We place the Amatrice (central Italy) seismic sequence and the related epicentral area in a contest of Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA). We apply a procedure to compute the probability to observe in the future a normal, reverse or strike-slip event and the average distribution of the P, T and N axes. This is a fundamental step to reduce the uncertainty connected to the Ground Motion Prediction Equation models, part of PSHA. For this purpose we use a significant focal mechanism catalogue and the latest present-day stress field data release for Italy to produce forecasted information that we compare with the equivalent data observed during the sequence.


A new ray picture model based on the multiple interference of light waves in dielectric resonant grating–waveguide structures is presented. The model clearly elucidates the phase relationship between the incident plane wave and the waves diffracted from the resonant grating structure that is responsible for the interference of these waves. As a result of this interference process the incident wave can be totally reflected at a certain wavelength and orientation angle. The model is used to describe and analyze this resonance behavior of the grating–waveguide structures as a function of wavelength and incidence angle. The analysis is verified experimentally with semiconductor (InGaAsP/InP) structures at wavelengths of 1.55 μm and also with dielectric (silicon nitride/SiO2) structures at wavelengths of 0.6 μm. All of the structures were formed by electron beam lithography and chemical vapor deposition. The measured results reveal that subnanometer resonance bandwidths and finesses as large as 6000 can be achieved at contrast ratios of 50 with relatively compact structures.


PT Doulton is one of the world?s leading manufacturers and distributors in the premium ceramic tabletop and collectors market. Nowadays, not only quality, but also the fulfilment of customers? orders is important to reach customer satisfaction because this will become another value added for this company. Because of that, PT Doulton not only have to increase the productivity to fulfil the customers? orders on time, but also have to maintain the stocks data to be accurate. The stock data have to be maintained to be accurate because this data is used to promise the delivery time to the customers. However, after doing stock take activities, which done every three months, there always stock accuracy problem (system stock is different with the actual stock). So, there are possibilities that the company will make wrong delivery time estimation and won?t deliver the wares on time. To improve the stock accuracy, there are many processes and resources that should be controlled, start from Making Departments until Enamel Selection Department. This thesis will identify and analyze the factors that might cause the stock accuracy problem. Through this thesis, the stock accuracy at PT Doulton is expected to be improved.


Background: Many contact lens wearers did not get proper guidance on contact lens wear and care resulting in non compliance behavior. The non compliance behavior is associated with increasing risk of contact lens
compliancation such as microbial keratitis and fusarium keratitis Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of compliance and the scope of noncompliance behavior among contact lens wearers in UiTM Puncak Alam.
Method: A total of 66 soft contact lens wearers were selected conveniently in the university campus. After getting the consent form, a set of self report questionnaire
consisted of demographic background, contact lens details, perceived compliance and assessment on wearing and replacement habits and care of lens accessories were administered. Then, each participants was asked to demonstrate the lens cleaning and disinfecting procedure according to their normal practices rather that they thought they should demonstrated. The observational checklist was used by the researcher for the assessment.
Results: Majority of participants was female (n=61) aged between 20-25 years old. Of 66 participants, only 47.8% were identified to be compliant to the lens wear and
care regiment. The most noncompliant behavior was the lens cleaning and disinfecting procedure (59.1%) followed by care of lens case accessories (48.5%). It was found that 56 participants failed to come for aftercare assessment and that was significantly associated with the location of their contact lens purchase (p=0.04). Of 34.8% of participants who perceived themselves as good contact lens wearer, only half (n=12) exhibited as good contact lens wearer.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the level of compliance among young contact lens wearer was still low. The area of contact lens cleaning and disinfecting
is the most noncompliance behavior demonstrated by the participants and this may be attributed by lack of proper knowledge on lens wear and care.


Background & Objectives With the aim to become the Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) capital of the world, Qatar has put great effort into the research of adopting GTL fuel to replace conventional petroleum-derived fuel in current aircraft engines. One of the crucial aspects is the elastomer compatibility issue, as it is believed that GTL fuel may cause seals to shrink or no longer provide an effective sealing due to the lack of aromatics. The purpose of this project, funded by Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), is to investigate the effects of GTL fuel components on O-rings made from various materials. Methods Stress relaxation test is employed for the purpose using the Elastocon Relaxation Tester. Three O-ring materials were tested, namely nitrile, fluorosilicone, and fluorocarbon. N-decane and ShellSol T solvent were chosen to represent normal and iso-paraffins respectively, as they are the main components of GTL fuel. Decalin, a cycloparaffin is included to form a triangle with the other two as previous research indicated cycloparaffin may have the potential to promote seal swelling. 25 blends were prepared with various proportions of the three solvents. Results The results indicated that both fluorosilicone and fluorocarbon O-rings showed excellent compatibility with all 25 blends tested. The stress relaxation characteristic of nitrile O-ring was highly dependent on the composition of the solvents; the more decalin (n-decane) is in the blend, the better (worse) its sealing performance becomes. Effects of the three solvents presented in the tests indicated aromatics are not the only compounds that can swell nitrile O-ring. N-decane also showed certain O-ring swelling ability but its main effect during the polymer-fuel interaction process is to extract materials out of nitrile O-ring. Iso-paraffins do not participate in the O-ring swelling process but only extract polymer materials; however its extraction ability is relatively weaker than n-decane. Conclusions Fluorosilicone and fluorocarbon O-rings are fully compatible with GTL fuel, while nitrile material may shrink when exposed to it. Decalin is capable to swell nitrile O-ring; however, the proportion of decalin in the solvent has to be no less than 60% to be comparable to Jet A-1.


A previously uncharacterized protein plays a role in cellulose deposition during the course of seed coat epidermal cell differentiation. Differentiation of the maternally derived seed coat epidermal cells into mucilage secretory cells is a common adaptation in angiosperms. Recent studies identified cellulose as an important component of seed mucilage in various species. Cellulose is deposited as a set of rays that radiate from the seed upon mucilage extrusion, serving to anchor the pectic component of seed mucilage to the seed surface. Using transcriptome data encompassing the course of seed development, we identified COBRA-LIKE2 (COBL2), a member of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored COBRA-LIKE gene family in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), as coexpressed with other genes involved in cellulose deposition in mucilage secretory cells. Disruption of the COBL2 gene results in substantial reduction in the rays of cellulose present in seed mucilage, along with an increased solubility of the pectic component of the mucilage. Light birefringence demonstrates a substantial decrease in crystalline cellulose deposition into the cellulosic rays of the cobl2 mutants. Moreover, crystalline cellulose deposition into the radial cell walls and the columella appears substantially compromised, as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy and in situ quantification of light birefringence. Overall, the cobl2 mutants display about 40% reduction in whole-seed crystalline cellulose content compared with the wild type. These data establish that COBL2 plays a role in the deposition of crystalline cellulose into various secondary cell wall structures during seed coat epidermal cell differentiation.


