In this paper we develop a small open economy model explaining the joint determination of output, inflation, interest rates, unemployment and the exchange rate in a multi-country framework. Our model - the Halle Economic Projection Model (HEPM) - is closely related to studies recently published by the International Monetary Fund (global projection model). Our main contribution is that we model the Euro area countries separately. In this version we consider Germany and France, which represent together about 50 percent of Euro area GDP. The model allows for country specific heterogeneity in the sense that we capture different adjustment patterns to economic shocks. The model is estimated using Bayesian techniques. Out-of-sample and pseudo out-of-sample forecasts are presented.


Our senses are our window to the world, and hearing is the window through which we perceive the world of sound. While seemingly effortless, the process of hearing involves complex transformations by which the auditory system consolidates acoustic information from the environment into perceptual and cognitive experiences. Studies of auditory processing try to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the function of the auditory system, and infer computational strategies that are valuable both clinically and intellectually, hence contributing to our understanding of the function of the brain.
In this thesis, we adopt both an experimental and computational approach in tackling various aspects of auditory processing. We first investigate the neural basis underlying the function of the auditory cortex, and explore the dynamics and computational mechanisms of cortical processing. Our findings offer physiological evidence for a role of primary cortical neurons in the integration of sound features at different time constants, and possibly in the formation of auditory objects.
Based on physiological principles of sound processing; we explore computational implementations in tackling specific perceptual questions. We exploit our knowledge of the neural mechanisms of cortical auditory processing to formulate models addressing the problems of speech intelligibility and auditory scene analysis. The intelligibility model focuses on a computational approach for evaluating loss of intelligibility, inspired from mammalian physiology and human perception. It is based on a multi-resolution filterbank implementation of cortical response patterns, which extends into a robust metric for assessing loss of intelligibility in communication channels and speech recordings.
This same cortical representation is extended further to develop a computational scheme for auditory scene analysis. The model maps perceptual principles of auditory grouping and stream formation into a computational system that combines aspects of bottom-up, primitive sound processing with an internal representation of the world. It is based on a framework of unsupervised adaptive learning with Kalman estimation. The model is extremely valuable in exploring various aspects of sound organization in the brain, allowing us to gain interesting insight into the neural basis of auditory scene analysis, as well as practical implementations for sound separation in "cocktail-party" situations.


AgroGrid is a Business Experiment within EU project BEinGRID. The motivation behind AgroGrid is to introduce Grid technology in the agricultural sector and to create a Grid-based market in order to enable companies to deploy their capacities extensively as well as to ensure food safety via efficient tracking and tracing of goods and SLA-based monitoring mechanisms. In this paper we present the architecture of the AgroGrid system with above mentioned capabilities, focusing on the process of dynamic supply chain composition and SLA based monitoring of established supply chains. Abstract AgroGrid is a Business Experiment within EU project BEinGRID. The motivation behind AgroGrid is to introduce Grid technology in the agricultural sector and to create a Grid-based market in order to enable companies to deploy their capacities extensively as well as to ensure food safety via efficient tracking and tracing of goods and SLA-based monitoring mechanisms. In this paper we present the architecture of the AgroGrid system with above mentioned capabilities, focusing on the process of dynamic supply chain composition and SLA based monitoring of established supply chains.


Abstract Drawing on statistical learning theory, we derive out-of-sample and optimality guarantees about the investment strategy obtained from a regularized portfolio optimization model which attempts to exploit side information about the financial market in order to reach an optimal risk-return tradeoff. This side information might include for instance recent stock returns, volatility indexes, financial news indicators, etc. In particular, we demonstrate that a regularized investment policy that linearly combines this side information in a way that is optimal from the perspective of a random sample set is guaranteed to perform also relatively well (i.e., within a perturbing factor of ) with respect to the unknown distribution that generated this sample set. We also demonstrate that these performance guarantees are lost in a high-dimensional regime where the size of the side information vector is of an order that is comparable to the sample size. We further extend these results to the case where non-linear investment policies are considered using a kernel operator and show that with radial basis function kernels the performance guarantees become insensitive to how much side information is used. Finally, we illustrate our findings with a set of numerical experiments involving financial data for the NASDAQ composite index.


After a trip to El Salvador, a woman experienced fever, malaise, and other symptoms. She had a history of a positive antinuclear antibodies test result, Raynaud phenomenon, and erythematous rash. The patient was hospitalized for pneumonia, and her symptoms persisted when she received antibiotics. Later her right ankle became red, swollen, and tender. Examination of the patient's extremities showed osteoarthritis changes.


Abstract. We describe a first attempt of wide-area dendroclimatic reconstruction, based upon seven spring temperature-sensitive chronologies from the ring widths of living trees, in Japan and Korea. Mean March–May temperature derived from a gridded land air temperature dataset (CRUTEM4) between 35–40° N and 125–140° E was reconstructed for the period of AD 1784–1990. Of the seven, two Japanese chronologies were eliminated during the calibration trials. The reconstruction accounted for 19.4% of the temperature variance in the calibration period, and is considered to be skillful for estimating interannual-to-interdecadal variations and not for long-term change. This reconstruction showed remarkably similar fluctuations to regional dendroclimatic reconstructions in Japan and Korea, indicating the past spatial coherency of spring temperatures in the region. The reconstruction was validated against other climate proxies. A fairly good agreement was found with cold periods as estimated from documentary records in southeast China and Japan. The west Japan temperature series recovered from instrumental records also showed a reasonable agreement with the reconstruction. On the other hand, the reconstruction did not show clear abrupt depressions after the Laki and the Tambora eruptions. These comparisons revealed that dendroclimatic spatial reconstruction in this area offers a good potential for reconstructing long-term and large-scale past temperature patterns for northeast Asia.


"This book demonstrates that smart, well-constructed investments in global health can achieve a widespread impact on the way people live." --Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator This series of twenty case studies illustrates real-life proven, large-scale success stories in global public health. Drawing from a rich evidence base, the accessible case write-ups highlight experiences in scale-up of health technologies, strengthening of health systems, and the use of health education and policy change to achieve impressive reductions in disease and disability, even in the poorest countries. An overview chapter draws attention to factors that contributed to the successes. Discussion questions help to bring out the main points and provide a point of departure for independent student research. This volume is an updated and expanded version of the popular and influential book Millions Saved: Proven Successes in Global Health, published in 2004 by the Center for Global Development. Useful as a stand-alone text or as a complement to Essentials of Global Health, this book will give your students a clear and inspiring picture of how global public health efforts have made a difference in the lives of people around the world. Looking for more real-life evidence? Check out Cases 1, 3, 6, 7, & 13 in Essential Case Studies in Public Health, Putting Public Health into Practice.


One of the main challenges in consciousness research is widely known as the hard problem of consciousness. In order to tackle this problem, I utilize an approach from theoretical physics, called stochastic electrodynamics (SED), which goes one step beyond quantum theory and sheds new light on the reality behind matter. According to this approach, matter is a resonant oscillator that is orchestrated by an all-pervasive stochastic radiation field, called zero-point field (ZPF). The properties of matter are not intrinsic but acquired by dynamic interaction with the ZPF, which in turn picks up information about the material system as soon as an ordered state, i.e., a stable attractor, is reached. I point out that these principles apply also to macroscopic biological systems. From this perspective, long-range correlations in the brain, such as neural gamma synchrony, can be interpreted in terms of order phenomena induced and stabilized by the ZPF, suggesting that every attractor in the brain goes along with an information state in the ZPF. In order to build the bridge to consciousness, I employ additional input from Eastern philosophy. From a comparison between SED and Eastern philosophy I draw the conclusion that the ZPF is an appropriate candidate for the substrate of consciousness, implying that information states in the ZPF are associated with conscious states. On this basis I develop a conceptual framework for consciousness that is fully consistent with physics, neurophysiology, and Eastern philosophy. I argue that this conceptual framework has many interesting features and opens a door to a theory of consciousness. Particularly, it solves the problem of how matter and consciousness communicate in a causally closed functional chain, it gives a physical grounding to existing approaches regarding the connection between consciousness and information, and it gives clear direction to future models and experiments.


Skin and hair pigmentation are two of the most easily visible examples of human phenotypic variation. Selection-based explanations for pigmentation variation in humans have focused on the relationship between melanin and ultraviolet radiation, which is largely dependent on latitude. In this study, skin and hair pigmentation were measured as the melanin (M) index, using narrow-band reflectance spectroscopy for 1,135 individuals from Island Melanesia. Overall, the results show remarkable pigmentation variation, given the small geographic region surveyed. This variation is discussed in terms of differences between males and females, among islands, and among neighborhoods within those islands. The relationship of pigmentation to age, latitude, and longitude is also examined. We found that male skin pigmentation was significantly darker than females in 5 of 6 islands examined. Hair pigmentation showed a negative, but weak, correlation with age, while skin pigmentation showed a positive, but also weak, correlation with age. Skin and hair pigmentation varied significantly between islands as well as between neighborhoods within those islands. Bougainvilleans showed significantly darker skin than individuals from any other island considered, and are darker than a previously described African-American population. These findings are discussed in relation to prevailing hypotheses about the role of natural selection in shaping pigmentation variation in the human species, as well as the role of demographic processes such as admixture and drift in Island Melanesia.


