification of Petri-Nets. Each Web service is described by Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) and their interactions with other services are described by Web Service Choreography Interface (WSCI). Our algorithm compose the Web services with the information provided by these two descriptions. After the composition, we verify the Web service to be deadlock free with modeling the Web service as a Petri-Net. We conduct a series of experiments to evaluate the correctness and performance of the composed Web service.


OBJECT: To see the response of HBIg in post liver transplant patients in prevention of hepatitis
B relapse by using two different routes of administration.
STUDY DESIGN: prospective comparative study.
PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman. From December
2001 􀂱 December 2007.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Total 32 patients who underwent cadavaric liver-transplantation due
to hepatitis B related end-stage liver disease were included in this study. Patients were divided
into two groups by simple random technique. HBIg was administered through intravenous route
to subjects of Group 1, whereas to subjects of Group II it was administered through intramuscular
route. All patients received full recommended dose of HBIg with oral lamirudine for the prevention
of relapse. Subjects were followed up for 30-months to record any event of relapse in
both groups.
RESULTS: There were 24 (75%) males and 8 (25%) females, with median age of 37 years. Pretreatment
HBV - DNA was detected in 28 (87.5%) and anti-HBS levels were 100 in all patients. None of the study subjects in both groups had relapse of Hepatitis
B.
CONCLUSION: Intramuscular route of administrating HBIg in post liver transplant cases secondary
to hepatitis B was found to be as effective as intra venous route.


If an e-services approach to electronic commerce is to become widespread, standardisation of ontologies, message content and message protocols will be necessary. In this paper, we present a lifecycle of a business-to-business e-commerce interaction, and show how the Semantic Web can support a service description language that can be used throughout this lifecycle. By using DAML, we develop a service description language sufficiently expressive and flexible to be used not only in advertisements, but also in matchmaking queries, negotiation proposals and agreements. We also identify which operations must be carried out on this description language if the B2B lifecycle is to be fully supported. We do not propose specific standard protocols, but instead argue that our operators are able to support a wide variety of interaction protocols, and so will be fundamental irrespective of which protocols are finally adopted.


Polyketide (PK) and nonribosomal peptides (NRP), constructed on multimodular enzymatic assembly lines, often attain the conformations that establish biological activity by cyclization constraints introduced by tailoring enzymes. The dedicated tailoring enzymes are encoded by genes clustered with the assembly line genes for coordinated regulation. NRP heterocyclizations to thiazoles and oxazoles can occur on the elongating framework of acyl-S enzyme intermediates, whereas tandem cyclic PK polyether formation of furans and pyrans can be initiated by post–assembly line epoxidases. Macrocyclizations of NRP, PK, and hybrid NRP-PK scaffolds occur in assembly line chain termination steps. Post–assembly line cascades of enzymatic oxidations also create cross-linked and cyclized architectures that generate the mature scaffolds of natural product antibiotics. The modularity of the natural product assembly lines and permissivity of tailoring enzymes offer prospects for reprogramming to create novel antibiotics with optimized properties.


I. INTRODUCTION On December 18, 1990, the United Nations ("UN") General Assembly approved the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families ("Migrant Convention").1 Several years later, international non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") initiated a global campaign to encourage states to ratify the Migrant Convention.2 Thirteen member organizations continue this campaign today, including Human Rights Watch, International Labour Office, and Amnesty International.3 The Mexican government and the UN generously funded the campaign for many years, and campaign members worked hard to produce campaign materials, organize awareness raising events, and release press statements.4 Despite these efforts, the Migrant Convention did not enter into force until thirteen years after its adoption,5 and to date, only thirty-seven countries have ratified it.6 The global ratification campaign for the Migrant Convention has failed to achieve its goal of universal ratification. In contrast, another human rights convention adopted by the UN just one year before the Migrant Convention underwent rapid and widespread ratification. On November 20, 1989, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child ("CRC").7 Just ten months later, the CRC entered into force.8 To date, all 193 UN member states except Somalia and the United States have ratified the Convention. As a tribute to the CRC's success, in May 2000 the UN General Assembly adopted an Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict.9 This Optional Protocol came into force on February 12, 2002,10 with the help of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, a global campaign that lobbies governments to agree to international laws prohibiting the use of children in armed conflict.11 Several member organizations of the Coalition overlap with members of the Migrant Convention campaign, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.12 Yet, unlike the Migrant campaign, the Coalition has succeeded in achieving widespread ratification of the Optional Protocol. As of early 2007, 110 countries had ratified the Protocol.13 The Migrant Convention and CRC underwent different ratification patterns. The Migrant Convention was slow to enter into force, and few countries ratified it. The CRC, however, entered into force within a year, and all but two UN member states have ratified it. The Optional Protocol to the CRC, though implemented later, also enjoyed quick and widespread ratification. Why did the international community respond so differently to the two conventions? Both were adopted by the UN within the same year, both are human rights treaties, and both were supported by NGO-driven ratification campaigns. What factors account for the disparity in their ratification rates? This Note explores this question by examining a series of treaties that quickly entered into force and finds that certain features of treaty ratification campaigns determine their success in achieving broad ratification. Examining these features yields important insights into state behavior. Studying both the shared characteristics of successful ratification campaigns and the aspects of treaties that make them attractive candidates for ratification reveals the reasons that states decide to accept legally binding obligations voluntarily. These insights expose the strengths and weaknesses of the three generally accepted theories of state behavior: rationalism, constructivism, and liberalism. This Note concludes that while the three theories of state behavior can explain the characteristics of successful ratification campaigns alone, a complete picture of state behavior emerges only when applying all three theories together. Thus, an integrated theory is needed to best describe state behavior within the context of treaty ratification. Part II of this Note briefly summarizes the current international relations theories on state behavior and discusses each theory's explanation for ratification. …


The INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT GROUP (IMG), credited with being pioneers in the development of modern sports agentry, began in 1960 when Cleveland lawyer and amateur golfer Mark H. McCormack represented professional golfer Arnold Palmer as his agent in business and promotional affairs. With McCormack as his agent, Palmer saw his income increase from $59,000 in 1959 to nearly $500,000 in 1962, and was one of the first athletes to appear in a television commercial. McCormack then acquired golfers Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus as clients, and by 1967 he had left the law firm of ARTER & HADDEN to operate his sports-promotion agency at One Erieview Plaza. In the next two decades, the number of IMG's clients, its revenues, and its range of activities grew dramatically as it created and produced sports events for television and operated as business agent for both the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the London Symphony Orchestra. IMG brought the World Series of Women's Golf tournament and the World's Championship of Women's Golf to Cleveland in 1980 and 1981, respectively. Annual revenue as of 1986 exceeded $300 million. By 1995 the firm was promoting athletes and sporting events for more than 1,000 clients. It charged 25% of an athlete's income to take care of his or her finances, make investments, secure endorsements, pay bills, and prepare taxes. Once considered the dominant force in the management and promotion of tennis and golf athletes and tournaments, IMG greatly expanded and diversified its representative scope by the 1990s to include not only sports-related clients, but performing artists, writers, fashion models, broadcasters, leading corporations, cultural institutions and recreational resorts. In 2002 IMG had 3,000 employees in 85 offices in 33 countries. Mark H. McCormack died on 16 May 2003 at the age of 72. Co-CEOs Bob Kain and Alastair Johnston were appointed to head IMG.


Medical facility birth with skilled birth attendance is essential to reduce maternal mortality. The purpose of this study was to assess the demographic characteristics, socio-economic factors, and varied health information sources that may influence the uptake of birth services in Pakistan. We used pooled data from Maternal-Child Health Program Indicator Survey 2013 and 2014. Study population was 9719 women. Generalized linear model with log link and a Poisson distribution was used to identify factors associated with place of birth. 3403 (35%) women gave birth at home, and 6316 (65%) women gave birth at a medical facility. After controlling for all covariates, women's age, number of children, education, wealth, and mother and child health information source (doctors and nurses/midwives) were associated with facility births. Women were significantly less likely to give birth at a medical facility if they received maternal-child health information from low-level health workers or relatives/friends. The findings suggest that interventions should target disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of women after considering rural-urban differences. Training non-health professionals may help improve facility birth. Further research is needed to examine the effect of individual information sources on facility birth, both in urban and rural areas in Pakistan.


Abstract. Asian dust has been reported to carry anthropogenic reactive nitrogen during transport from source areas to the oceans. In this study, we attempted to characterize NH4+ and NO3− in atmospheric particles collected at a coastal site in northern China during spring dust events from 2008 to 2011. Based on the mass concentrations of NH4+ and NO3− in each total suspended particle (TSP) sample, the samples can be classified into increasing or decreasing types. In Category 1, the concentrations of NH4+ and NO3− were 20–440 % higher in dust day samples relative to samples collected immediately before or after a dust event. These concentrations decreased by 10–75 % in the dust day samples in Categories 2 and 3. Back trajectory analysis suggested that multiple factors, such as the transport distance prior to the reception site, the mixing layer depth on the transport route and the residence time across highly polluted regions, might affect the concentrations of NH4+ and NO3−. NH4+ in the dust day samples was likely either in the form of ammonium salts existing separately to dust aerosols or as the residual of incomplete reactions between ammonium salts and carbonate salts. NO3− in the dust day samples was attributed to various formation processes during the long-range transport. The positive matrix factorization (PMF) receptor model results showed that the contribution of soil dust increased from 23 to 36 % on dust days, with decreasing contributions from local anthropogenic inputs and associated secondary aerosols. The estimated deposition flux of NNH4++NO3− varied greatly from event to event; e.g., the dry deposition flux of NNH4++NO3− increased by 9–285 % in Category 1 but decreased by 46–73 % in Category 2. In Category 3, the average dry deposition fluxes of particulate nitrate and ammonium decreased by 46 % and increased by 10 %, respectively, leading to 11–48 % decrease in the fluxes of NNH4++NO3−.