With the renaissance of deep learning, the side-channel community also notices the potential of this technology, which is highly related to the profiling attacks in the side-channel context. Many papers have recently investigated the abilities of deep learning in profiling traces. Some of them also aim at the countermeasures (e.g., masking) simultaneously. Nevertheless, so far, all of these papers work with an (implicit) assumption that the number of time samples in raw traces can be reduced before the profiling, i.e., the position of points of interest (PoIs) can be manually located. This is arguably the most challenging part of a practical black-box analysis targeting an implementation protected by masking. Therefore, we argue that to fully utilize the potential of deep learning and get rid of any manual intervention, the end-to-end profiling directly mapping raw traces to target intermediate values is demanded.In this paper, we propose a neural network architecture that consists of encoders, attention mechanisms and a classifier, to conduct the end-to-end profiling. The networks built by our architecture could directly classify the traces that contain a large number of time samples (i.e., raw traces without manual feature extraction) while whose underlying implementation is protected by masking. We validate our networks on several public datasets, i.e., DPA contest v4 and ASCAD, where over 100,000 time samples are directly used in profiling. To our best knowledge, we are the first that successfully carry out end-to-end profiling attacks. The results on the datasets indicate that our networks could get rid of the tricky manual feature extraction. Moreover, our networks perform even systematically better (w.r.t. the number of traces in attacks) than those trained on the reduced traces. These validations imply our approach is not only a first but also a concrete step towards end-to-end profiling attacks in the side-channel context.


Topic and Method. A basic task of the missionary is to negotiate the complex social codes of the foreign territory; for early Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in the American South this meant negotiating a culture of racism which oppressed the Black population. The present study investigated how early Adventist missionaries to the South related to the racism they encountered. Using data drawn from books, periodical literature, personal letters, and denominational minutes, the expressions and recorded actions of the missionaries were analyzed to determine how the missionaries' attitudes and behaviors were related to the cultural racism. Three categories of relationship were utilized for analysis: resistance, accommodation, and institutionalization. -- Conclusions. This analysis provided a picture of the race relations of the missionaries as it changed over time. Early Adventist missionaries first resisted the racist beliefs and practices of the South. Then, pressured by custom and escalating violence, they began to accommodate the racism by racially segregating, yet continuing to resist the oppression of Blacks. Over time, however, the segregation which began as accommodation was normalized and institutionalized. In effect, it became part of the Adventist culture in America. This history has been instructive for understanding how to relate to oppressive cultural practices in missions, and two recommendations are made for preventing the adoption of the oppression in the larger culture when some accommodation is necessary. First, the accommodation must be accompanied with regular internal communication of right principles. Second, the accommodation must be regularly and intentionally re-examined. These strategies are designed to resist the internalization of the wrong principles which underlie the oppressive practices which are being accommodated.


Biofilms pose a public health risk due to their ability to protect bacteria from mechanical, environmental and chemical factors. Thereby they can confer resistance to their constituent bacteria and serve as a vehicle for spread of antimicrobial resistance [1]. Understanding the structure of bacterial communities is critical to developing novel methods of biofilm eradication. Current techniques for imaging live biofilms are limited by sacrificing the size of the imaging volume or spatial resolution. Common approaches to imaging biofilm architecture include electron microscopy techniques [2], single or multi-photon confocal microscopy [3] or widefield epi-fluorescence microscopy using low-magnification, low-numerical aperture lenses [4]. Here we use the Mesolens, an optical microscope with a unique combination of a low magnification (x4) and a high numerical aperture (0.47) which can image specimens up to 6x6x3 mm in volume with a lateral resolution of 700 nm and an axial resolution of 7 μm [5]. Using the Mesolens, it is possible to image whole live colony biofilms with cellular resolution in a single dataset. We report the finding of intra-colony channels (measuring ca.15 μm in diameter) which form when Escherichia coli colonies are grown on a solid surface as an inherent property of biofilm formation. By tracking the movement of 200 nm fluorescent microspheres, we observe translocation of the microspheres from the basal surface of the biofilm into the colony with specific localisation to the channel systems. The uptake of microspheres by the colony infers that these features are inherent to biofilm formation and provide a role in structural support. The biofilms in this work were grown on a nutrient-rich solid medium, and by expanding from the observations of our bead uptake assay we can deduce that the channels may also play a role in nutrient uptake and dissemination throughout the colony. These findings serve as evidence of a fundamental principle of structural biology and bacterial organisation.


In 1853 a writer for the London-based periodical Fraser's Magazine remarked that Berlioz's "heroic temperament" could be "read legibly in the noble style of his compositions. His own life forms to these works the most interesting accompaniment and commentary." The linking of life and work in Berlioz's case is nothing unusual. However, a particular set of circumstances unique to London meant that critics based in that city persistently used Berlioz's biography to further their own agendas while also promoting his music. In this article, I argue that, when writing about Berlioz's London performances, critics employed biographical ideas and narratives that enabled them to use the composer as a means to shape local debates about the future of London's orchestral institutions: the Philharmonic Society and its latest "rival": the New Philharmonic Society.
 Biography proved a powerful rhetorical device from which Berlioz profited and is central to our understanding of his critical reception in London. It was used to introduce, to persuade, to simplify, to generate sympathy, admiration, and outrage. However, I reveal that in later visits biographical narratives overshadowed the coverage of Berlioz's music. In some articles, Berlioz was reduced to a rhetorical device to be employed to give strength to criticisms of either the old Philharmonic or the new, with the critic offering little insight into Berlioz's music. Biography had given Berlioz a foothold in musical London, but it could not win him the lasting success he craved.


Bees and other flower-visiting insects are experiencing periods of food shortage, particularly in intensively managed agricultural landscapes in Europe. As part of the Danish project EcoServe (http://agro.au.dk/ecoserve/) we therefore investigated whether increased richness of selected herbaceous species in organic hay fields acted as a floral resource thus enhancing abundance and biodiversity of pollinators. Moreover, we investigated if availability of floral resources was affected by cutting regime (timing and number of cuttings during the growing season) in 11 herbaceous species, which are often used in grassland seed mixtures.
 In a field survey, we visited 20 organic hay meadows of different age (3-100 years), and conducted surveys regularly throughout the flowering season to quantify diversity of insect-pollinated plants and pollinators. Our results showed that diversity of pollinators was significantly and positively related to diversity of plants, but that hay fields embedded in a complex landscape harbored a higher diversity of both plants and insects than hay fields in more homogeneous areas. Also, diversity of plants and insects increased in older hay meadows.
 In an experimental set-up, we tested the availability of flowers in plots of monocultures and a mixture of 11 herbaceous species under two cutting regimes: (1) plots were cut once every four weeks throughout the growing season, and (2) plots were cut only at the end of the flowering season. While the majority of species provided flowers for pollinators when plots were not cut during the flowering season, most plant species set few if any flowers if cut frequently. One exception was Trifolium repens, which was slightly stimulated by cutting. Thus, traditional grasslands which are frequently mowed are expected to be poor in flowers.
 Our results suggest that it is important to leave unmowed flower-rich areas in the fields throughout the flowering season to avoid periods of food shortage. The potential for unmowed hay fields to enhance diversity and abundance of pollinators, however, depend on the composition of the surrounding landscape and age of the field.