Educational quality has been improving in South Africa, off a low base, according to international testing programmes. Yet this trajectory was fragile already before the COVID-19 pandemic. Models recently developed to understand the impact of the pandemic on educational quality, when applied to South Africa, reveal trends which are worrying. Learning losses can be expected to exceed what is suggested by actual days of schooling lost, as prolonged closures result in the forgetting of skills acquired before the closure. Depending on how successful the efforts of the schooling system and individual teachers are in catching up lost learning, below-expected Grade 12 outcomes lasting to at least 2022, and possibly as far as 2031, could be experienced. This will compromise progress in the post-school education sector, and productivity in the labour market. Two drivers of past improvements in learning outcomes seem particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the pandemic: access to educational materials by learners could be reduced as budgets are cut; and participation in pre-schools could drop as poor households become unable to pay fees. Even before the pandemic, it was clear that further qualitative improvement would require innovation in the schooling sector. Two areas of innovation should continue to receive attention in the coming years: taking to scale new methods in the teaching of early grade reading which government's own research has found to be effective; and building better school accountability systems, within the framework offered by the National Development Plan.


Context: There are different methods of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) catheter placement. Open surgical technique is a widely followed method. The complication rate following catheter placement varies and catheter blockage due to omental plugging is one of the main reasons. Aim: To analyze the need for routine omentectomy during CAPD catheter placement. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 58 CAPD catheter placements performed between July 2002 and June 2007. Tenckhoff double cuffed catheter was used in all. The postoperative complications were analyzed. Results: There were 44 males and 14 females. The mean age was 51 years ranging from 15 to 76 years. Of these, 40 (69%) patients underwent omentectomy (group A) and 18 (31%) did not (group B). Laparoscopic and open techniques were performed in 5 and 53 patients, respectively. Omentectomy was not performed in 13 patients with open technique and all the five in the laparoscopic group. One patient in group A developed hemoperitoneum which was treated conservatively. None from group A developed catheter blockage, whereas five (27.8%) from group B developed catheter blockage postoperatively. The median time interval between the primary procedure and development of catheter blockage was 45 days (ranged from 14 to 150 days). Conclusions: Omentectomy during CAPD catheter placement prevents catheter blockage and secondary interventions.


Samples of a soft-bottom community from the continental slope of Campos Basin, off southeast Brazil, were obtained between 2001 and 2003 by the Research Vessel "Astro-Garoupa" with a 0.25 m 2 box corer or by dredging with a Charcot dredge. A total of 177 samples were taken at depths ranging from 700 to 1950 m. Mollusks were present at all of the stations and among Gastropoda the Turridae showed the highest diversity. Within the family Cochlespirinae we found: Leucosyrinx tenoceras (Dall, 1889), L. verrillii (Dall, 1881), expanding the known distribution of the latter species farther south, and L.? subgrundifera (Dall, 1888), which is the first record of this species for the South Atlantic and the shallowest depth at which it has ever been found. Within the family Drilliinae we found Splendrillia centimata (Dall, 1889), also the first record of this species for the South Atlantic and its shallowest depth. Within the subfamily Oenopotinae we describe here three new species in the genus Oenopota Morch, 1852: O. seraphina n. sp., O. diabula n. sp. and O. carioca n. sp.


Climate change-related effects threaten species worldwide; within-species populations may react differently to climate-induced stress due to local adaptation and partial isolation, particularly in areas with steep environmental gradients. Populations of the marine foundation seaweed Fucus vesiculosus are established over a steep salinity gradient at the entrance of the brackish water in the Baltic Sea (NE Atlantic). First, we analyzed the genetic differentiation among populations using thousands of genetic markers. Second, we measured the physiological tolerance to reduced salinity, a predicted effect of climate change in the study area, by measuring growth, phlorotannin (defense compounds) content, and maximum photochemical yield in tissue of the same individuals exposed to both current and projected future salinities. Our results show that despite short geographic distances (max 100 km), most populations were genetically well separated. Furthermore, populations responded very differently to a salinity decrease of four practical salinity units (psu) corresponding to projected future salinity. At the high salinity end of the gradient, some populations maintained growth at the cost of reduced phlorotannin production. However, at the low salinity end, mortality increased and growth was strongly reduced in one population, while a second population from similar salinity instead maintained growth and phlorotannin production. Among genetic markers that appeared as outliers (showing more genetic differentiation than the majority of loci), we found that four were associated with genes that were potential candidates for being under selection. One of these, a calcium-binding protein gene, also showed a significant genotype–phenotype relationship in the population where this genetic marker was variable. We concluded that local selection pressure, genetic affinity, and possibly also population history could explain the very different responses to reduced salinity among these populations, despite being from the same geographic area. Our results highlight the importance of local perspective in the management of species.


Pollination in maize can occur only if airborne pollen shed by the staminate flowers on the tassel is captured by the stigmas of the pistillate flowers borne on the ear. Since maize domestication, and especially with the introduction of hybrid seed production, many attempts have been made to control pollination to ensure maximum kernel set and high levels of genetic purity. The central hypothesis of this dissertation is that pollen shed and silk emergence are predictable processes, which can be simply quantified and used to characterize the capacity of the male inbreds to produce pollen and the ability of the females to extrude silks. This information, coupled with an assessment of pollen viability, could be used to model kernel set under varying conditions and to predict pollen drift and the risk of genetic contamination from one field to another. Chapter 2 presents a novel method to quantify the timing and intensity of pollen shed using passive pollen traps and capitalizing on the capacity of pollen to fluoresce. Chapter 3 provides another novel method of relating genetic differences in pollen production to the morphological characteristics of plant tassels. Chapter 4 describes a mathematical model developed to simulate potential kernel set from seasonal dynamics of pollen shed and silk exsertion. Chapter 5 successfully applies the model to hybrid seed production fields and demonstrates its utility to define management strategies that would optimize seed production. Chapter 6 presents an indirect approach to assess loss of pollen viability during its transport in air. Quantitative relations between environmental conditions during pollen dispersal (i.e. temperature, relative humidity) and pollen desiccation that can be used to assess pollen viability are shown. Finally, chapter 7 presents a quantitative approach to assess out-crossing and selfpollination risks based exclusively on the flowering characteristics of a given field.


Application of PV in the built environment, both as BAPV and BIPV, requires improved aesthetics, decreased operating temperatures of the modules and diodes, improved output under partial shading and reduced production costs while allowing the size and shape of the PV elements to be more flexible. ECN presents TESSERA: a novel PV module lay-out which allows linear shade performance, while at the same time allowing size and manufacturing flexibility which also leads to improved aesthetics as entire roof and façade areas can be utilized. Temperature measurements on module diodes shows the diodes in these PV modules only reach a temperature of 40C compared to 140C for conventional ones. Mechanical load tests to rails glued to the rear of the PV modules shows the interconnections are stable, allowing vertical, frameless installation. Hence, these TESSERA elements allow broader application of PV in the built environment.


Purpose: To determine if magnetotactic bacteria can target tumors in mice and provide positive contrast for visualization using magnetic resonance imaging. Experimental Design: The ability of the magnetotactic bacterium, Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 (referred to from here as AMB-1), to confer positive magnetic resonance imaging contrast was determined in vitro and in vivo. For the latter studies, AMB-1 were injected either i.t. or i.v. Bacterial growth conditions were manipulated to produce small (∼25-nm diameter) magnetite particles, which were observed using transmission electron microscopy. Tumor targeting was confirmed using 64Cu-labeled bacteria and positron emission tomography and by determination of viable cell counts recovered from different organs and the tumor. Results: We show that AMB-1 bacteria with small magnetite particles generate T1-weighted positive contrast, enhancing in vivo visualization by magnetic resonance imaging. Following i.v. injection of 64Cu-labeled AMB-1, positron emission tomography imaging revealed increasing colonization of tumors and decreasing infection of organs after 4 hours. Viable cell counts showed that, by day 6, the bacteria had colonized tumors but were cleared completely from other organs. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a 1.22-fold (P = 0.003) increased positive contrast in tumors on day 2 and a 1.39-fold increase (P = 0.0007) on day 6. Conclusion: Magnetotactic bacteria can produce positive magnetic resonance imaging contrast and colonize mouse tumor xenografts, providing a potential tool for improved magnetic resonance imaging visualization in preclinical and translational studies to track cancer. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(16):5170–7)


N Fertilizer recommendations must be improved to optimize N use efficiency (NUE) for bioenergy crops. A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that sites varying in historical usage of by-product differ in soil N-supplying power and sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) responsiveness to N fertilization. Our aim was to quantify soil N availability and N fertilizer rates, sources, and application timings for their effects on sugarcane yield and NUE. Three N response trials, each involving 0 to 200 kg N ha–1, were conducted in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, at sites varying historically in the usage of vinasse. Before fertilizer application and at harvest, soil inorganic N content was quantified and potential N mineralization estimated by the Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test (ISNT); stalk yield and sugar content were measured at harvest and used to estimate NUE. Sugarcane showed significant response to N fertilization only at the sites with no history of vinasse usage. Reducing the N rate from 120 to 80 kg N ha–1 showed limited potential for lowering yield (~ 1 %), while increasing the NUE by 54 %, which was far better than the 14 % increase achieved by modifying the N source or application timing. Monitoring inorganic N and ISNT levels over time to estimate soil N-supplying power has potential for predicting the responsiveness of sugarcane to N fertilization; however, ISNT interpretations must consider factors that impede mineralization or crop N utilization, such as soil acidity or a limitation on the availability of Ca or P. Soil N testing can help optimize NUE for sustainable bioenergy production.


This book explores the many provocative questions concerning the fundamentals of data analysis. It is based on the time-tested experience of one of the gurus of the subject matter. Why should one study data analysis? How should it be taught? What techniques work best, and for whom? How valid are the results? How much data should be tested? Which machine languages should be used, if used at all? Emphasis on apprenticeship (through hands-on case studies) and anecdotes (through real-life applications) are the tools that Peter J. Huber uses in this volume. Concern with specific statistical techniques is not of immediate value; rather, questions of strategy - when to use which technique - are employed. Central to the discussion is an understanding of the significance of massive (or robust) data sets, the implementation of languages, and the use of models. Each is sprinkled with an ample number of examples and case studies. Personal practices, various pitfalls, and existing controversies are presented when applicable. The book serves as an excellent philosophical and historical companion to any present-day text in data analysis, robust statistics, data mining, statistical learning, or computational statistics.