Enterprise information system configuration is a complex process dealing with interrelated issues. A four-stage methodology has been proposed in order to effectively explore configuration issues. The main advantage of the proposed methodology is the adoption of a common meta-model for the representation of systems throughout all configuration stages, ensuring interoperability and model consistency. In practice, configuration stages are supported by automated or semi-automated tools, each of which adopts its own meta-model for system representation. In order to apply the methodology using existing autonomous tools, model exchangeability (thus meta-model transformation) and tool co-ordination must be facilitated by standard, open methods. Thus, the common meta-model is implemented in a standard, exchangeable format, as XML. To provide a standard method to visualize the common meta-model, facilitate the designer to interact with it and co-ordinate specific tool invocation, a UML 2.0 profile was defined. Different UML 2.0 diagrams are integrated to support different views of the system. The representation of relationships and restrictions among discrete meta-model entities must be facilitated to identify and explore the dependencies between configuration stages. Constraints are extensively used for this purpose. A case study where the proposed profile utilized the configuration of a large-scale banking system is also presented


The paper highlights how key results from historical exploration for conventional hydrocarbons, dating back over 70 years, led
to the discovery of a new shale oil resource play in the UK.
Early conventional exploration in the West Lancashire sub-basin, conducted by D'Arcy Exploration, a forerunner of BP, was
focussed on areas of surface seepage, and resulted in the discovery of the shallow Formby oilfield in 1939. In the late 1940s
and early 1950s, a number of deeper wells were drilled, without success, targeting a proposed large Carboniferous
conventional trap, leakage from which was thought to be source of the shallow accumulation.
Exploration of the offshore East Irish Sea Basin, in the 1970s to 1990s, resulted in numerous oil & gas discoveries in Triassic
reservoirs, sourced directly from Visean- to Namurian-age pro-delta shale source rocks (including the Brigantian- to
Pendleian-age Bowland Shale Formation) precluding the requirement for secondary migration from Carboniferous traps.
Regional studies highlighting poor poroperm preservation in Carboniferous clastic reservoirs led to the further downgrading of
Carboniferous prospectivity.
The recent identification of an unconventional shale gas play in the West Lancashire sub-basin by Cuadrilla Resources, within
the Bowland Shale Formation, has led to a re-evaluation of the Formby area.
New palynological and geochemical analyses of the early wells, presented in this paper, confirm the presence of a thick,
prospective, Bowland Shale in the south of the West Lancashire sub-basin. Evidence that, locally, the Bowland Shale has
generated liquid hydrocarbons is proven by the presence of the Formby shallow oilfield and the numerous oil seeps and relict
hydrocarbon columns in the area; opening up a new shale oil resource play.
The cumulative results from decades of exploration has revealed the true, unconventional, nature of the Carboniferous
"mother lode" sought initially by D'Arcy, thereby heralding a new chapter in the hydrocarbon exploration of the basin.


In this thesis two different models, that is levels of abstraction, are used to explore specific classes of molecular structures and their properties. In part I, fullerenes and other all-carbon cages are investigated using graphs as a representation of their molecular structure. By this means the large isomer space, simple molecular properties as well as pure graph theoretical aspects of the underlying graphs are explored. Although chemical graphs are used to represent other classes of molecules, cavernous carbon molecules are particularly well suited for this level of abstraction due to their large number of isomers with only one atom type and uniform hybridisation throughout the molecule. In part II, a force field for molecular dynamics, that is the step wise propagation of a molecular structure in time using Newtonian mechanics, is complemented by an additional term that takes into account residual dipolar couplings that are experimentally measured in NMR experiments. Adding this force term leads to more accurate simulated dynamics which is especially important for proteins whose functionality in many cases crucially depends on their dynamics. Large biomolecules are an example of chemical systems that are too large for treatment with quantum chemical methods but at the same time have an electronic structure that is simple enough for accurate simulations with a forcefield.


Arctic Ocean sea-level change is an important indicator of climate change. Contemporary geodetic observations, including data from tide gages, satellite altimetry and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), are sensitive to the effect of the ongoing glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) process. To fully exploit these geodetic observations to study climate related sea-level change, this GIA effect has to be removed. However, significant uncertainty exists with regard to the GIA model, and using different GIA models could lead to different results. In this study we use an ensemble of 14 contemporary GIA models to investigate their differences when they are applied to the above-mentioned geodetic observations to estimate sea-level change in the Arctic Ocean. We find that over the Arctic Ocean a large range of differences exists in GIA models when they are used to remove GIA effect from tide gage and GRACE observations, but with a relatively smaller range for satellite altimetry observations. In addition, we compare the derived sea-level trend from observations after applying different GIA models in the study regions, sea-level trend estimated from long-term tide gage data shows good agreement with altimetry result over the same data span. However the mass component of sea-level change obtained from GRACE data does not agree well with the result derived from steric-corrected altimeter observation due primarily to the large uncertainty of GIA models, errors in the Arctic Ocean altimetry or steric measurements, inadequate data span, or all of the above. We conclude that GIA correction is critical for studying sea-level change over the Arctic Ocean and further improvement in GIA modelling is needed to reduce the current discrepancies among models.