A succinct definition of the word bilateral is having two sides [1]. In robotics the term bilateral control is used to define the specific interaction of two systems by means of position and/or force. Bilateral systems are composed of two sides named master and slave side. The aim of such an arrangement is such that position command dictated by master side is followed by a slave side, and at the same time the force sensation of the remote environment experienced by slave is transferred to the mater - human operator. This way bilateral system may be perceived as an "impendanceless" extension of the human operator providing the touch information of the remote (or inaccessible) environment. In a sense bilateral systems are a mechatronics extension of the teleoperated systems. There are many applications of this structure which requires critical manipulations like nuclear material handling, robotic surgery, and micro material handling and assembly. In all these applications a human operator is required to have as close to real as possible contact with object that should be manipulated or in other word the telepresence of the operator is required. In this thesis work various important aspects of bilateral control systems are discussed. These aspects include problems of (i) acquisition of information on master and slave side, (ii) analysis and selection of the proper structure of the control systems to ensure fidelity of the system behavior. The work has been done to enhance the performance of the bilateral control system by: (i) Enhancing position and velocity measurements obtained from incremental encoder having limited number of pulses per revolution. A few algorithms are investigated and their improvements are proposed; (ii) Increasing system robustness by using acceleration controller based on disturbance observer. The robust system design based on disturbance observer is known but its application requires very fast sampling and high bandwidth of the observer. In this work the discrete time realization of the observer is presented in details and selection of the necessary filters and the sampling so to achieve a good trade-off for observer realization is discussed and experimentally confirmed; (iii) Increasing the bandwidth of force sensation by using reaction force observer. For transparent operation of a bilateral system the bandwidth of force sensation is of the major interest. All force sensors do have relatively slow dynamics and observer based structures seems providing better behavior of the overall system. In this work the observer of the interaction force is examined and design procedure is established. In order to verify all of the proposed ideas a versatile bilateral system is designed and built and experimental verification is carried out on this system.


This study explored factors that determine the types of volunteer jobs older adults are placed in, as well as factors that define the meaning of their roles. With a sample of 169 elder community volunteers (mean age, 73 years), we investigated the patterns of job perceptions of women and men in two types of volunteer positions: jobs that involved leadership and jobs that did not. A two-way MANOVA with gender and leadership as independent variables revealed that there was a significant interaction effect. When men are leaders, their sense of interpersonal feedback is higher than when they are non-leaders, but their sense of influence and autonomy is lower. Women in leadership jobs feel more influential and autonomous than their peers in non-leadership jobs. Subsequent analyses probing differences in job placement suggested that work history was a significant predictor of leadership jobs for men, but not for women. Correspondingly, men with prestigious preretirement work histories perceived their volunteer roles as less influential than men who had been in lower status jobs before retirement. Work history was not a predictor of job perception for women. These placement and perception issues are discussed within the context of an historical perspective on paid work, with special emphasis on gender.


Background Colic causes crying in 10–30% of infants and is one of the primary reasons parents seek health care. Treatments are generally not totally effective and some cause side effects. In this study we aimed to test the effect of light needling (minimal acupuncture) on crying. Methods Forty children (median six weeks of age) with excessive crying unresponsive to conventional therapies, were recruited from 21 Child Welfare Clinics within an area of western Sweden, and quasi-randomised to control or light needling treatment. Parents were unaware of which group their child was assigned to. Children were given light needling acupuncture on one point (LI4) on both hands for approximately 20 seconds on four occasions, or received the same care except needling. Parental assessment questionnaires were used pre- and post-treatment to assess crying intensity, frequency, duration of crying and pain related behaviour throughout the day in six hour periods. Results Light needling resulted in a significant reduction in the rated crying intensity (assessed by a numeric rating scale, 0 to 10). For example, during the morning time period 0600–1200 hours, the median (range) rated crying intensity changed from 6 (1 to 9) pre-treatment to 2 (0 to 5) post-treatment (P=0.002), in the light needling group. The corresponding ratings for the children in the control group was 6 (0 to 10) and 5 (0 to 10) respectively. The difference between the groups was significant (P=0.016). There were also significant differences between the groups for the afternoon (1200–1800 hours), and evening (1800–midnight) time periods. Pain related behaviour like facial expression, was also significantly less pronounced in the light needling group as compared to the control group post-treatment, (P=0.027). The parents rated the light needling as more effective in improving symptoms than the control group (P<0.001). Conclusion Four treatments with light needling on one point in the hand may alleviate crying and pain related behaviour without any noted side effects.


Workload scaling is an approach to accelerating computation and thus improving response times by replicating the exact same request multiple times and processing it in parallel on multiple nodes and accepting the result from the first node to finish. This is not unlike a TV game show, where the same question is given to multiple contestants and the (correct) answer is accepted from the first to respond. This is different than traditional strategies for parallelization as used in, say, MapReduce workloads, where each node runs a subset of the overall workload. There are a variety of strategies that trade off metrics such as cost, utilization, performance, and interprocessor communication requirements. Performance modeling can help determine optimal approaches for different environments and goals. This is important, because poor performance can lead to application and domain-specific losses, such as e-commerce conversions and sales. Performance modeling and analysis plays an important role in designing and driving the selection of resource scaling mechanisms. Such modeling and analysis is complex due to time-varying workload arrival rates and request sizes, and even more complex in cloud environments due to the additional stochastic variation caused by performance interference due to resource sharing across co-located tenants. Moreover, little is known on how to multi-scale, i.e., dynamically and simultaneously scale resources vertically, horizontally, and through workload scaling. In this article, we first demonstrate the effectiveness of multi-scaling in reducing latency, and then discuss the performance modeling challenges, particularly for workload scaling.


This study investigated the effect of 460 nm and 532 nm laser irradiation on anaemic blood compared with normal samples at different exposure times. Blood smears were prepared to study the effect of laser irradiation on erythrocyte deformability. Irradiation of normal and anaemic blood samples with 460 and 532 nm laser light significantly changed erythrocyte deformability. The deformability of both the normal and anaemic blood samples increased as the exposure time increased. The analysis also revealed that erythrocyte deformability is greater in anaemic blood than normal blood.


The time has come for the "Cinderella" field of burns to be transformed as the South African Burn Society (SABS) grows, and we reach the critical mass needed to fulfil the role of the SABS in an environment in which there is a high burden of disease, and which has been neglected for so long. When I took over as President, the SABS had a mere 30 members. We now have a record 340 members as a result of a successful membership drive this year, launched through our new website (saburnsociety.co.za) which offers easy online application, as well as through visits to burn units around the country. It is important to build a network among professionals working in burns in order to share knowledge and support, and to work together for change. Membership is free for these reasons, in the interests of encouraging as many professionals as possible to join.


Natural habitats are being impacted by human pressures at an alarming rate. Monitoring these ecosystem-level changes often requires labour-intensive surveys that are unable to detect rapid or unanticipated environmental changes. Here we developed a generalisable, data-driven solution to this challenge using eco-acoustic data. We exploited a convolutional neural network to embed ecosystem soundscapes from a wide variety of biomes into a common acoustic space. In both supervised and unsupervised modes, this allowed us to accurately quantify variation in habitat quality across space and in biodiversity through time. On the scale of seconds, we learned a typical soundscape model that allowed automatic identification of anomalous sounds in playback experiments, paving the way for real-time detection of irregular environmental behaviour including illegal activity. Our highly generalisable approach, and the common set of features, will enable scientists to unlock previously hidden insights from eco-acoustic data and offers promise as a backbone technology for global collaborative autonomous ecosystem monitoring efforts.