Background: The lymph node harvest from colorectal specimens is pivotal for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), independent of N stage. Aims: To determine whether the use of GEWF solution (glacial acetic acid, ethanol, distilled water and formaldehyde) could improve the lymph node harvest in CRC specimens. Methods: Consecutive fresh colonic (n = 60) and rectal (n = 60) specimens from patients with primary CRC resected at Aarhus University Hospital THG between March 2006 and July 2007 were randomised to either conventional preparation or GEWF preparation and examined in a standard manner. Results: For colonic as well as rectal specimens, the GEWF solution increased the mean lymph node harvest from 9 and 10 to 16 and 17 lymph nodes per specimen compared to conventional prepared specimens (p<0.001). Using the recommended threshold of 12 lymph nodes to ensure adequacy of nodal harvest, the adequacy increased from less than half to almost three quarters independent of tumour origin (p<0.037). The proportion of node-negative specimens was not significantly different between the two preparation groups. Conclusion: The use of GEWF solution in patients with CRC significantly increases the lymph node harvest of resected specimens.


Data is the natural resource of the 21st century. It is being produced at dizzying rates, e.g., for genomics, for media and entertainment, and for Internet of Things. Object storage systems such as Amazon S3, Azure Blob storage, and IBM Cloud Object Storage, are highly scalable distributed storage systems that offer high capacity, cost effective storage. But it is not enough just to store data; we also need to derive value from it. Apache Spark is the leading big data analytics processing engine combining MapReduce, SQL, streaming, and complex analytics. We present Stocator, a high performance storage connector, enabling Spark to work directly on data stored in object storage systems, while providing the same correctness guarantees as Hadoop's original storage system, HDFS. Current object storage connectors from the Hadoop community, e.g., for the S3 and Swift APIs, do not deal well with eventual consistency, which can lead to failure. These connectors assume file system semantics, which is natural given that their model of operation is based on interaction with HDFS. In particular, Spark and Hadoop achieve fault tolerance and enable speculative execution by creating temporary files, listing directories to identify these files, and then renaming them. This paradigm avoids interference between tasks doing the same work and thus writing output with the same name. However, with eventually consistent object storage, a container listing may not yet include a recently created object, and thus an object may not be renamed, leading to incomplete or incorrect results. Solutions such as EMRFS [1] from Amazon, S3mper [4] from Netflix, and S3Guard [2], attempt to overcome eventual consistency by requiring additional strongly consistent data storage. These solutions require multiple storage systems, are costly, and can introduce issues of consistency between the stores. Current object storage connectors from the Hadoop community are also notorious for their poor performance for write workloads. This, too, stems from their use of the rename operation, which is not a native object storage operation; not only is it not atomic, but it must be implemented using a costly copy operation, followed by delete. Others have tried to improve the performance of object storage connectors by eliminating rename, e.g., the Direct-ParquetOutputCommitter [5] for S3a introduced by Databricks, but have failed to preserve fault tolerance and speculation. Stocator takes advantage of object storage semantics to achieve both high performance and fault tolerance. It eliminates the rename paradigm by writing each output object to its final name. The name includes both the part number and the attempt number, so that multiple attempts to write the same part use different objects. Stocator proposes to extend an already existing success indicator object written at the end of a Spark job, to include a manifest with the names of all the objects that compose the final output; this ensures that a subsequent job will correctly read the output, without resorting to a list operation whose results may not be consistent. By leveraging the inherent atomicity of object creation and using a manifest we obtain fault tolerance and enable speculative execution; by avoiding the rename paradigm we greatly decrease the complexity of the connector and the number of operations on the object storage. We have implemented our connector and shared it in open source [3]. We have compared its performance with the S3a and Hadoop Swift connectors over a range of workloads and found that it executes many fewer operations on the object storage, in some cases as few as one thirtieth. Since the price for an object storage service typically includes charges based on the number of operations executed, this reduction in operations lowers the costs for clients in addition to reducing the load on client software. It also reduces costs and load for the object storage provider since it can serve more clients with the same amount of processing power. Stocator also substantially increases performance for Spark workloads running over object storage, especially for write intensive workloads, where it is as much as 18 times faster.


The T cell receptor (TCR)-CD3 complex consists of the antigen-binding TCRαβ dimer in noncovalent association with the δ, ε, γ, and ζ subunits of CD3 (see commentary by Malissen). These subunits contain 10 cytoplasmic immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs), which, when phosphorylated by tyrosine kinases, become docking sites for downstream signaling molecules, resulting in T cell activation and proliferation and cytokine production. Why each TCR contains 10 ITAM motifs is unclear, so Holst et al. investigated the contributions of individual ITAMs to TCR signaling. They transduced bone marrow cells from CD3-deficient mice with retroviruses that expressed either wild-type or ITAM-mutant CD3 subunits. These cells were transferred into T cell-deficient mice to establish 25 groups of mice with varying combinations of wild-type and ITAM-mutant CD3 subunits. The transferred T cells first traveled to the thymus, where they underwent positive and negative selection. The authors analyzed T cell development and proliferation in the recipient mice. Mice that received less than six ITAMs developed autoimmune diseases, as assessed by immunohistochemistry of affected tissues, whereas those mice with more than six ITAMs did not. There was a positive correlation between the number of ITAMs and T cell proliferation but not cytokine production. Regulatory T cell numbers and function were similar in the different groups of mice, leading the authors to conclude that lack of negative selection of self-reactive CD4+ T cells in the thymus rather than induction of self-reactive cells in the periphery caused autoimmunity. Indeed, lower ITAMs were associated with positive rather than negative selection of self-reactive T cells in other experiments, consistent with the idea that having too few ITAMs results in an insufficiently strong TCR signal to cause negative selection. This study suggests that different numbers of ITAMs are required for different aspects of T cell function, with high numbers required to prevent autoimmunity. J. Holst, H. Wang, K. D. Eder, C. J. Workman, K. L. Boyd, Z. Baquet, H. Singh, K. Forbes, A. Chruscinski, R. Smeyne, N. S. C. van Oers, P. J. Utz, D. A. A. Vignali, Scalable signaling mediated by T cell antigen receptor-CD3 ITAMS ensures effective negative selection and prevents autoimmunity. Nat. Immunol. 9, 658-666 (2008). [PubMed] B. Malissen, CD3 ITAMs count! Nat. Immunol. 9, 583-584 (2008). [PubMed]


Background Salvianolic acid B (SB) is an active component isolated from Danshen, a traditional Chinese medicine widely used for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. Previous study suggested that SB might inhibit adhesion as well as aggregation of platelets by a mechanism involving the integrin α2β1. But, the signal cascades in platelets after SB binding are still not clear. Methodology/Principal Findings In the present study, a differential proteomic analysis (two-dimensional electrophoresis) was conducted to check the protein expression profiles of rat platelets with or without treatment of SB. Proteins altered in level after SB exposure were identified by MALDI-TOF MS/MS. Treatment of SB caused regulation of 20 proteins such as heat shock-related 70 kDa protein 2 (hsp70), LIM domain protein CLP-36, copine I, peroxiredoxin-2, coronin-1 B and cytoplasmic dynein intermediate chain 2C. The regulation of SB on protein levels was confirmed by Western blotting. The signal cascades network induced by SB after its binding with integrin α2β1 was predicted. To certify the predicted network, binding affinity of SB to integrin α2β1 was checked in vitro and ex vivo in platelets. Furthermore, the effects of SB on protein levels of hsp70, coronin-1B and intracellular levels of Ca(2+) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were checked with or without pre-treatment of platelets using antibody against integrin α2β1. Electron microscopy study confirmed that SB affected cytoskeleton structure of platelets. Conclusions/Significance Integrin α2β1 might be one of the direct target proteins of SB in platelets. The signal cascades network of SB after binding with integrin α2β1 might include regulation of intracellular Ca(2+) level, cytoskeleton-related proteins such as coronin-1B and cytoskeleton structure of platelets.


Location choice is one of the most important short-run decisions made by commercial fishermen. Previous studies of location choice by commercial fishermen have focused primarily on site fidelity, profit-maximization behavior, and risk attitudes as factors influencing their location choice behavior. Although the recreational literature gives extensive consideration to the influence of congestion on site selection, few studies have considered the influence of congestion tolerance on site selection in the commercial fishing sector. This study uses a mixed logit model to analyze the heterogeneous congestion tolerance in location choice among U.S. Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishermen. The dynamics of fishermen responses to economic conditions are compared and contrasted for two periods; the first period coinciding with relative economic stability in the industry and the second period coinciding with deteriorating economic conditions. Results suggest that congestion externalities have significant influence on the location choice of shrimp fishermen, but that congestion tolerance level differs among them. A better understanding of heterogeneous congestion tolerance should aid the implementation of management tools such as area closures.


This article uses a random sample of census block groups to describe the adequacy of the local food retail environment in the continental United States. It builds upon simple empirical relationships between population density, poverty rates, vehicle access, and proximity to the nearest supermarket. In contrast with the conventional wisdom, the results show that highpoverty block groups had closer proximity to the nearest supermarket than other block groups did, on average: 85.6% of high-poverty block groups had a supermarket within 1 mile, while 76.8% of lower-poverty block groups had a supermarket within this distance. Population density is a strong predictor of proximity to the nearest supermarket. Block groups with very high population density generally had very close proximity to a nearest supermarket. In block groups lacking a nearby supermarket, rates of automobile access generally were quite high (more than 95%), although this still leaves almost 5% of the population in these areas lacking both an automobile and a nearby supermarket.