Demographic trends clearly indicate that the number of people over 60 years of age is increasing in most developing countries, while the availability of a young workforce is decreasing due to falling birth rates. Successful global competition drives the need to ensure the availability of a skilled workforce which accommodates older workers, is a real challenge for industrial organizations. An Inclusive Design approach is considered helpful in the assessment of workstations, product or service design requirements and the establishment of realistic production standards during the design development phase in any manufacturing industry. The approach can be used for a variety of industrial applications especially in manufacturing tasks such as assembly, maintenance, lifting, loading, unloading, transporting and machine operating activities. This paper reveals the need for an Inclusive Design approach that can potentially increase the productive time of the older workforce which can then make a valuable contribution to the economy. The paper also describes initial research which involves the re-analysis of a very large UK survey on ageing and disability and new data on joint mobility and its significance to the ageing workforce.


We report Li–Be–B and Al–Mg isotopic compositions of Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAIs) in Sayh al Uhaymir 290 (CH) and Isheyevo (CH/CB) metal-rich carbonaceous chondrites. All CAIs studied here do not show resolvable excesses in 26Mg, a decay product of the short-lived radionuclide 26Al, which suggests their formation occurred prior to the injection of 26Al into the solar system from a nearby stellar source. The inferred initial 10Be/9Be ratios obtained for these CAIs range from 0.17 × 10−3 to 6.1 × 10−3, which tend to be much higher and more variable than those of CAIs in CV3 chondrites. The high 10Be/9Be ratios suggest that 10Be was most likely synthesized through solar cosmic-ray irradiation. The lithium isotopic compositions of these CAIs are nearly chondritic, independent of their initial 10Be/9Be ratios. This can be explained by the irradiation targets being of chondritic composition; in other words, targets were most likely not solid CAI themselves, but their precursors in solar composition. The larger variations in 10Be/9Be ratios observed in CH and CH/CB CAIs than in CV CAIs may reflect more variable cosmic-ray fluxes from the earlier, more active Sun at an earlier evolutionary stage (class 0-I) for the former, and a later, less active stage of the Sun (class II) for the latter. If this is the case, our new Be–B and Al–Mg data set implies that the earliest formed CAIs tend to be transported into the outer part of the solar protoplanetary disk, where the parent bodies of metal-rich chondrites likely accreted.


What's New in the Third Edition, Revised Printing The same great book gets better! This revised printing features all of the original content along with these additional features:. Appendix A (Assemblers, Linkers, and the SPIM Simulator) has been moved from the CD-ROM into the printed book. Corrections and bug fixesThird Edition featuresNew pedagogical features.Understanding Program Performance -Analyzes key performance issues from the programmer's perspective .Check Yourself Questions -Helps students assess their understanding of key points of a section .Computers In the Real World -Illustrates the diversity of applications of computing technology beyond traditional desktop and servers .For More Practice -Provides students with additional problems they can tackle .In More Depth -Presents new information and challenging exercises for the advanced student New reference features .Highlighted glossary terms and definitions appear on the book page, as bold-faced entries in the index, and as a separate and searchable reference on the CD. .A complete index of the material in the book and on the CD appears in the printed index and the CD includes a fully searchable version of the same index. .Historical Perspectives and Further Readings have been updated and expanded to include the history of software R&D. .CD-Library provides materials collected from the web which directly support the text. In addition to thoroughly updating every aspect of the text to reflect the most current computing technology, the third edition .Uses standard 32-bit MIPS 32 as the primary teaching ISA. .Presents the assembler-to-HLL translations in both C and Java. .Highlights the latest developments in architecture in Real Stuff sections: -Intel IA-32 -Power PC 604 -Google's PC cluster -Pentium P4 -SPEC CPU2000 benchmark suite for processors -SPEC Web99 benchmark for web servers -EEMBC benchmark for embedded systems -AMD Opteron memory hierarchy -AMD vs. 1A-64 New support for distinct course goals Many of the adopters who have used our book throughout its two editions are refining their courses with a greater hardware or software focus. We have provided new material to support these course goals: New material to support a Hardware Focus .Using logic design conventions .Designing with hardware description languages .Advanced pipelining .Designing with FPGAs .HDL simulators and tutorials .Xilinx CAD tools New material to support a Software Focus .How compilers work .How to optimize compilers .How to implement object oriented languages .MIPS simulator and tutorial .History sections on programming languages, compilers, operating systems and databases On the CD.NEW: Search function to search for content on both the CD-ROM and the printed text.CD-Bars: Full length sections that are introduced in the book and presented on the CD .CD-Appendixes: Appendices B-D .CD-Library: Materials collected from the web which directly support the text .CD-Exercises: For More Practice provides exercises and solutions for self-study.In More Depth presents new information and challenging exercises for the advanced or curious student .Glossary: Terms that are defined in the text are collected in this searchable reference .Further Reading: References are organized by the chapter they support .Software: HDL simulators, MIPS simulators, and FPGA design tools .Tutorials: SPIM, Verilog, and VHDL .Additional Support: Processor Models, Labs, Homeworks, Index covering the book and CD contents Instructor Support Instructor support provided on textbooks.elsevier.com:.Solutions to all the exercises .Figures from the book in a number of formats .Lecture slides prepared by the authors and other instructors .Lecture notes