In its theoretical framework, my paper participates in the debate over voice 'after' Derrida. Drawing on poststructuralist and phenomenological approaches as well as recent contributions in the area of performance and cultural studies, I claim that the voice can be treated as an effect of resonance. Inherently performative and dialogic, the voice emerges by resonating with something else as well as by effecting resonances elsewhere. In Henry James's The Bostonians (1886), this figuration is epitomized by the charismatic speaker Verena Tarrant. Her extraordinary public voice is read, manipulated and spoken by various figures of authority, who treat her as a stake in their struggle for power and publicity. Possessed by her vocal gift, they seek in turn to take possession of it. Yet while she lends her voice to others by echoing their ideas and phrases, catchwords and cliches, Verena simultaneously produces an impact on her audiences which eludes full appropriation. Her impersonal voice may express neither self-presence nor agency, but its effect is one of powerful resonance. Exceeding the text's satire of the feminist movement and publicity culture, Verena's doubly mesmeric voice refers us to an ambiguous and unresolvable fascination, both highlighted and performed by The Bostonians, for the voice in general and the public voice of modernity in particular.


The Social Science Centre, Lincoln (SSC), is a co-operative organising free higher education in the city of Lincoln, England. It was formed in 2011 by a group of academics and students in response to the massive rise in student fees, from £3000 to £9000, along with other other government policies that saw the increasing neo-liberalisation of English universities. In this essay we chart the history of the SSC and what it has been like to be a member of this co-operative; but we also want to express another aspect of the centre which we have not written about: the existence of the SSC as an intellectual idea and how the idea has spread and been developed through written publications by members of the centre and by research on the centre by other non-members: students, academics and journalists. At the end of the essay we will show the most up to date manifestation of the idea, the plans to create a co-operative university with degree awarding powers where those involved, students and academics, can make a living as part of an independent enterprise ran and owned by its members for their benefit and the benefit of their community and society.


Introduction
Radial head arthroplasty with a smooth-stemmed metallic modular implant is a reliable treatment option for patients with acute unreconstructible radial head fractures, and good clinical outcomes may be expected beyond 5 years of follow-up (Video 1).

Indications & Contraindications

Step 1 Preoperative Planning
Obtain a careful history and perform a physical examination along with appropriate imaging to facilitate appropriate treatment decisions.

Step 2 Operating Room Setup and Patient Positioning
Perform proper operating room setup and patient positioning, as they are required to gain access to all affected structures around the elbow in a safe and efficient manner.

Step 3 Approach
Make a midline posterior skin incision with development of a full-thickness lateral fasciocutaneous flap or use a direct lateral incision; the deep interval is determined on the basis of the integrity of the LCL.

Step 4 Radial Head Excision
Remove and preserve all fragments of the radial head for implant sizing.

Step 5 Implant Sizing
Implant a prosthesis that closely replicates the dimensions of the native radial head, which is the primary goal of the procedure.

Step 6 Stem Broaching
Sequentially broach the canal until good cortical contact is achieved and undersize the definitive stem by 1 mm to allow implant movement within the canal and appropriate articulation with the capitellum.

Step 7 Insertion of Trial Components and Final Radial Head Implant
With the selected trial in place, assess the radial head diameter, height, and articular congruency.

Step 8 Closure and Repair of the LCL
Ensure proper repair of the LCL as it is essential to maintaining or restoring elbow stability.

Step 9 Postoperative Protocol
Postoperative rehabilitation depends on the status of the collateral ligaments.

Results
In a review of the cases of 55 patients at a mean follow-up of 8 years after radial head arthroplasty with a smooth-stemmed modular metallic prosthesis, Marsh et al.9.

Pitfalls & Challenges


"Prisons and Prisoners In Victorian Britain" provides an illustrated insight into the Victorian prison system and the experiences of those within it - on both sides of the bars. Featuring stories of crime and misdeeds, this fascinating book includes chapters on a typical day inside a Victorian prison - food, divine service, exercise and medical provision; the punishments inflicted on convicts - such as hard labour, flogging, the treadwheel and shot drill; and, an overview of the ultimate penalty paid by prisoners - execution. Richly illustrated with a series of photographs, engravings, documents and letters, this volume is sure to appeal to all those interested in crime and social history in Victorian Britain.


Summary
One hundred and ninety-two lots of aqueous-base (serum-free) yellow fever vaccine were tested in 200 rhesus monkeys (1) to evaluate the behavior characteristics of the vaccine virus in producing clinical and pathological signs and symptoms, (2) to determine the ability of the vaccine virus to multiply and appear in the blood stream, and (3) to test the power of the vaccine to stimulate specific yellow fever immunity. The monkeys constitute a strictly consecutive series. All lots of vaccine employed likewise were of a consecutive series broken only by the absence of 1 lot which was not tested in a monkey because of possible bacterial contamination.
Each monkey was inoculated intracerebrally with 0.25 ml. of yellow fever vaccine from a single homogeneous lot. The inoculums contained from 200 to 2,230,000 minimum lethal mouse doses (m.l.d.) of virus each. The animals were observed for a median period of 30 days subsequent to inoculation. For comparative purposes the 200 monkeys were divided into two groups, viz., a "low virus" group of 102 animals, each of which received 200 to 199,000 m.l.d. and a "high virus" group of 98, each of which received 202,000 to 2,230,000 m.l.d.
No monkey died of trauma or from intercurrent disease.
Each monkey was bled on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th postinoculation days to determine if vaccine virus was present in the circulation. Evidence of its presence was found in 192 animals (96 per cent). Results indicated that during these days more virus was present in the blood of the "high virus" group of monkeys than in the "low virus" group.
Daily rectal temperature determinations were taken throughout the postinoculation observation period. A temperature of 40°C. or higher was regarded as fever. One hundred and sixty-seven of the monkeys (83½ per cent) showed fever. The very great majority of febrile temperatures occurred on the 8th, 9th, and 10th days subsequent to the injection of vaccine. Median duration of fever was 2 days.
The pre- and postinoculation yellow fever immunity status of 199 of the 200 monkeys was studied by the protection test. All 199 animals proved to be nonimmune immediately prior to vaccination and all proved to be immune 12 to 33 days later.
Of the 102 animals in the "low virus" group, each of which received 200 to 199,000 m.l.d. of virus, 18 (17.6 per cent) showed transient weakness with complete recovery and 4 (3.9 per cent) developed signs of severe encephalitis characterized by extreme weakness and/or paralysis. Of these 4, 2 were sacrificed, 1 recovered, and 1 was left with a residual paralysis of the right hind leg. Of the 98 monkeys in the "high virus" group, each of which received 202,000 to 2,230,000 m.l.d. of virus, 24 (24.5 per cent) showed transient weakness with complete recovery and 8 (8.2 per cent) developed signs of severe encephalitis. One of these 8 died and the other 7 were sacrificed. Histopathological study of the brains of the 10 animals coming to autopsy showed encephalitis in each instance.
The 2 most important factors in producing encephalitis in these monkeys are believed to be the inherent susceptibility of the individual animal and the amount of virus injected.
Twenty-two of the monkeys studied had been previously used in studies of poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, or Rocky Mountain spotted fever while 178 had not been previously subjected to experimentation. No significant differences in reaction were observed between the 2 groups.
Of the 192 vaccines studied, 174 were released for human vaccination, principally to the United States Army. No icterogenic or other untoward reactions indicating faulty vaccine have been encountered.