Background and objective: Non-infectious causes of fever are often considered in critical neurological patients but their true significance has not been formally studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence, causes and predictors of fever in patients with acute neurological/neurosurgical disease and no documented infection. Methods: Prospective data collection of consecutive patients admitted to the neurological intensive care unit (NICU) of an academic medical centre for more than 48 h was carried out. Fever was defined as body temperature ⩾101°F (38.3°C) documented on at least one measurement for 2 consecutive days. Patients were enrolled only if a diagnostic workup, including cultures of ⩾2 body samples, was performed before antibiotic use. Febrile patients with no proven evidence of infection were considered to have non-infectious fever. Results: 93 patients were included in the final analysis. Fever was non-infectious in 31 patients (33%). There were no differences between the infectious and non-infectious fever groups in terms of age, use and duration of invasive catheters, daily duration of fever and number of days with fever. Documented infections tended to be more common among febrile patients with traumatic brain injury (52% vs 36%; p = 0.06). Non-infectious fever was more frequent among patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage (48% vs 18%; p = 0.01) in whom it was associated with vasospasm (p = 0.03) and symptomatic vasospasm (p = 0.05). Non-infectious fever started earlier (mean 2.6 vs 4 days; p = 0.007) and onset of fever within the first 72 h of admission predicted negative evaluation for infection (p = 0.01). Subarachnoid haemorrhage and fever onset within the first 72 h were independent predictors of non-infectious fever on multivariable analysis. Conclusions: Fever in the absence of documented infections occurs commonly in the NICU, especially among patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage and vasospasm. Early onset of fever predicts a non-infectious cause.


Thirteen polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized from the clam shrimp Eulimnadia texana . In analyses of 20–50 individuals from two populations the number of alleles ranged from two to seven with observed heterozygosity ranging between 0.00 and 0.37. The low values for heterozygosity were not unexpected for a group characterized by its unusual androdioecious mating system, in which males compete with self-compatible hermaphrodites for offspring production. These microsatellites are likely to be useful for further evolutionary investigations of this rare mating system in these crustaceans.


The aim of this presentation is to tell a story. In the context of a meeting which has mainly dealt with the issues of national libraries and enormous digital collections, this is a presentation that addresses a different scale. It is a scale that is both smaller and larger at the same time. It is about collecting individual items from individual researchers - the so-called grass roots - through institutional repositories. Although this seems small and insignificant in comparison to tales of humongous digital collections, the day-by-day aggregated collection of individual items from a community of knowledge producers adds up to the entire scholarly and scientific literature - as well as its supporting data, experimental analyses, discussions and commentaries. This story about EPrints focuses on the challenges of acquiring data and documents in order to build up a global collection. The challenges listed are those relating to changing the working practices and use patterns of individuals and their host institutions in order to support long term preservation. The story necessarily enlarges on the need to make things easier and more useful for the author/depositor/knowledge producer in order to encourage the first stage of preservation: acquisition.


The image of the Mexican Motherland protected by the national eagle was one of the most circulated civic symbols during the period of the welfare state (1940–1973). Between 1962 and 1977, it illustrated the covers of the free texts created and given by the Ministry of Public Education to all students. The image gained circulation again in 2008, on the textbook History and Citizenship. It was also employed as the logo for the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social [Mexican Institute of Social Security], an organization to which the government devoted an important part of its budget.
 Welfare state programs developed in several countries. In Mexico, the ideals were promoted by the official party that ruled the nation for nearly seventy years. During the presidency of Adolfo López Mateos (1958–1964), when the country experienced its best moment of economic welfare, political stability, and consolidated this patriotic—and propagandistic—symbol, it became a significant component of the civic collective imaginary.
 By this time, a solid symbolic apparatus already existed and marked "memory spaces"—with its expressions of public art, like the ones in the visual vocabularies of free textbooks. It formed one of the tools for the exercise of symbolic power needed for governability. The image of Motherland protected by the national eagle (with its gender connotations) can be described as: Motherland is a woman and government is a man; this allows the citizens to relate the civic realm to the private one and to the functions and divisions of the social order and in the family environment.
 The example of the Motherland as a source of life and provider of social services for citizenship and that of the government as the provider, onlooker, and president of homeland functions, sublimated and reinforced these values in familiar and social arenas—a role previously assigned to the woman. Reverence to the nation obscured the predetermination of her reproductive duties to the care of its offspring and of its home to the man as head of family in his functions as a provider. Therefore, the visual arts and textbook writing in particular, as well as the visual-spatial language, led to the establishment, internalization, and preservation of the status quo in the social structures and civic norms reinforced by the uses and habits, operating to promote controlling groups, either the paternalist government or the conservative family man.
 The welfare state opened a connection to art not only because of the economic boom and the investments in public works and projects, which included public works of art, but also because of the interest of political leaders in education, patronage, and artistic diffusion. Public art played a fundamental role both in the symbolic government apparatus and in the artistic world itself. Possibilities of participation in constructive projects subisidized by the government increased, consisting of both facilities for health-care and housing services, as well as museum spaces. Among these projects was the first museum of modern art, opened in 1964. In addition, the art market strengthened with the opening of galleries accesible to both the middle class and the elite. Consequently, struggles for power between different artistic trends and groups and the Mexican School of Painting that, since 1921, with its budgetary ups and downs and the downfall of its sponsor, relied on an official subsidy to make public art. Although two of the three masters of muralism, Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, had died, David Alfaro Siqueiros remained active, and mural production continued with artists of younger generations, new trends, and uneven artistic quality. In the realm of public art, the Plastic Integration started by the painter Carlos Mérida and the architect Mario Pani, promoted contributions in its pursuit of a total oeuvre derived from the harmonic encounter of painting, sculpture, and architecture in addition to the geometric pictorial language of pre-Hispanic inspiration and to the simplicity of prismatic forms from international architecture. Within the modern spirit and its "tradition of permanent rupture with tradition," the second and third group of muralists, largely led by Siqueiros, confronted the "ruputura" generation, then a group of young artists who lacked a particular stylistic approach, and likened the foreign nonrealism to the didactic and propaganda-oriented character of their rivals. This trend emerged in the 1950s and consolidated in the 1960s. It comprised José Luis Cuevas, Alberto Guironella, and Cordelia Urueta, who were linked to neo-figurative art and to abstract art in several modalities with Vlady, Manuel Felgueres, Lilia Carrillo, Juán García Ponce, Pedro Coronel, Kasuya Sakai, and Vicente Rojo, among others. Overall, these trends and conflicts between political realism and nonrealism shared characteristics on the international level during the Cold War.


The miniaturization of analytical instruments and packaging of novel sensors is an area that has attracted significant research interest and offers many opportunities for product commercialization. Low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) is a materials system composed of alumina and glass in an organic binder. LTCC is a good choice for sensor development because of the ease of incorporating features in the `green' or unfired state such as electrical traces, fluidic pathways and passive electrical components. After a firing cycle, what remains is a robust, monolithic device with features embedded in the package. In order for LTCC to be a successful medium for small scale sensors or lab-in-package devices, fluid flow through channels and inlet/outlet ports must be perfected. Device inlet/outlet ports have been demonstrated by embedding sapphire tubes in LTCC, allowing external connections using compression fittings. Channels and cavities have been fabricated through the use of sacrificial carbon tapes and pastes. A field flow fractionation device used for separating or concentrating constituent components in a fluid and a multi-electrode electrochemical cell were fabricated with the techniques described in this paper


It has been argued that environmental regulation can be best understood as the product of an unlikely alliance of "Baptists and Bootleggers" - public-interested environmental activist groups and private-interested firms and industries seeking to use regulation for competitive advantage. It is now well-understood how special-interests can manipulate regulation for competitive advantage. Moreover, economics has provided models of the results of private self-interest in markets and in politics. But, until now, economists have not provided a workable model of private self-interest by environmental non-profit organizations, nor have there been efforts to test a private interest model versus the predictions of public interest models of environmental activists. Some have gone so far as to suggest that environmental activists are motivated by a spirit of "civic republicanism" that causes them to subordinate their self-interest to the pursuit of the public good. This article provides a first effort at testing the implications of public interest versus private interest models of environmental interest groups. In particular, it specifies three testable implications of a public interest model of the activities of environmental interest groups: (1) a desire to base policy on the best-available science; (2) a willingness to engage in deliberation and compromise to balance environmental protection against other compelling social and economic interests; and, (3) a willingness to consider alternative regulatory strategies that can deliver environmental protection at lower-cost than traditional command-and-control regulation. On all three counts, it is found that the public-interest or "civic republican" explanation for the activities of environmental interest groups fails to convincingly describe their behavior. On the other hand, the evidence on each of these three tests is consistent with a self-interested model of the behavior of environmental interest-groups. Their activities can be understood as being identical to those of any other interest group - namely, the desire to use the coercive power of government to subsidize their personal desires for greater environmental protection and to redistribute wealth and power to themselves.


In March 2014 Atos Healthcare withdrew a year early from its contract to provide the UK's health assessment – the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) – that is supposed to sort disabled people into administrative categories according to their adjudged capability to do paid work. This move was welcomed by political elites, with, for example, UK Coalition Government Minister for Disabled People Mike Penning using it to criticise previous Labour governments for the contractual arrangements they put in place – although while the Coalition may have been concerned with the contractual arrangements soon after being formed, it extended the contract for five years. For the UK disability movement, the withdrawal of Atos Healthcare early from the WCA contract was a victory and, at least in part, a consequence of disabled activists' resistance to the Employment and Support Allowance generally, and the WCA in particular.