Movement at the subtalar joint is believed to be a fundamental contributor to
foot function during walking. The complex structure and movement, and
inaccessibility of the joint have resulted in limited published data with which to
substantiate or refute theories regarding its movement during walking. This
study investigated the use of the CODA M PX30 three d imensional motion
analysis system and a purpose designed marker placement model as a strategy
for measuring the movement of the subtalar joint during the contact phase of
walking. The in vitro reliability of the measurement strategy was tested and the
combination of the CODA M PX30 and the marker placement model shown to
be reliable. The effect of skin movement on surface marker location was
investigated. Although markers were shown to move relative to the bones,
angular orientations calculated from marker positions were shown to be
representative of those calculated directly from the bones. The in vivo reliability
of the measurement strategy was tested using multiple data sets from a single
subject. Results showed the measurement strategy to be reliable and to
produce results comparable to previous published data. Subsequent testing on
m u ltiple subjects produced a similar outcome. The novel measurement strategy
described in this study was shown to be a valid non-invasive, i n vivo method of
assessing the movement of the subtalar joint during the contact phase of
walking.


The emergence of post-Socialist legal orders is reshaping some of the familiar terrain of comparative legal studies. This Article, invited as part of an effort to think about the topic of "What the Rest think of the West," reconsiders the vast legal re-codification projects that stand at the center of "nation-building" projects in formerly Socialist states. Such projects, and the rupture from which they emerge, challenge essentialist or static notions of identity and assumptions of where the West is or where the Rest begin. Anthropological concepts of "liminality" and "deixis" assist in understanding Ukrainian legal experts' thinking on legal reforms conducted under the banner of Europeanization. An ambivalent recognition of the potential for Western hegemony is counterpoised with an awareness of the power for the margins to change Europe at its center. "Europe," in legal practice, is reconceived as a performance space for the present and a conceptual marker of an open future. The study of Ukrainian legal projects in a Europeanization mode may lend broader insight into the role of law in other projects of nation-building; strengths and fragilities of Europe itself; and the work that temporality performs for legal actors negotiating freighted political-economic and geopolitical frameworks.


Usually, important parameters in the design and implementation of combinational logic circuits are the number of gates, transistors, and the levels used in the design of the circuit. In this regard, various evolutionary paradigms with different competency have recently been introduced. However, while being advantageous, evolutionary paradigms also have some limitations including: a) lack of confidence in reaching at the correct answer, b) long convergence time, and c) restriction on the tests performed with higher number of input variables. In this paper, we have implemented a genetic programming approach that given a Boolean function, outputs its equivalent circuit such that the truth table is covered and the minimum number of gates (and to some extent transistors and levels) are used. Furthermore, our implementation improves the aforementioned limitations by: Incorporating a self-repairing feature (improving limitation a); Efficient use of the conceivable coding space of the problem, which virtually brings about a kind of parallelism and improves the convergence time (improving limitation b). Moreover, we have applied our method to solve Boolean functions with higher number of inputs (improving limitation c). These issues are verified through multiple tests and the results are reported.


This opinion describes the assessment of the risks to public health associated with bisphenol A (BPA) exposure. Exposure was assessed for various groups of the human population in three different ways: (1) external (by diet, drinking water, inhalation, and dermal contact to cosmetics and thermal paper); (2) internal exposure to total BPA (absorbed dose of BPA, sum of conjugated and unconjugated BPA); and (3) aggregated (from diet, dust, cosmetics and thermal paper), expressed as oral human equivalent dose (HED) referring to unconjugated BPA only. The estimated BPA dietary intake was highest in infants and toddlers (up to 0.875 μg/kg bw per day). Women of childbearing age had dietary exposures comparable to men of the same age (up to 0.388 μg/kg bw per day). The highest aggregated exposure of 1.449 μg/kg bw per day was estimated for adolescents. Biomonitoring data were in line with estimated internal exposure to total BPA from all sources. BPA toxicity was evaluated by a weight of evidence approach. "Likely" adverse effects in animals on kidney and mammary gland underwent benchmark dose (BMDL10) response modelling. A BMDL10 of 8 960 μg/kg bw per day was calculated for changes in the mean relative kidney weight in a two generation toxicity study in mice. No BMDL10 could be calculated for mammary gland effects. Using data on toxicokinetics, this BMDL10 was converted to an HED of 609 μg/kg bw per day. The CEF Panel applied a total uncertainty factor of 150 (for interand intra-species differences and uncertainty in mammary gland, reproductive, neurobehavioural, immune and metabolic system effects) to establish a temporary Tolerable Daily Intake (t-TDI) of 4 μg/kg bw per day. By comparing this t-TDI with the exposure estimates, the CEF Panel concluded that there is no health concern for any age group from dietary exposure or from aggregated exposure. The CEF Panel noted considerable uncertainty in the exposure estimates for non-dietary sources, whilst the uncertainty around dietary estimates was relatively low. © European Food Safety Authority, 2015