OBJECTIVES
Recent studies indicate that accident risk may be a function of hour at work and time of day. Further evidence was sought for these assumptions, along with the answer to the question of whether the risk of accident can be conceived as an interaction between hours at work and time of day.

METHODS
Data on more than 1.2 million accidents for the year 1994 were provided, all listed according to the time of day and hour at work. Since information about how long each day and at what time of day people work is not available in Germany, different exposure models had to be estimated. For estimating the risk of having an accident relative accident risks were calculated from the ratio of accident frequencies to the exposure data.

RESULTS
An exponentially increasing accident risk was observed beyond the 9th hour at work. The relative accident risks differed considerably according to the respective exposure model with regard to time of day. A highly significant interaction effect was found for hour at work by time of day, the percentage of accidents at different hours at work varying according to the particular time of day when work is started. For the 3 "traditional" shiftwork starting times, it was shown that, with later starting times, the relative accident risk increased dramatically beyond the 8th hour at work.

CONCLUSIONS
Since the results clearly indicate that there are time-related effects on occupational accident risk, more detailed analyses are called for. More elaborated exposure models should be used to assess the efficiency of work schedules with extended workhours, especially under shiftwork conditions. The results also indicate the necessity of recording and providing adequate data bases for such analyses.


Checkpoint inhibitors are effective immunotherapeutics to restore cancer- and virus-induced exhausted CD8+ T cells, by enhancing the quality and survival of immune responses. Although checkpoint inhibitors are already used as therapy against various cancers, not much is known about their multifaceted impact on the exhausted CD8+ T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. This report describes for the first time the evolvement of an exhausted antigen-specific CD8+ TCR repertoire under checkpoint inhibitor treatment. By using a well-established virus model, we were able to show major shifts toward oligoclonality of the CD8+ TCR repertoire response against a massively exhausted lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) epitope. While supporting viral control in the LCMV model, oligoclonality and more private of TCR repertoires may impact future pathogenic challenges and may promote viral escape. Our results may explain the ongoing problems of viral escapes, unpredictable autoimmunity, and heterogeneous responses appearing as adverse effects of checkpoint inhibitor treatments. ABSTRACT Checkpoint inhibitors are effective in restoring exhausted CD8+ T cell responses in persistent viral infections or tumors. Several compounds are in clinical use for different malignancies, but trials in patients with chronic viral infections have also been conducted. In a mouse model of persistent lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection, it was shown that checkpoint inhibitor treatment increased T cell proliferation and functionality, but its influence on the antigen-specific T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire is unknown. NP396-specific CD8+ T cells dominate during acute LCMV infection and are predominantly exhausted during chronic infection. Next-generation sequencing of NP396-specific TCRs showed that exhaustion corresponds with a significantly reduced NP396-specific TCR repertoire diversity: Shannon indices of 4 in immunized mice to 2.6 in persistently infected mice. Anti-PD-L1 treatment during persistent LCMV infection restored NP396-specific T cell responses and reduced viral titers. Nevertheless, anti-PD-L1-treated mice showed an even more narrowed TCR repertoire, with reduced TCR diversity compared to that of persistently infected control mice (Shannon indices of 2.1 and 2.6, respectively). Interestingly, anti-PD-L1 treatment-induced narrowing of the TCR repertoire negatively correlates with functional and physical restoration of the antigen-specific T cell response. Further, we found that private, hyperexpanded TCR clonotypes dominated the T cell response after anti-PD-L1 treatment. Although being private, these top clonotypes from anti-PD-L1-treated mice revealed a more closely related CDR3 motif than those of top clonotypes from persistently infected control mice. In conclusion, although targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway reinvigorates exhausted CD8+ T cells, it fails to restore T cell repertoire diversity. IMPORTANCE Checkpoint inhibitors are effective immunotherapeutics to restore cancer- and virus-induced exhausted CD8+ T cells, by enhancing the quality and survival of immune responses. Although checkpoint inhibitors are already used as therapy against various cancers, not much is known about their multifaceted impact on the exhausted CD8+ T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. This report describes for the first time the evolvement of an exhausted antigen-specific CD8+ TCR repertoire under checkpoint inhibitor treatment. By using a well-established virus model, we were able to show major shifts toward oligoclonality of the CD8+ TCR repertoire response against a massively exhausted lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) epitope. While supporting viral control in the LCMV model, oligoclonality and more private of TCR repertoires may impact future pathogenic challenges and may promote viral escape. Our results may explain the ongoing problems of viral escapes, unpredictable autoimmunity, and heterogeneous responses appearing as adverse effects of checkpoint inhibitor treatments.


In the 1990s, questions of sex roles and individual identity have taken a central position in intellectual debates. These eleven essays in history and anthropology offer a novel perspective on these debates by questioning the place of sexual dimorphism in culture and history. They propose a new role for the study of alternative sex and gender systems in cultural science, as a means of critiquing thinking that privileges standard male/female gender distinctions and rejects the natural basis of other forms of sexuality.The essays cover a wide range of times and cultures, starting in the Byzantine Empire and moving eclectically forward, with a special focus on the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. The anthropological studies include the Native American berdache, the Indian Hijras caste, hermaphrodites in Melanesia, third genders in Indonesia and the Balkans, and transsexuals in America.Third Sex, Third Gender emphasizes desires on the margins of society, and pleasures and bodies outside the assumed arenas of social reproduction. It opens up the possibility of understanding in new ways how, for example, Byzantine palace eunuchs and the Hijras of India met the criteria of special social roles that necessitated self-castration, and how heartfelt yet forbidden desires were expressed among seventeenth-century Dutch Sodomites, the Mollys of eighteenth-century England, and the Intermediate Sex or so-called hermaphrodite-homosexual of nineteenth-century Europe and America.Gilbert Herdt is Professor of Human Development at the University of Chicago. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of a dozen books, including Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia, Gay and Lesbian Youth, and Intimate Communications.The essays: Introduction, Gilbert Herdt. Living in the Shadows: Eunuchs and Gender in Byzantium, Kathryn M. Ringrose. London's Sapphists: From Three Sexes to Four Genders in the Making of Modern Culture, Randolph Trumbach. Sodomy and the Pursuit of the Third Sex in Early Modern Europe, Theo van der Meer. Woman Becomes Man in the Balkans, Rene Gremaux. A Female Soul in a Male Body: Sexual Inversion as Gender Inversion in Nineteenth Century Sexology, Gert Hekma. The Hijras: An Alternative Sex and Gender Role in India, Serna Nanda. How to Become a Berdache: Toward A Unified Analysis of Gender Diversity, Will Roscoe. The., Third Sex Among the Sambia, Gilbert Herdt. The Waria of Indonesia: A Traditional Third Gender Role, Robert Oostvogels. Transcending and Transgendering. Male to Female Transsexuals in the United States, Anne Bolin. Historical and Cultural Reconsideration of the Mabu Third Gender in Tahitia, Niko Besnier.