Quantum computing is a rapidly growing field with the potential to change how we solve previously intractable problems. Emerging hardware is approaching a complexity that requires increasingly sophisticated programming and control. Scaffold is an older quantum programming language that was originally designed for resource estimation for far-future, large quantum machines, and ScaffCC is the corresponding LLVM-based compiler. For the first time, we provide a full and complete overview of the language itself, the compiler as well as its pass structure. While previous works Abhari et al (2015 Parallel Comput. 45 2–17), Abhari et al (2012 Scaffold: quantum programming language https://cs.princeton.edu/research/techreps/TR-934-12), have piecemeal descriptions of different portions of this toolchain, we provide a more full and complete description in this paper. We also introduce updates to ScaffCC including conditional measurement and multidimensional qubit arrays designed to keep in step with modern quantum assembly languages, as well as an alternate toolchain targeted at maintaining correctness and low resource count for noisy-intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) machines, and compatibility with current versions of LLVM and Clang. Our goal is to provide the research community with a functional LLVM framework for quantum program analysis, optimization, and generation of executable code.


This study investigated atmospheric PM2.5 concentration, PM2.5/PM10 ratio, total PCDD/Fs concentration, PCDD/F phase distribution, PM2.5-bound total PCDD/Fs-WHO2005-TEQ content, and dry deposition of PCDD/Fs for Xiamen and Zhangzhou Cities during 2015–2017, and sensitivity analysis of both atmospheric PM2.5-bound total PCDD/Fs-WHO2005-TEQ content and dry deposition of PCDD/Fs in these two cities. During 2015–2017, the three-year average concentration of PM2.5 in Xiamen was 27.6 µg m–3, while that of Zhangzhou was 33.9 µg m–3; this level is still higher than the WHO annual PM2.5 standard (10.0 µg m–3). In addition, the summer PM2.5-bound total PCDD/Fs-WHO2005-TEQ content in Xiamen and Zhangzhou Cities was 0.131 ng-WHO2005-TEQ g–1 and 0.161 ng-WHO2005-TEQ g–1. And it is lower than the average of the other three seasons. In Xiamen, the average monthly dry deposition flux in these three years was 322 pg WHO2005-TEQ m–2 month–1, while that of Zhangzhou was 378 pg WHO2005-TEQ m–2 month–1, respectively. Sensitivity analysis of atmospheric PM2.5-bound total PCDD/Fs-WHO2005-TEQ content showed that the most sensitive parameters are total PCDD/F mass concentration and PM10 concentration, followed by atmospheric temperature and PM2.5 concentration; in addition, the sensitivity analysis of atmospheric dry deposition is similar to those of atmospheric PM2.5-bound total PCDD/Fs-WHO2005-TEQ content. The results of this study provide useful information for better understanding PM2.5, particle-bound PCDD/Fs content and PCDD/Fs dry deposition in the ambient air of urban cities.


This comprehensive scholarly book on comparative federalism and the Covid-19 pandemic is written by some of the world's leading federal scholars and national experts. The Covid-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented emergency for countries worldwide, including all those with a federal or hybrid-federal system of government, which account for more than 40 per cent of the world's population. With case studies from 19 federal countries, this book explores the core elements of federalism that came to the fore in combatting the pandemic: the division of responsibilities (disaster management, health care, social welfare, and education), the need for centralisation, and intergovernmental relations and cooperation. As the pandemic struck federal countries at roughly the same time, it provided a unique opportunity for comparative research on the question of how the various federal systems responded. The authors adopt a multidisciplinary approach to question whether federalism has been a help or a hindrance in tackling the pandemic. The value of the book lies in understanding how the Covid-19 pandemic affected federal dynamics and how it may have changed them, as well as providing useful lessons for how to combat such pandemics in federal countries in the future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of politics and international relations, comparative federalism, health care, and disaster management. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Nico Steytler.


The promotion and progression of black and minority ethnic academics and teachers in England has been the subject of much debate. Although several theories have been put forward, racial equality has stood out as a major contributing factor. The experiences of black and minority ethnic academics and teachers in England are similar in terms of aspirations, and their experience of organisations also points to similar patterns of exclusions. This integrated study provides thick data from qualitative interviews with academics and teachers, theorised through the lens of whiteness theory and social identity theory, of their experience of promotion and progression, how they feel organisations respond to them and how they, in turn, are responding to promotion and progression challenges. There was a shared view amongst the participants that, for black and minority ethnic academics and teachers to progress in England, they need 'white sanction' – a form of endorsement from white colleagues that in itself has an enabling power.


SECTION I. OVERVIEW AND HISTORY Theory and Principles of Public Communication Campaigns - Charles K. Atkin, Ronald E. Rice Public Communication Campaigns--The American Experience - William Paisley, Charles K. Atkin Why Can't We Sell Human Rights Like We Sell Soap? - Robert Hornik SECTION II. DESIGN AND EVALUATION Guidelines for Formative Evaluation Research in Campaign Design - Charles K. Atkin, Vicki Freimuth A Systems-Based Evaluation Planning Model for Health Communication Campaigns in Developing Countries - Ronald E. Rice, Dennis Foote Evaluating Communication Campaigns - Thomas W. Valente, Patchareeya P. Kwan Communication Campaign Effectiveness and Effects: Some Critical Distinctions - Charles T. Salmon, Lisa Murray-Johnson How Effective Are Mediated Health Campaigns? A Synthesis of Meta-Analyses - Leslie B. Snyder, Jessica M. LaCroix SECTION III. THEORY FOUNDATIONS McGuire's Classic Input-Output Framework for Constructing Persuasive Messages - William J. McGuire Sense-Making Methodology as an Approach to Understanding and Designing for Campaign Audiences: A Turn to Communicating Communicatively - Brenda Dervin, Lois Foreman-Wernet Inducing Fear as a Public Communication Campaign Strategy - Marco C. Yzer, Brian G. Southwell, Michael T. Stephenson Truth in Advertising: Social Norms Marketing Campaigns to Reduce College Student Drinking - William DeJong, Sandi W. Smith SECTION IV. APPLYING THEORY AND EVALUATION The Go Sun Smart Campaign: Achieving Individual and Organizational Change for Occupational Sun Protection - David B. Buller, Barbara J. Walkosz, Peter A. Andersen, Michael D. Scott, Mark B. Dignan, Gary R. Cutter A Mass Media Campaign to Increase Condom Use Among High Sensation-Seeking and Impulsive Decision-Making Young Adults - Philip C. Palmgreen, Seth M. Noar, Rick S. Zimmerman Public Communication Campaigns to Promote Organ Donation: Theory, Design, and Implementation - Susan E. Morgan Transdisciplinary Approaches for Twenty-First Century Ocean Sustainability Communication - Ronald E. Rice, Julie A. Robinson Sociocognitive Approaches for AIDS Prevention: Explicating the Role of Risk Perceptions and Efficacy Beliefs in Malawi - Rajiv N. Rimal, Rupali Limaye Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: What Do They Tell Us About Organization-Public Relationships? - Maureen Taylor Designing Digital Games, Social Media, and Mobile Technologies to Motivate and Support Health Behavior Change - Debra A. Lieberman Community Partnership Strategies in Health Campaigns - Neil Bracht, Ronald E. Rice Closing the Gaps in Practice and in Theory: Evaluation of the Scrutinize HIV Campaign in South Africa - D. Lawrence Kincaid, Richard Delate, Douglas Storey, Maria Elena Figueroa The Rising Tide of Entertainment-Education in Communication Campaigns - Arvind Singhal, Hua Wang, Everett M. Rogers Putting Policy into Health Communication: The Role of Media Advocacy - Lori Dorfman, Lawrence Wallack


Equivariant cohomology is concerned with the algebraic topology of spaces with a group action, or in other words, with symmetries of spaces. First defined in the 1950s, it has been introduced into K-theory and algebraic geometry, but it is in algebraic topology that the concepts are the most transparent and the proofs are the simplest. One of the most useful applications of equivariant cohomology is the equivariant localization theorem of Atiyah–Bott and Berline–Vergne, which converts the integral of an equivariant differential form into a finite sum over the fixed point set of the group action, providing a powerful tool for computing integrals over a manifold. Because integrals and symmetries are ubiquitous, equivariant cohomology has found applications in diverse areas of mathematics and physics. Assuming readers have taken one semester of manifold theory and a year of algebraic topology, the book begins with the topological construction of equivariant cohomology, then develops the theory for smooth manifolds with the aid of differential forms. To keep the exposition simple, the equivariant localization theorem is proven only for a circle action. An appendix gives a proof of the equivariant de Rham theorem, demonstrating that equivariant cohomology can be computed using equivariant differential forms. Examples and calculations illustrate new concepts. Exercises include hints or solutions, making this book suitable for self-study.


The biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the ambient air of the Hobart Air Shed and in the emissions from selected Tasmanian native trees and understorey shrubs were measured. The emission rates were then related to the plants' essential oils content, which had been extracted by hydro-distillation. The VOCs in the ambient air of native forests have not previously been studied in Australia. This study used multi-adsorbent cartridge adsorption/thermal desorption and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The type, quantity, source and variation of the VOCs were investigated. The concentration of VOCs in the atmosphere surrounding vegetation in the Hobart Air Shed was determined. In all, 129 compounds of eight classes were detected. Ofthese, 11 compounds were National Pollutant Inventory substances and 32 were considered biogenic; however, this estimate is conservative. The concentration of total VOCs in these ambient air measurements varied between 4.43 x 10- 10 g L- 1 and 3.04 x 10-9 g L-1 depending on the site sampled and meteorological conditions. The relative standard deviation ranged between 3.50/0 and 51.8% in the dual air samples. The emission rates of VOCs were determined for 14 plant species within the Hobart Air Shed, using an enclosure bottle technique. In all, 284 compounds of 10 classes were detected. Emission rates varied between 1.98 x 10-8 and 5.43 x 10-6 g g-l (wet weight) h-1 depending on the species sampled and prevailing conditions. The relative standard deviation was estimated to be 31.1 %. The VOC emission rate for the entire eucalypt forest in Tasmania was estimated as 8200 kg h-1 and for the Hobart Air Shed 59 kg h-1. The error could be as large as a factor of three. The essential oil compositions of the species examined were identified. Linear relationships between VOC oil concentration and emission rates were found in 10 of the 13 analyses.