Despite the superior oxygen evolution electrocatalytic activity of metal-selenide nanostructures, especially when compared with their oxide counterparts, the origin behind their excellent activity remains unclear. Herein, we conduct a thorough and meticulous study on the NiSe oxygen evolution nanoelectrocatalyst—a representative metal selenide that was recently reported to be effective for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Our results unambiguously show that NiSe undergoes deselenization under electrocatalytic conditions, finally in situ transforming into a NiSe/NiOx core/shell nanostructure; the latter core/shell nanomaterial gives a superior activity towards OER. The NiSe/NiOx nanomaterial affords a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential as low as ∼243 mV, outperforming most of the previously reported nickel (hydro)oxide OER electrocatalysts. These results further imply that the electrocatalytic activity of the so-called NiSe catalysts should originate from the in situ formed amorphous NiOx shell in nature, with the NiSe core having some auxiliary effects on the catalytic activity. Additionally, the NiSe/NiOx nanomaterial is also found to show a higher electrocatalytic activity than NiSe itself for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in basic media.


In this paper, we propose a new local spatio-temporal descriptor for videos and we propose a new approach for action recognition in videos based on the introduced descriptor. The new descriptor is called the Video Covariance Matrix Logarithm (VCML). The VCML descriptor is based on a covariance matrix representation, and it models relationships between different low-level features, such as intensity and gradient. We apply the VCML descriptor to encode appearance information of local spatio-temporal video volumes, which are extracted by the Dense Trajectories. Then, we present an extensive evaluation of the proposed VCML descriptor with the Fisher vector encoding and the Support Vector Machines on four challenging action recognition datasets. We show that the VCML descriptor achieves better results than the state-of-the-art appearance descriptors. Moreover, we present that the VCML descriptor carries complementary information to the HOG descriptor and their fusion gives a significant improvement in action recognition accuracy. Finally, we show that the VCML descriptor improves action recognition accuracy in comparison to the state-of-the-art Dense Trajectories, and that the proposed approach achieves superior performance to the state-of-theart methods.


Simulated sampling of nine tree stands was used to compare estimated stand component weights with known weights based on complete harvest. On average, estimates based on regressions of logarithm weight on either logarithm tree diameter or on logarithm (diameter) squared x height overestimated weights of stems, branches, and leaves by approximately 3% when the inherent bias of such regressions was accounted for. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals based on random sampling encompassed the measured stand weights 79%-100% of the time. Similar confidence intervals using stratified random sampling based on tree diameter encompassed the measured stand weights only 44%-98% of the time. The small average bias in estimates of stand weights using logarithmic regressions is of minor importance compared with the variation in estimates among replicated samples. 21 references.


Between 1820 and 1827 approximately 1,800 U.S. citizens immigrated to northern Mexico as part of that country's empresario program, in which the federal government granted foreigners land if they promised to develop and secure the region. Historians have long argued that these settlers, traditionally seen as the vanguard of Manifest Destiny, were attracted to Mexico for its cheap land and rich natural resources. Such interpretations have lent a tone of inevitability to events like the Texas Revolution. This article argues that the early members of these groups were attracted to Mexico for chiefly political reasons. At a time when the United States appeared to be turning away from its commitment to a weak federal government, Mexico was establishing itself on a constitution that insured local sovereignty and autonomy. Thus, the Texas Revolution was far from the result of two irreconcilable peoples and cultures. Moreover, the role that these settlers played in the United States' acquisition of not just Texas, but ultimately half of Mexico's national territory, was more paradoxical than inevitable.