A 28-year-old woman, with no pathological history, admitted for acute dyspnea. The hemodynamic state was unusual with a respiratory rate of 26 cycles per minute, saturation at 92% in ambient air and a temperature at 38 degrees Celsius. There were no abnormalities in the X-ray of the chest. Thoracic angio-CT revealed distal bilateral pulmonary embolism. Transthoracic echocardiography has showed a pediculated right intra-atrial mass, highly mobile and finely attached to the inter-articular septum; with fragments at the end of the vena cava (Figures 1 and 2). Trans-esophageal echocardiography confirmed the diagnosis and eliminated the presence of CIA or tricuspid orifice obstruction (Figure 3). Given the imminent risk of detachment of the mass and its migration, the patient was transferred to cardiac surgery after the anticoagulant treatment; she benefited from extraction of a thrombus and aspiration of several thrombi. The short and medium-term outcome was good (Figure 4). Abdomino-pelvic tomodensitography did not show any abnormality. On the other hand, no sign pointing towards a disease behcet, whereas the anti-phospholipid antibody assay is negative and the thrombophilia assessment have not been performed.


Background and aim: In opioid maintenance treatment (OMT), drug testing is performed continuously to ensure that patients are taking their prescribed medication, and to detect whether they have taken other, non-prescribed, substances. Typically, supervised urine testing is conducted, and in Sweden such testing is often a treatment precondition. This study investigates OMT patients' experiences of and views on supervised urine testing.Methods: Structured interviews were conducted with 90 Swedish OMT patients. During the interview, patients were asked to say what they thought about the supervised urine tests required. The answers were then analysed through content analysis.Results: Three main themes with sub-themes were found in the patients' statements. 1) The consequences of the test results (sub-themes: external control can provide assurance; proven drug intake may have negative consequences for patients; proven drug abstinence can yield advantages for patients), 2) The testing procedures (sub-themes: supervised urine testing is humiliating and causes harm; how you are treated is important; clinical culture and attitudes differ; stress, pressure and anxiety – tests can be difficult to perform), and 3) The structure of the testing (sub-themes: structure is needed in life; inflexible testing schemes can interfere with treatment goals; gathering people with similar problems can be counterproductive).Conclusions: Most interviewees found the testing functional as support or as proxy control in case of personal loss of control. However, supervised urine testing also constitutes a severe invasion of privacy. Less demeaning testing methods need to be developed and implemented.


Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the trends and to estimate the future
load of patients with breast cancer requiring radiotherapy at Manipal Teaching Hospital,
Pokhara, Nepal.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out on the data collected from
the treatment records of patients who were treated with radiotherapy at the department
of Radiation Oncology at Manipal Teaching Hospital (MTH), Pokhara, between September
2000 and December 2008. Descriptive statistics and statistical modelling were used for the
analysis and the forecasting of data.
Results: Seventy patients were found to have been treated with radiotherapy for breast
cancer during the study period. The patients' mean age was 49.9 years (95% CI: 47.6, 52.3).
Curative treatment was given to 80% and palliative treatment to the remaining 20% of the
patients. Patients from the age group of 45-64 years were more likely to receive curative
76.2% radiotherapy. The compliance to treatment was 100% among the age group of 25-44
years and 90.5% among the group of 45-64 years, as compared to only 66% among patients
older than 65 years. (p = 0.03). The number of patients receiving radiotherapy for breast
cancer showed a pattern of increasing trend. Excluding the constant term from the
equation, the cubic model was the best fitted with R2 = 0.95, p = 0.001 for the forecasting
of breast cancer cases. Using this model, the number of breast cancer cases treated with
radiotherapy at the hospital by the year 2015 was estimated to be 194.
Conclusion: Breast cancer cases in Nepal show an increasing trend and treatment
facilities are bound to be hard pressed in providing the necessary health care to the public.
Nepal should adopt better strategies for the early detection of the disease and improvise
on the resources required for the treatment of this malady.


Objectives To understand which aspects of general practitioner (GP) and HIV clinic appointments people living with HIV (PLWHIV) most value when seeking advice for new health problems. Methods A discrete choice experiment using a convenience sample of people diagnosed with HIV. Participants were recruited from 14 general HIV clinics in the South East of England between December 2014 and April 2015. ORs were calculated using conditional logit (CLOGIT) and latent class models (LCMs). Results A total of 1106 questionnaires were returned. Most participants were male (85%), white (74%) and were men who have sex with men (69%). The CLOGIT analysis showed people particularly valued shorter appointment waiting times (ORs between 1.52 and 3.62, p<0.001 in all instances). The LCM analysis showed there were two distinct classes, with 59% and 41% of respondents likely to be in each. The first class generally preferred GP to HIV clinic appointments and particularly valued 'being seen quickly'. For example, they had strong preferences for shorter appointment waiting times and longer GP opening hours. People in the second class also valued shorter waiting times, but they had a strong general preference for HIV clinic rather than GP appointments. Conclusions PLWHIV value many aspects of care for new health problems, particularly short appointment waiting times. However, they appear split in their general willingness to engage with GPs.


Mexico, a prominent liberalizer, failed to attain stellar gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the 1990s, and since 2001 its GDP and exports have stagnated. In this paper we argue that the lack of spectacular growth in Mexico cannot be blamed on either the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or the other reforms that were implemented, but on the lack of further judicial and structural reform after 1995. In fact, the benefits of liberalization can be seen in the extraordinary growth of exports and foreign domestic investment (FDI). The key to the Mexican puzzle lies in Mexico's response to crisis: a deterioration in contract enforceability and an increase in nonperforming loans. As a result, the credit crunch in Mexico has been far deeper and far more protracted than in the typical developing country. The credit crunch has hit the nontradables sector especially hard and has generated bottlenecks, which have blocked growth in the tradables sector and have contributed to the recent fall in exports.


Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are a promising class of molecules for medical applications: they are detectable through 19F nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and they assemble separately from water or lipophilic phases, thus bringing unique supramolecular interactions into nanostructures. We report the ready insertion of PFCs into nucleic acids, as well as non-natural polymers in a sequence-defined fashion. This is achieved via an automated and efficient synthetic pathway using phosphoramidite chemistry. Modulating the PFC tail length of "DNA–Teflon" block copolymers resulted in micelles that are almost monodisperse, have a low critical micelle concentration (CMC), are traceable by 19F NMR and are responsive to external stimuli. Strong fluorine–fluorine interactions in DNA duplexes allowed remarkable melting temperature increases and provided nuclease resistance. Finally, PFC insertion into siRNA was achieved, and the conjugates were efficient for gene silencing, outlining that these modifications are highly suitable for oligonucleotide therapeutics and bioimaging tools.


Dambakoh site is situated in Chabahar district, at 2 km. from the village Balure-machi. According to the archeological evidence, including potsherds, architectural remains, clay furnaces and numerous graves, the Dambakoh site is 1300 m. long in SE direction and 700 m. wide. The highest point is at 70 m. above plain level. At first glance it can be divided into three distinct areas, i.e. residential, industrial and burial sections. Some 2500 to 3000 graves cover the majority of the site. Most information about this site is based on the efforts of Aurel Stein in 1932. He excavated 42 graves and attributed them to the Parthian period. During a survey in the vicinity of Chabahar in 2001, potsherds were collected randomly and are presented here.