An improved realization of mixed-mode chaotic circuit which has both autonomous and nonau-tonomous chaotic dynamics is proposed. Central to this study is inductorless realization of mixed-mode chaotic circuit using FTFN-based inductance simulator. FTFN-based topology used in this realization enables the simulation of ideal floating and grounded inductance. This modification provides an alternative solution to the integration problem of not only mixed-mode chaotic circuit but also other chaotic circuits in the literature using CMOS VLSI technologies. In addition to this major improvement, CFOA-based nonlinear resistor was used in the new realization of mixed-mode chaotic circuit. The usage of CFOA-based nonlinear resistor in the circuit's structure reduces the component count and provides buffered and isolated output.


This volume brings together twenty-four of Ralph Pinder-Wilson's studies on Islamic art, published over thirty years. These deal mainly with the decorative arts - lustre pottery, bronze, jade and glass - a field in which the author is an eminent authority. The objects covered range from early Islamic glass and lustre ware to the ivories produced in Norman Sicily and later Persian bronzes. The art of Mughal India and Afghanistan is also covered, in a number of important studies on manuscripts produced for Persian and Mughal rulers from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Two major papers reprinted here range outside the usual field of the art historian. The first, a study of the Malcolm celestial globe, explores the history and iconography of Islamic depictions of the constellations; the second, a study of the Persian garden from the Achaemenid to the Qajar period, explores the textual evidence, and discusses the influence of this type of garden on the visual arts. Preface The Illuminations in the Cairo Moshe b.-Asher Codex of the Prophets A Persian Translation of the Mahabharata: a Note on the Miniatures Persian Painting of the Fifteenth Century An illustrated Mughal Manuscript from Ahmadabad Three illustrated Manuscripts of the Mughal Period Tughras of Suleyman the Magnificent The Minaret of Mas'ud III at Ghazni Le Mihrab decore de Darra-i-Shakh A Persian jade Cup An inscribed jade Cup from Samarqand: Glass in China during the T'ang Period Cut glass Vessels from Mesopotamia Two drinking Flasks from Asia An early Fatimid Bowl decorated in Lustre A lustre relief Dish of the early Islamic Period An ivory Casket from Norman Sicily The Reliquary of St. Petroc and the Ivories of Norman Sicily A silver Ladle and Amulet Case An Islamic Ewer in Sasanian Style Two Persian bronze Buckets A Persian bronze Mortar of the Mongol Period The Persian Garden: Bagh and Chahar Bagh The Malcolm Celestial Globe Additional Notes Index.


Acknowledgements. Introduction by Arran Stibbe and Heather Luna. Part 1 Skills for a Changing World. Ecocriticism: the ability to investigate cultural artefacts from an ecological perspective - by Greg Garrard. Optimisation: the art of personal sufficiency - by John Naish. Grounded Economic Awareness: economic awareness based on ecological and ethical values - by Satish Kumar. Advertising Awareness: the ability to expose advertising discourses that undermine sustainability, and resist them - by Arran Stibbe. Transition Skills: skills for transition to a post-fossil-fuel age - by Stephen Quilley. Commons Thinking: the ability to envisage and enable a viable future through connected action - by Justin Kenrick. Effortless Action: the ability to fulfil human needs effortlessly through working with nature - by Ling Feng. Permaculture Design: designing our lives with nature as the model - by Patrick Whitefield. Community Gardening: skills for building community and working within environmental limits - by Alma Clavin. Ecological Intelligence: viewing the world relationally - by Stephen Sterling. Systems Thinking: the ability to recognise and analyse the interconnections within and between systems - by Glenn Strachan. Gaia Awareness: awareness of the animate qualities of the Earth - by Stephan Harding. Futures Thinking: the ability to envision scenarios of a more desirable future - by Sue Wayman. Values Reflection and the Earth Charter: the ability to critique the values of an unsustainable society and consider alternatives - by Jeffrey Newman. Social Conscience: the ability to reflect on deeply held opinions about social justice and sustainability - by Myshele Goldberg. New Media Literacy: communication skills for sustainability - by John Blewitt. Cultural Literacy: understanding and respect for the cultural aspects of sustainability - by Kim Polistina. Carbon Capability: understanding climate change and reducing emissions - by Lorraine Whitmarsh, Saffron O'Neill, Gill Seyfang and Irene Lorenzoni. Greening Business: the ability to drive environmental and sustainability improvements in the workplace - by Zoe Robinson. Materials Awareness: the ability to expose the hidden impact of materials on sustainability - by Melinda Watson. Appropriate Technology and Appropriate Design: the ability to design systems, technologies and equipment in an appropriate way - by Mike Clifford. Technology Appraisal: the ability to evaluate technological innovation - by Gavin Harper. Complexity, Systems Thinking and Practice: skills and techniques for managing complex systems - by Dick Morris and Stephen Martin. Coping with Complexity: the ability to manage complex sustainability problems - by Bland Tomkinson. Emotional Well-being: the ability to research and reflect on the roots of emotional well-being - by Morgan Phillips. Finding Meaning without Consuming: the ability to experience meaning, purpose and satisfaction through non-material wealth - by Paul Maiteny. Being-in-the-World: the ability the think about the self in interconnection and interdependence with the surrounding world - by John Danvers. Beauty as a Way of Knowing: the redemption of knowing through the experience of beauty - by Barry Bignell. Part 2 Educational Transformation for Sustainability Literacy. Citizen Engagement - by Geoff Fagan. Re-educating the Person - by Karen Blincoe. Institutional Transformation - by Anne Phillips. A Learning Society - by Kate Davies.


S UMMARY . Root morphological traits and biomass allocation were studied in 2-year-old 'Duke 7' avocado ( Persea americana ) trees propagated using seedling and clonal techniques. The plants either were or were not grafted with the scion 'Hass'. Whole tree excavation 1 year after planting revealed that the propagation technique affected the root growth angle of the main roots (third order roots), the root length density (defined as the total length of roots per volume of soil), and the number of first and second order roots present. The root system of clonal trees showed a typical morphology of rooted cuttings, with a crown of roots originating from a relatively short stem, resulting in a shallow root system. Clonal trees, compared with seedlings, produced main framework roots with shallower angles and more fine roots (first and second order roots) that increased the root length density (defined as the total length of roots per volume of soil). Nongrafted seedlings exhibited a main taproot and lateral roots with narrow angles that penetrated deeper into the soil and increased the aboveground biomass but had a lower root-to-shoot ratio than nongrafted clonal trees. The grafting of both clonal and seedling trees resulted in similar root architecture and revealed that grafting significantly decreased the soil volume explored and the shoot and root biomass. Although both root systems were shallow, grafted clonal trees had a higher root-to-shoot ratio than grafted seedlings. In this study, a distinct class of roots with large diameter and unbranched growth was more abundant in the root systems of clonal trees. These types of roots (previously undescribed in avocado trees), called pioneer roots, may enhance soil exploration in clonal trees.


Distributed power generation systems generally include a number of power sources and electrical power loads interconnected by a distribution network. Electrical switches and fuses are provided such that local groups of power sources and power loads can be established. Should there be a degradation in the distribution network in terms of a set of criteria such as electrical frequency, current or voltage then the switch or fuse may be thrown to establish each local group as an island. By monitoring divergence from a set of criteria a method and controller may be utilised whereby the distribution network as a whole is considered and configured to establish virtual islands which operate prior to the establishment whether inadvertently or deliberately of actual islands within the distribution network. In such circumstances the transition from normal operation for the distribution network to islanded operation for the distribution network is less severe.


Abstract Historically, phenomenology started to face the phenomenon of intersubjectivity as an objection to its own transcendental aspiration to constitute apodicticity. In fact, since Husserl's very influential Fifth Cartesian Meditation, the risk of solipsism threatened the possibilities of a genuine phenomenology of the other. This problem 's discussion was continued by all of the most significant phenomenologists, such as Max Scheler, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Marc Richir, Ricœur, Lévinas, and others, all having made explicit reference to that starting reflection by Husserl in The Cartesian Meditations. In this paper, I will approach the problem of intersubjectivity, not by attending to the already mentioned traditional phenomenological motive, but, instead, by trying to bring to light the variety of ways of how relationships to others are faced phenornenologically, and its implications for a debate about the psychotherapeutic relationship. Under the assumption that there is no psychotherapy without a psychotherapist/client relationship, it is particularly relevant the contribution of phenornenologies of intersubjectivity to the effort of answering the question «What do our relational experiences with others mean?»


International law is not known for being quick or effective. Cases can drag on for years, have limited legal force, and are infamous for noncompliance. Until recently, the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement process had served as a beacon of hope for being one of the fastest and most effective international dispute settlement systems in the history of the world.

It may still hold that title, but it has slowed down considerably. Cases take much longer to complete today than they did at the start of the WTO in 1995.

These delays have undermined the WTO's usefulness as a way to resolve trade disputes. Today, with the process so much slower, governments can have a three-year or longer "free pass" to implement illegal protectionist measures while litigation drags on. Even the most obvious violation of the rules can take a long time to adjudicate. For the rule of law to work, there must be some degree of timeliness in the litigation process.