Vaccination provides the best form of protection against seasonal and pandemic influenza. Intranasal (i.n.) vaccination against influenza poses several advantages to an intramuscular injection, such as simple, noninvasive administration and the potential induction of mucosal immune responses in addition to systemic ones. The aim of in this thesis is the rational design of an inactivated i.n. influenza vaccine. Initially, four commonly used, nonadjuvanted influenza vaccines were tested to determine the optimal antigen formulation for i.n. administration. From these studies, whole inactivated virus (WIV) was selected as the best candidate for further optimization as an i.n. inactivated influenza vaccine. Next, WIV was formulated with N,N,N-trimethylchitosan (TMC), a water-soluble, cationic, mucoadhesive polymer. The addition of TMC, which is partially bound to the WIV particles and partially present in solution, strongly enhanced the immunogenicity of the vaccines and induced complete protection after i.n. vaccination in mice. Additionally, the relationship between structure and adjuvanticity of TMC structural variants in an i.n. WIV-based vaccine was investigated. Furthermore, the influence of TMC on the nasal residence time, antigen distribution in the nasal cavity and local toxicity was assessed. The increased adjuvanticity of TMC-WIV vaccines could not be explained by a prolonged nasal residence time, but likely the interaction between WIV and the mucosal surfaces is enhanced by formulation with TMC. Minimal local toxicity was observed. Next, a study was performed to clarify why reacetylated TMC(TMCRA)did not work as an adjuvant, in contrast to all other TMC structural variants. It appeared that TMCRA did not enhance the antigen uptake by epithelial cells as much as the other TMCs. Interestingly, initial studies on dendritic cells (DCs) suggest that TMCRA does act as an immunostimulant on human DCs but not as pronounced on murine DCs. Finally, the colloidal stability of these TMC-WIV vaccines was studied and revealed that stable colloidal formulations of positively charged, TMC-coated WIV particles can be obtained with all TMC variants. However, the TMC:WIV w/w ratio; the salt concentration and the type of TMC influence the stability of the formed TMC-WIV formulations. Freeze drying these formulations seems feasible for further enhancement of the colloidal stability. Altogether, the research in this thesis resulted in the rational design of an i.n. influenza vaccine, based on WIV with TMC as an adjuvant, that shows promising results for further development.


Study sample Power calculations were not used to determine the sample size. A total of 154 patients entered the randomisation phase, and 147 began the study. 29 patients were assigned to the conventional group with a mean (SD) age of 39.7 (19) years, 57 patients were assigned to the Y system group with a mean (SD) age of 43.2 (21.3) years, and 61 patients to the twin bag group with a mean (SD) age of 43.6 (21.9) years.


Abstract: The creation of the World Trade Organization in 1994 with its streamlined and highly automatic system of dispute settlement has left open the question of whether we can identify a theory of its legal system. This article posits the idea that such a theory can be discerned if we conceive of the WTO Agreement as protecting expectations about trade, facilitating adjustment to realities encountered in trade, and promoting interdependence between economic operators. Each of these purposes is implemented under the WTO Agreement by a specific instrument. In the case of expectations it is collective obligations, in the case of realities it is individual rights, and in the case of interdependence it is a combination of the foregoing two – a lex specialis. The tension in this arrangement resolves itself in the form of a dialectic between WTO and domestic law. The article goes on to posit some consequences of the theory for the broader corpus of public international law.


This paper constructs a class of generalized embeddings of multiplicative watermarks. Ordinary multiplica- tive and additive methods are included as special cases. The new watermarks automatically adapt to the local contents of host signals, benefiting the perceptual quality. The decoding makes use of the optimal generalized correlation detector. The host interference is precanceled at the embedder side and very high gains are obtained in terms of decoding capability. We develop performance analysis for this new class of embeddings. It turns out that the plain multiplicative watermark is far outperformed by the new embedding. Further, the multiplicative watermark with host interference rejection is still suboptimal. The best embeddings and configurations are specified for typical scenarios. Our construction and performance analyses of the generalized embedding offer a class of new methods. The construction and analyses are confirmed by empirical experiments.


Computing has its roots in mathematics, where lectures are the dominant mode of education. Software engineering (SE) education, born from computer science, is also traditionally taught using lectures, but has grown beyond its mathematical roots; as the name implies, it is an engineering discipline. It is arguably necessary for SE to rethink its approach to education. Studio education is one alternative being explored. Studios originated from architecture and design, and are complex spaces used by collocated students to collaboratively and individually work on projects; they emphasise a physical "home" for students, problem-based and peer-based learning, and mentoring by academic staff rather than formal lectures. There are inherent similarities between SE and the original studio disciplines: e.g. we often use the architecture of buildings as metaphors when designing and describing software. This suggests that studios in SE should be further explored, despite its apparent lack of uptake across institutions worldwide. This thesis aims to provide useful information for anyone considering utilizing a studio-based approach. Initially, with no widely accepted definition for studio education available, a series of interviews with design/architecture studio educators was conducted, culminating in an understanding in the form of the 'studio framework'. This is followed by further interviews, with SE studio educators, to determine their perspective of studio education, and exploring the SE specific elements to studio education. Finally, experiences and observations are shared of Lancaster University's recent SE studio, comparing it to the studio framework.


ABSTRACT Using 23 novel indicators and a 1,000+ sample representative of a full undergraduate population we examined: how much consensus there was about perceptions of the incivility/civility of various categories of speech/behavior; and whether political incivility is a unidimensional or multidimensional latent construct. Confirmatory factor analyses suggest perceived political incivility is a multidimensional construct. Insulting utterances, deception, and behaviors tending to shut down inclusive ongoing discussion can be treated as distinct, underlying aspects of incivility. More than 75% of respondents viewed all 23 indicators, except issue-oriented attacks, as very, mostly, or somewhat uncivil. If replicated on a representative national sample, standardized indicators of political incivility should be constructed and routinely employed in national surveys of political attitudes and behavior.