Arctic wetland environments are considered to be sensitive to ongoing climate change but they have received limited attention despite their ecological importance. To understand and quantify better the hydrologic processes which are leading to the sustainability and demise of High Arctic ponds, a water balance framework was employed on several ponds situated in two broad geomorphic areas near Creswell Bay, Somerset Island (72°43′N, 94°15′W). These ponds are also linked to an upland area through a range of linear features: stream, late-lying snowbeds and frost cracks. This study assesses the importance of these features with respect to the sustainability of these wetland ponds.

A pond's position in the moraine landscape was important in determining its connectivity to a nearby stream and late-lying snowbed. Close proximity to a stream draining a large upland snow-covered catchment ensures steady water levels during the snowmelt period. Once discharge slows, a late-lying snowbed continues to supply the pond and others nearby with meltwater. The deeply thawed, sandy coastal zone is characterized by frost cracks, which contribute to the patterned ground of this wetland zone. These cracks, when situated downslope of ponds, function primarily as 'sinks' and serve to deprive small and medium-sized ponds of water during dry periods, often leading to their desiccation.


Background: The lack of a stable and adequate funding system for local health departments in the U.S. has been well documented. The lack of a comprehensive financial reporting system in public health, including a uniform chart of accounts, hampers the ability of local health departments to make a case to legislators and administrators for increased funding from local and state sources. Purpose: This study examined potential sources of revenue reporting by local health departments in Illinois to identify an accurate picture of total revenues and sources of revenues being invested. Methods: A literature review identified four sources of revenue reporting: the 2013 National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Profile of Local Health Departments; the Public Health Uniform National Data System (PHUND$) sponsored by NACCHO; a 2015 survey by the Illinois Association of Public Health Administrators; and individual reports published by local health departments in Illinois. Researchers evaluated each source for level of participation, timeliness of reports, comparability of account categories, and access to information. Individual reports by local health departments in Illinois were compared for consistency. Results: None of the examined sources provided a complete total of revenues for all Illinois local health departments. None had total participation. The chart of accounts was different in each source. Access to information was limited. There was significant variation in categorization of revenues in the Illinois local annual financial reports. Implications: State and local health departments should work toward a uniform chart of accounts and comprehensive, timely, transparent financial reporting system consistent with national efforts.


1. The spectral colour of population dynamics and its causes have attracted much interest. The spectral colour of a time series can be determined from its power spectrum, which shows what proportion of the total variance in the time series occurs at each frequency. A time series with a red spectrum (a negative spectral exponent) is dominated by low-frequency oscillations, and a time series with a blue spectrum (a positive spectral exponent) is dominated by high-frequency oscillations. 2. Both climate variables and population time series are characterised by red spectra, suggesting that a population's environment might be partly responsible for its spectral colour. Laboratory experiments and models have been used to investigate this potential link. However, no study using field data has directly tested whether populations in redder environments are redder. 3. This study uses the Global Population Dynamics Database together with climate data to test for this effect. We found that the spectral exponent of mean summer temperatures correlates positively and significantly with population spectral exponent. 4. We also found that over the last century, temperature climate variables on most continents have become bluer. 5. Although population time series are not long or abundant enough to judge directly whether their spectral colours are changing, our two results taken together suggest that population spectral colour may be affected by the changing spectral colour of climate variables. Population spectral colour has been linked to extinction; we discuss the potential implications of our results for extinction probability.


This paper describes the German public old age social security program (,Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung') and its incentive effects on retirement decisions. The paper presents the key features of the system and expresses retirement incentives in the form of accrual rates of social security wealth and implicit tax rates on earnings. It summarizes labor market behavior of older persons in Germany during the last 35 years and surveys the empirical literature on the effects of the social security system on retirement in Germany. The paper shows that even after the 1992 reform the German system is actuarially unfair. This generates a substantial redistribution from late to early retirees and creates incentives to early retirement. Indeed, average retirement age is very low in West Germany (about age 59) and even lower in East Germany. This tendency towards early retirement is particularly hurting in times of population aging when the German social security contribution rate is expected to increase dramatically and will substantially exceed the rates in other industrialized countries.


The 24-h records of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations in the particulate phase were obtained for the urban site (52.42°N, 16.88°E) in Poznan, one of the largest cities in central Poland, between January and December 2014. The main goal of this study was to identify major emission sources of PAHs congeners and factors controlling their seasonal variability. The most abundant in the particulate matter PAH compound was pyrene (mean concentration of 2.29 ± 4.68 ng m–3, maximum of 22.51 ng m–3), followed by benzo(a)pyrene, dibenz(ah)anthracene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, phenanthrene, benzo(ghi)perylene, chrysene, benz(a)anthracene and fluoranthene. The results showed a sharp decrease in PAHs concentrations during summer measurements (photodecomposition, high precipitation frequency), and high levels of the quantified PAHs during cold study period (increase anthropogenic emission, low air temperature). During the cold season in 2014, predominant PAHs congeners were: pyrene (26.0%) and 5-ring PAH compounds such as benzo(a)pyrene (19.4%) > dibenz(ah)anthracene (13.7%) ≥ benzo(k)fluoranthene (13.3%) > benzo(b)fluoranthene (9.8%), mostly associated with mixed sources (i.e., combustion, wood burning, industrial emission, traffic emission), whereas during warm study period we observed a large contribution (> 20%) of pyrene, dibenz(ah)anthracene and benzo(a)pyrene in particulate matter. The summertime measurements showed that local emission from the traffic (i.e., diesel and gasoline exhausts) was the second important source of PAHs in aerosol. The coal combustion for residential heating and industrial usage were most pronounced PAHs sources during the entire study period. The multivariate statistical technique (Principal Component Analysis) combined with some diagnostic ratios were applied to provide detailed characteristics of sources and processes related to the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in different seasons. The results from this study are in good agreement with most of the studies focused on seasonal variability of PAHs in the atmosphere.


A revelatory account of the nouvelle thŽologie, a clerical movement that revitalized the Catholic ChurchÕs role in twentieth-century French political life. Secularism has been a cornerstone of French political culture since 1905, when the republic formalized the separation of church and state. At times the barrier of secularism has seemed impenetrable, stifling religious actors wishing to take part in political life. Yet in other instances, secularism has actually nurtured movements of the faithful. Soldiers of God in a Secular World explores one such case, that of the nouvelle thŽologie, or new theology. Developed in the interwar years by Jesuits and Dominicans, the nouvelle thŽologie reimagined the ChurchÕs relationship to public life, encouraging political activism, engaging with secular philosophy, and inspiring doctrinal changes adopted by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Nouveaux thŽologiens charted a path between the old alliance of throne and altar and secularismÕs demand for the privatization of religion. Envisioning a Church in but not of the public sphere, Catholic thinkers drew on theological principles to intervene in political questions while claiming to remain at armÕs length from politics proper. Sarah Shortall argues that this Òcounter-politicsÓ was central to the mission of the nouveaux thŽologiens: by recoding political statements in the ostensibly apolitical language of doctrine, priests were able to enter into debates over fascism and communism, democracy and human rights, colonialism and nuclear war. This approach found its highest expression during the Second World War, when the nouveaux thŽologiens led the spiritual resistance against Nazism. Claiming a powerful public voice, they collectively forged a new role for the Church amid the momentous political shifts of the twentieth century.... Download ebook, read file pdf Catholic Theology and Twentieth-Century French Politics