We are in the midst of a major crisis in WTO dispute settlement, as the United States has challenged various aspects of the Appellate Body's operation and possibly its very existence. Although this crisis will be difficult to resolve, perhaps raising such fundamental issues offers an opportunity to think about a broader reform agenda. A key element of such reform should be finding ways to make dispute settlement faster and more effective. The adoption of reforms toward that end could be a positive step forward at a time when much of the world trading system is moving backward from trade liberalization and the rule of law.


The outcome of H. pylori infection is closely related with bacteria's virulence factors and host immune response. The association between T cells and H. pylori infection has been identified, but the effects of the nine major H. pylori specific virulence factors; cagA, vacA, oipA, babA, hpaA, napA, dupA, ureA, ureB on T cell response in H. pylori infected patients have not been fully elucidated. We developed a multiplex- PCR assay to detect nine H. pylori virulence genes with in a three PCR reactions. Also, the expression levels of Th1, Th17 and Treg cell specific cytokines and transcription factors were detected by using qRT-PCR assays. Furthermore, a novel expert derived model is developed to identify set of factors and rules that can distinguish the ulcer patients from gastritis patients. Within all virulence factors that we tested, we identified a correlation between the presence of napA virulence gene and ulcer disease as a first data. Additionally, a positive correlation between the H. pylori dupA virulence factor and IFN-γ, and H. pylori babA virulence factor and IL-17 was detected in gastritis and ulcer patients respectively. By using computer-based models, clinical outcomes of a patients infected with H. pylori can be predicted by screening the patient's H. pylori vacA m1/m2, ureA and cagA status and IFN-γ (Th1), IL-17 (Th17), and FOXP3 (Treg) expression levels. Herein, we report, for the first time, the relationship between H. pylori virulence factors and host immune responses for diagnostic prediction of gastric diseases using computer—based models.


We demonstrate the possibility of realizing, all-optical switching in gold nanosol. Two overlapping laser beams are used for this purpose, due to which a low-power beam passing collinear to a high-power beam will undergo cross phase modulation and thereby distort the spatial profile. This is taken to advantage for performing logic operations. We have also measured the threshold pump power to obtain a NOT gate and the minimum response time of the device. Contrary to the general notion that the response time of thermal effects used in this application is of the order of milliseconds, we prove that short pump pulses can result in fast switching. Different combinations of beam splitters and combiners will lead to the formation of other logic functions too.


Chemotherapy in cancer is the systemic drug treatment based on the use of certain substances that interfere with the metabolism and the cell cycle, causing the death of malignant cells(1,2). The main purpose of treatments with chemotherapeutic agents is to prevent cancer cells from multiplying, invading, metastasizing, and eventually killing the host. Most cytostatic agents cause their effects on cell proliferation and tumor growth. Chemotherapy in cancer is based on the principle of selective toxicity, according to which an antitumor substance selectively kills the malignant cells, without affecting the normal cells; however, this principle is not completely observed by any of the currently available cytostatic agents. Given the fact that cell multiplication is a feature of the majority of both normal and cancer cells, cytostatic agents cause their toxic effects on all cells that have a rapid division rate, including bone marrow, germ cells or mucosal cells. An essential characteristic of classic chemotherapy is in fact the absence of absolute specificity on the malignant cell(3,4).


How can a prosecutor, who has only limited resources, credibly threaten so many defendants with costly and risky trials and extract plea bargains involving harsh sentences? Had defendants refused to settle, many of them would not have been charged or would have escaped with lenient sanctions. But such collective stonewalling requires coordination among defendants, which is difficult if not impossible to attain. Moreover, the prosecutor, by strategically timing and targeting her plea offers, can create conflicts of interest among defendants, frustrating any attempt at coordination. The substantial bargaining power of the resource-constrained prosecutor is therefore the product of the collective action problem that plagues defendants. This conclusion suggests that, despite the common view to the contrary, the institution of plea bargains may not improve the well-being of defendants. Absent the plea bargain option, many defendants would not have been charged in the first place. Thus, we can no longer count on the fact that plea bargains are entered voluntarily to argue that they are desirable for all parties involved.


Background: As key gene regulators, microRNAs post-transcriptionally modulate gene expression via binding to partially complementary sequence in the 3' UTR of target mRNA. An accurate, rapid and quantitative tool for sensing and validation of miRNA targets is of crucial significance to decipher the functional implications of miRNAs in cellular pathways. Results: Taking advantage of an improved restriction-free cloning method, we engineered a novel built-in dual luciferase reporter plasmid where Firefly and Renilla luciferase genes were assembled in a single plasmid named "pFila". This design eliminates the transfection of a separate control plasmid and thus minimizes the time and labor required for miRNA-target sensing assays. pFila consistently produces Firefly and Renilla luciferase activities when transfected into human-, monkey- and mouse-derived mammalian cell systems. Moreover, pFila is capable of recapitulating the interaction of miR-16 and its known target CCNE1 in Hela cells. Additionally, pFila is shown to be a sensitive miR-biosensor by evaluating the inhibition efficiency of endogenous miRNA. Conclusions: pFila would facilitate miRNA target identification and verification in a rapid and simplified manner. Also, pFila is a sensitive biosensor for active miRNA profiling in vivo .


The Heemskirk granite massif was intruded as a diapir about 354 m.y. ago into Precambrian and Palaeozoic
sediments, it fractionated into two types the red and white granites, which are distinguished by their
colour and mineral and chemical composition. It is suggested that they also differed in volatile content and
oxygen fugacity. The characteristic mineral assemblage of the red granite (hematite - magnetite - allanite)
indicates a higher oxygen fugacity than the white type which is characterised by tourmaline. Both rock types
are biotite or two mica granites sensu stricto (Hietanen, 1963). Differences between the granite types have developed
during and after emplacement of the intrusion.
The granite body has a generally stratiform structure with subhorizontal layering and the upper part of
the intrusion is characterized by a very flat dome. Its internal structure consists of several layers of granites with slightly different mineralogical, textural and chemical properties. Within each layer cryptic layering can be defined by the behaviour of the trace elements.
The red granite occupies the topmost part of the intrusion and forms a comparatively thin layer in the eastern part of the body; it acts as country rock, having been consolidated earlier than most of the white granites.
Towards the west the red granite is laterally re-placed by the white granite, which probably represents the major pert of the Heemskirk granite at depth. The roof zone of the white granite (contact zone with the red granite) is enriched by tourmaline nodules, which are interpreted as originally volatile segregations in a crystallizing magma. The white granite shows a higher degree of geochemical and mineralogical homogeneity.
Interpretation of the granite composition in the light of experimental data suggests that the Heemskirk massif was emplaced at shallow depths in the crust.
A temperature of 650°C is estimated for the crystallization of K-feldspars from the red granite.
The surface of the body reflects on a subdued scale the anticlinorial structure of the original sedimentary cover. The existence of the ghost structure of the country rocks in the roof of the intrusion is also indicated by the distribution of the contaminates and positive anomalies of some trace elements (particularly within the red granite).
The Heemskirk granite massif is characterized by very regular fracture systems. Extensive greisenisation and hydrothermal alteration follow the dominant cross joints. The filling of the fissures is quartz, tourmaline and commonly cassiterite in economic concentrations, and rare columbite. The majority of the tin deposits are found on the white/red granite contact. The abundance of Sn concentration at the present surface in the eastern part of the body is related to exposure of this contact and the depth of red granite cover. Where the red granite exceeds 600 feet in thickness tin mineralization is unlikely to be economic.


Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases are one of the largest heme-containing protein groups, and the majority of them catalyze hydroxylation reactions dependent on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and oxygen. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes function in a wide range of monooxygenation reactions essential in primary and secondary metabolism in plants. Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze is a commercially and economically valuable plant due to its medicinally important secondary metabolites and as a beloved beverage. Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases play a significant role in the biosynthesis of a variety of secondary metabolites in tea. Although the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites has been investigated in detail, there have been limited studies conducted on identifying the genetic mechanisms of CYP-catalyzed secondary metabolic pathways in the C. sinensis (tea) plant. In our study, we characterized a putative C. sinensis (L.) Kuntze cytochrome P450 monooxygenase gene (Csp450), which has 1759 bp full-length cDNA with 49 bp of 5' and 183 bp of 3' untranslated regions. eTh CDS of the gene is 1527 bp and 508 amino acids in length. BLAST results of the deduced amino acid sequence revealed a high similarity with the CYP704C1-like superfamily. Preharvest period gene expression analysis from May, July, and September did not show any difference.


What if the missing heat has been there all along? In 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change flagged an odd phenomenon: Atmospheric temperature data collected over the past few decades suggested that global warming had slowed down beginning around 1998. Global warming skeptics crowed, and scientists delved into the global climate system to find out where the missing heat had gone. But a new analysis suggests that the real culprits are the data themselves. When better corrections for various sources of bias are applied to the data, the authors say, the so-called global warming hiatus vanishes—and in fact, they argue, global warming may have sped up.


Abstract. Formaldehyde (HCHO) is a radical source that plays an important role in urban atmospheric chemistry and ozone formation. The Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) is characterized by high anthropogenic emissions of HCHO (primary HCHO), which together with photochemical production of HCHO from hydrocarbon oxidation (secondary HCHO), lead to high ambient HCHO levels. The CAMx chemical transport model was employed to evaluate the impact of primary HCHO on its ambient concentration, on the ROx radical budget, and on ozone (O3) formation in the MCMA. Important radical sources, including HCHO, HONO, and O3-olefin reactions, were constrained by measurements from routine observations of the local ambient air monitoring network and the MCMA-2003 field campaign. Primary HCHO was found not only to contribute significantly to the ambient HCHO concentration, but also to enhance the radical budget and O3 production in the urban atmosphere of the MCMA. Overall in the urban area, total daytime radical production is enhanced by up to 10% and peak O3 concentration by up to 8%; moreover primary HCHO tends to make O3 both production rates and ambient concentration peak half an hour earlier. While primary HCHO contributes predominantly to the ambient HCHO concentration between nighttime and morning rush hours, significant influence on the radical budget and O3 production starts early in the morning, peaks at mid-morning and is sustained until early afternoon.