This paper reports on the patterns of participation in organised sports of youngsters coming towards the end of primary school, with a view to identifying emergent sporting habits in relation to social class gradients. The data for the study were generated via 90 semi-structured interviews with parents and children from 62 families. The data revealed differences in organised activity participation (both at and beyond school) between an 'under-class' and combined middle-class groups of children, as well as within-class gradients among the middle-class sub-groups. There were, for example, substantial differences between the under-class group and the combined middle-class group in terms of both the average number of bouts of organised sports participation and the repertoire or variety of sports engaged with. In effect, the mid- and upper-middle-class children were already sporting and cultural omnivores by the final years of primary schooling. We conclude that while the primary school organised sporting 'offer' may be neither a sufficient nor even a necessary contribution to the emerging sporting habits of mid- and upper-middle-class children, for under-class children it is likely to be necessary even though it may still prove, in the longer run, insufficient.


This paper seeks to explore the integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) into corporate governance (CG) structure and system. To obtain this objective, this paper firstly reviews the extensive literature of CG and CSR. Second, it investigates the conception and understanding of interrelationship between CG and CSR within case study context of petrochemical company operates in Saudi Arabia. A qualitative case study was adopted by conducting in-depth interviews with participants at various levels of board and management in petrochemical company operates in Saudi Arabia. The findings suggested that the majority of participants consider CG as an essential foundation for sustainable CSR activities. The significance of the findings can be found in the fact that the previous trend of focusing solely on CG in developing countries has been reverted and more attention is dedicated to CSR. The current study contributes to existing body of CSR and CG literature by presenting the new CSR governance model. Two important implications can be found in this study. At organizational level, board members and managers can improve the corporate policy and practice in context of engaging with stakeholders. At the national level, the policy makers within developing countries can build on the conclusion drawn in this paper and enhance capacities of their regulatory and judicial systems to protect stakeholder's interest.


Drawing on research into rural mobility carried out in Ghana and Malawi and other field experience from Zambia, Kenya and Ghana, data is presented that demonstrates that there is very wide range of use of motor vehicle transport for personal movement. For example, the motorised mobility rate in Kwabre in Ghana was found to be 35 trips per person per year while it was found to be less about one tenth of a trip per person per year in five Districts in Malawi (ie a 350 fold range). The evidence suggests that at current service and fare levels the poorest people can only make use of motor vehicle transport for the long distance transport of crops. In contrast better off rural populations will make extensive use of transport services for a wide variety of social and economic purposes. A tentative income based model of mobility is presented. It is recognised that road investments can be an expensive intervention relative to the incomes of those affected and there may be no guarantee that the poorest members of the community will benefit other than through the direct effects of transport cost savings on the economics of crop marketing. Complementary measures are required in order to increase the personal mobility of the very poor. In order to take a more holistic approach to the alleviation of poverty through transport measures, it is suggested that direct interventions should be made to encourage the provision of transport services at low fare levels for the most disadvantaged rural communities. A possible Private-Public Partnership solution is suggested. (A)


Tinospora crispa is a traditional medicinal plant in Malaysia with anti-cancer properties as shown in recent studies. The main objective of this study was to determine the anti proliferative effect of T. crispa methanol extract on triple negative breast cancer. MTT assay was performed to determine the cell viability of triple negative breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and HCC1806) and normal breast cell line (MCF-10A). The type of cell death was determined using flow cytometry and cellular DNA fragmentation ELISA while Comet assay was used to determine the genotoxicity. qPCR was used to investigate the mRNA expression levels of the caspases 3, 8, 9 and NF-kB. The present results showed that T. crispa decreased the cell viability in triple negative breast cancer cells in a dose dependent manner with an IC50 of 66±3/ag/ml and 60±4|ig/ml in MDA-MB-231 and HCC1806 cells respectively. While for MCF-10A, the IC50 was 248±4(rg/ml. The type of cell death in MDA-MB-231, HCC1806 and MCF-10A cells was mainly due to apoptosis. The comet assay data for T. crispa did not detect any DNA damage on MDA-MB-231, HCC1806 and MCF-10A cell lines. Our results also showed that cisplatin significantly up-regulated NF-kB gene expression. Many studies reported that the up-regulation of NFkB increases the resistance of cancer cells to apoptosis. Unlike cisplatin, T. crispa did not show any significant change in the mRNA expression levels of NF-kB. Furthermore, when used in combination T. crispa and cisplatin, the combination significantly downregulated the gene expression of NF-kB and significantly up-regulated the gene expression of caspases 3, 8 and 9 in the cancer cells compared to single usage indicating more apoptotic activity. In Conclusion, T. crispa showed anti-proliferative effect on triple negative breast cancer cells with less toxicity to the normal breast cells. The cell death was mainly due to apoptosis and the combination of T. crispa and cisplatin significantly down-regulated the NF-kB gene expression which in turn increased apoptosis in the cancer cell lines.