Graphene was grown on the C-face of nominally on-axis SiC substrates using high-temperature sublimation with Ar as the buffer inert gas. The results of studies of the morphology, thickness, and electronic structure of these samples using low-energy electronmicroscopy (LEEM), x-ray photoelectron emission microscopy, photoelectron spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) are presented. The graphene thickness is determined to vary from 1 or 2 to 6 or 7 monolayers (MLs), depending on the specific growth conditions utilized. The formation of fairly large grains (i.e., crystallographic domains) of graphene exhibiting sharp 1 x 1 spots in micro-LEED is revealed. Adjacent grains are found to show different azimuthal orientations. Macro-LEED patterns recorded mimic previously published, strongly modulated, diffraction ring LEED patterns, indicating contribution from several grains of different azimuthal orientations. We collected selected area constant initial energy photoelectron angular distribution patterns that show the same results. When utilizing a small aperture size, one Dirac cone centered on each of the six K-points in the Brillouin zone is clearly resolved. When using a larger aperture, several Dirac cones from differently oriented grains are detected. Our findings thus clearly show the existence of distinct graphene grains with different azimuthal orientations; they do not show adjacent graphene layers are rotationally disordered, as previously reported for C-face graphene. The graphene grain size is shown to be different on the different samples. In some cases, a probing area of 400 nm is needed to detect the grains. On one sample, a probing area of 5 mu m can be used to collect a 1 x 1 LEED pattern from a multilayer graphene grain. ARPES is used to determine the position of the Dirac point relative to the Fermi level on two samples that LEEM shows have dominant coverage of 2 and 3 MLs of graphene, respectively. The Dirac point is found to be located within 75 meV of the Fermi level on both samples, which indicates that the electron carrier concentration induced in the second and third graphene layers on the C-face is less than similar to 4x10(11) cm(-2). Formation of patches of silicate is revealed on some samples, but the graphene formed on such nonhomogenous surfaces can contain fairly large ordered multilayer graphene grains.


Abstract The Power Reactor Innovative Small Module (PRISM) designed by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is a small, modular, sodium-cooled fast reactor. The PRISM core is located in a pool-type containment vessel and is fueled with metallic fuel. Each PRISM produces 311 MW of electricity. The PRISM is inherently safe due to its negative power reactivity feedback, large in-vessel coolant inventory, passive heat removal systems, below-grade siting, and atmospheric reactor vessel operating pressure. In NUREG-1368, "Preapplication Safety Evaluation Report for the Power Reactor Innovative Small Module (PRISM) Liquid-Metal Reactor," the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission stated that "On the basis of the review performed, the staff, with the ACRS [Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards] in agreement, concludes that no obvious impediments to licensing the PRISM design have been identified." PRISM is able to fission electrometallurgically recycled used nuclear fuel (UNF) from light water reactors as well as weapons-grade materials. PRISM, with the associated Nuclear Fuel Recycling Center, represents a safe, diversion resistant, commercially viable technology for recycling UNF with a small modular reactor.


Using confocal microscopy, we study the flow of a model soft glassy material: a concentrated emulsion. We demonstrate the micro-macro link between in situ measured movements of droplets during the flow and the macroscopic rheological response of a concentrated emulsion, in the form of scaling relationships connecting the rheological "fluidity" with local standard deviation of the strain-rate tensor. Furthermore, we measure correlations between these local fluctuations, thereby extracting a correlation length which increases while approaching the yielding transition, in accordance with recent theoretical predictions.


Clinical epistemology has been a very prominent topic with the emergence of systems theory as a widely studied approach to understanding human behavior. With systemic perspectives have come therapy approaches which promise more immediate change than the dynamic therapies begun by the writings and clinical practice of Sigmund Freud. Some view systems and psychodynamic perspectives paradigms as exclusive of one another and even competitive. In this concise book on the topic, Bauserman and Rule express that clinicians were in fact ready to embrace and assimilate the systems perspective because the interactional theoretical orientation of the non-Freudians and other pioneers had led them precisely in that direction. The authors show an evolutionary side to the issue and work to remove some of the discontinuity and acrimony between these two useful perspectives.


Some special wines are usually obtained from dried grapes by using traditional techniques without control of temperature, relative humidity (RH) and airflow. A new technology (tunnel) for grape dehydration based on controlled air speed, temperature and RH has been tested on 'Pecorino' grape and compared with traditional practice of grape dehydration. The grapes were harvested at 21 °Brix of solid soluble content (SSC). The tunnels (2) dried the grapes at 15°C, 60% of RH, and air flow of 1.2 or 2.5 m s-1. Control grapes were kept in a room with open windows but without controlled environment of dehydration. Vapour pressure deficit (VPD) in the two tunnels was always between 7.5 and 8.0 mbar while, in the control, VPD fluctuated between 0.7 and 6.4 mbar with temperature between 25 and 7°C, depending on the outside temperature conditions. The dehydration lasted until the time of reaching 45% mass loss (m.l.). SSC reached 32 °Brix in tunnel samples and 26 °Brix in control one. CO2 production of grapes showed a peak in all 3 samples at 10% m.l. then it declined and rose again in control sample, reaching the highest value at 17% m.l. while, in the tunnel samples, it reached a peak at 30 and 40% m.l. for 1.2 and 2.5 m s-1 tunnels, respectively. Significant difference in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was observed between the samples at the last sampling, where the concentration of alcohols was much higher than esters and aldehydes in control sample and it was much higher than the same compounds in the tunnel sample.


Objective To determine whether 0.5 mg/kg insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1/binding protein (IGFBP)-3, given intravenously, effectively alters the acute phase response in severely burned children. Design Longitudinal trial with each patient serving as their own control. Setting University-affiliated pediatric burn center. Patients Nine children, 15 yrs of age or less, with burns covering >40% of the total body surface area. Interventions Standard burn care with early burn wound excision and grafting. Blood sampled at defined time points before and after operative procedures. Measurements and Results Determination of types I and II acute phase reactant proteins, constitutive serum proteins, serum cytokines, serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3, and growth hormone levels. Treatment with IGF-1/BP-3 attenuated increases in type I (complement 3, &agr;1-acidglycoprotein) and type II (haptoglobin, &agr;1-antitrypsin) acute phase proteins. Further, IGF-1/BP-3 increased constitutive serum protein levels (prealbumin, retinol binding protein, transferrin) and decreased serum IL-6 levels. Conclusions Low-dose IGF-1/BP-3 effectively attenuated the type I and type II hepatic acute phase response, increased serum levels of constitutive proteins, and modulated the hypermetabolic response.


Exposure to heavy metals including Ni, Cd, Cr, Co, Pb, As, Hg, Zn and Cu, has been recognized as a risk to human health through the consumption of vegetables. This study investigates the source and magnitude of heavy metal contamination in various kinds of vegetables including kales, spinach, carrot, cabbage and tomato in Eldoret town. In the study the concentrations of Pb, Cd, Ni, Mn, Co, Cu, Fe and Zn   in vegetable crops around the municipal damp site and near the sewage ponds were investigated; and their contamination status with respect to international food standard guidelines evaluated. The lead in vegetables in all tested areas had higher level than that of the permissible limits of international standards. Except lead, it is concluded that nearly all the samples did not exceed the Intentional Food Standards maximum level (ML) in vegetables in Eldoret. Contaminated soil and vegetables may contribute to a progressive gathering of these metals in food chain that might affect ecosystem with possible noxious effect on human health. The study shows that vegetables growing soil containing higher amount of metals could be transferred into edible parts of the plant, so study area should be monitored regularly to avoid health risk of human being due to exposure of toxic level. Keywords : Heavy metals, Spectroscopy, Vegetables, Contamination, Eldoret.


For a decade or more, American constitutional discourse has emitted a detectable odor of bigotry toward Roman Catholics who embrace the papal encyclicals of Pope John Paul II. The reason is the Supreme Court's politically dominant role on questions of abortion. An unconstitutional litmus test may be emerging against Roman Catholics who obey the Pope's encyclicals and against those of other faiths who similarly oppose abortion as a matter of religious belief. The acrimony over abortion has obscured the relevance of the Religious Test Clause of the Constitution to the nomination and confirmation of Supreme Court Justices. It is both intractable and improper for senators to question a judicial nominee about either the tenets of his religious sect or the intensity of his religious devotion. As a practical matter, however, this prohibition is easily evaded, and no judicially enforceable public sanction or private remedy appears to exist. Unless the Senate is prepared to punish such misconduct - a highly doubtful proposition - the Constitution's explicit textual prohibition against religious tests for officeholders will be gutted in the name of advancing a more politically popular constitutional right that is not found in the text of the Constitution.


113 articles about neural network learning algorithms published in
1993 and 1994 are examined for the amount of experimental
evaluation they contain. Every third of them does employ not even
a single realistic or real learning problem. Only 6% of all
articles present results for more than one problem using real
world data.Furthermore, one third of all articles does not present
any quantitative comparison with a previously known algorithm.
These results indicate that the quality of research in the
area of neural network learning algorithms needs improvement.
The publication standards should be raised and easily accessible
collections of example problems be built.


The credit derivatives market provides a liquid but opaque forum for secondary market trading of banking assets. I show that, when entrepreneurs rely on the certification value of bank debt to obtain cheap bond market finance, the existence of a credit derivatives market may cause them to issue sub-investment grade bonds instead and engage in second-best behavior. Credit derivatives can therefore cause disintermediation and thus reduce welfare. I argue that this effect can be most effectively countered by the introduction of reporting requirements for credit derivatives.