ENERGY LAW & POLICY Gordon Kaiser and Bob Heggie, Editors, Carswell 2011 In Energy Law & Policy,1 Gordon Kaiser and Bob Heggie make an important contribution to the literature on law and policy in the continually evolving electricity and gas sectors. Mr. Kaiser and Mr. Heggie, veterans of the Canadian utility regulatory sector, have assembled and edited a topical collection of articles from a cross-section of leading academics, regulators, and experts. Mr. Kaiser, now an arbitrator in international and domestic energy disputes, served as Vice Chair of the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) for six years where he authored a number of notable decisions.2 Prior to his appointment to the OEB, Mr. Kaiser acted as counsel on a number of high-profile energy and competition cases. Mr. Heggie is currently Chief Executive Officer of the Alberta Utilities Commission.3 Prior to his appointment in 2008, he served as Executive Manager of the Utilities Branch and as Associate General Counsel of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, during which time he led initiatives on gas and electricity restructuring.4 Energy Law & Policy is not a text book or a comprehensive overview of policy and regulation in the electricity and gas sectors, but, it is also more than a collection of articles. It is roughly organized around four subject areas - General Canadian Regulatory Principles and Developments, Challenges Arising from Deregulation, Green Energy Developments and Utility Rate Regulation - each of which contains articles on important topics within these subject areas. Further, while Energy Law & Policy is focused on the Canadian power sector - in particular, Ontario and Alberta, the only two provinces to have restructured their power markets - it should resonate with a broader audience. The articles in Energy Law and Policy touch on themes that are common to the evolution of the power sector across North America and Europe - e.g., intersection of policy and traditional regulation, changing role of utility regulators, implications of green energy development, promoting competition, monitoring and enforcing compliance, etc. In addition, several articles offer useful overviews on the fundamentals of energy regulation in Canada, current trends and developments in the Canadian gas and electricity sectors, and specific areas where the Canadian regulatory landscape is unique. At a time when North American power markets are further integrating - Keystone XL being a notable (and perhaps temporary) exception - and several Canadian jurisdictions are opening up opportunities for investment (e.g., Ontario's and Nova Scotia's feed-in-tariff programs, and Ontario and Alberta's competitive transmission procurements), these articles will be instructive for U.S. and other foreign readers. Section I of Energy Law & Policy contains two very good general articles on administrative law and utility regulatory developments. In "Administrative Law and Energy Regulation," professor David Mullan, one of Canada's foremost administrative law experts, provides an overview of important constitutional, administrative, and regulatory law principles as they apply to the energy sector.5 In "Developments in Public Utility Law," Kaiser and Heggie contribute a lengthy article on developments in Canadian utility regulation.6 Together these two articles are excellent primers on important principles governing Canadian utility regulation, including the scope of utility tribunals' jurisdiction, standards of judicial review/appeal, disclosure requirements, solicitor-client privilege, the fair return standard, bypass/asset stranding, and so on. Of particular interest are Kaiser's and Heggie's analysis of several recent cases which have reinforced utility commissions' broad regulatory powers to protect consumers through the establishment of low-income rates and restrictions on utility dividend policies. In addition, Section I includes a paper by Justice David Brown on "Aboriginal Rights in Energy Infrastructure Development. …


BACKGROUND
Significant concerns are now regularly raised about the safety of excessive mobile phone use. This study was aimed to assess the acute effects of radiofrequency waves emitted by a commercial smartphone on platelet function.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Two sequential citrated blood samples were collected from 16 healthy volunteers recruited from laboratory staff. The first sample was placed in a plastic rack, 1 cm distant from a commercial smartphone receiving a 30-min call and emitting 900 MHz radiofrequency waves. The second sample was placed in another plastic rack, isolated from radiofrequency wave sources, for the same period. The platelet count and the mean platelet volume were then assessed in all blood samples, whereas platelet function was evaluated using the platelet function analyser-100 (PFA-100).

RESULTS
A 30-min exposure of citrated blood to smartphone radiofrequency waves induced significant prolongation of collagen-epinephrine aggregation (median increase, 10%) and a considerable increase of mean platelet volume (median increase, 5%), whereas collagen-adenosine diphosphate aggregation and platelet count remained unchanged.

DISCUSSION
This study demonstrates that smartphone radiofrequency waves induce significant perturbation of platelet structure and function, thus providing further support to concerns regarding excessive use of mobile phones. Caution should also be taken with regards to blood products containing platelets, which should be kept far away from mobile phones and smartphones throughout the production pipeline and storage period.


The discovery of air-stable n-dopants for organic semiconductor materials has been hindered by the necessity of high-energy HOMOs and the air sensitivity of compounds that satisfy this requirement. One strategy for circumventing this problem is to utilize stable precursor molecules that form the active doping complex in situ during the doping process or in a postdeposition thermal- or photo-activation step. Some of us have reported on the use of 1H-benzimidazole (DMBI) and benzimidazolium (DMBI-I) salts as solution- and vacuum-processable n-type dopant precursors, respectively. It was initially suggested that DMBI dopants function as single-electron radical donors wherein the active doping species, the imidazoline radical, is generated in a postdeposition thermal annealing step. Herein we report the results of extensive mechanistic studies on DMBI-doped fullerenes, the results of which suggest a more complicated doping mechanism is operative. Specifically, a reaction between the dopant and host that begins with either hydride or hydrogen atom transfer and which ultimately leads to the formation of host radical anions is responsible for the doping effect. The results of this research will be useful for identifying applications of current organic n-doping technology and will drive the design of next-generation n-type dopants that are air stable and capable of doping low-electron-affinity host materials in organic devices.


A nonlinear method based on the inversion of the Riccati equation is presented here for the one-dimensional nondispersive inverse-scattering problem. This method avoids the significant errors in both amplitude and phase that plague most linearized (e.g., Born or its varients) inversion schemes. Instead, a nonlinear approximation to the Riccati equation is used for the accurate determination of the refractive-index amplitude from reflection data. This information is subsequently used to stretch the coordinates so as to remove the phase-accumulation error. The resulting refractive-index reconstructions are therefore accurate both in amplitude and in longitudinal placement as evidenced by the excellent comparison with exact theory. The method is applicable to both continuous and discontinuous refractive profiles and is supported by experimental measurements.


ABSTRACT We are living in an era where data lead to opportunities, especially customer data. According to privacy laws, however, without customers' authorisation, organisations face many limitations in using identifiable information for secondary purposes. Consequently, organisations are missing out on many potential business opportunities to capitalise on customer data. Privacy concerns have become the biggest roadblock to gain customer consent because of the potential risks associated with the use of personal information. This situation underscores the importance of devising effective information practices and strategies in dealing with the use of customer data. Privacy literature suggests that information practices may influence individuals' intentions to participate in situations requiring the collection and use of personal data. Yet, existing research has not systematically analysed the role of these strategies in influencing intention. Also, previous studies focus primarily on the disclosure of personal data. Issues surrounding 'authorisation of personal data for secondary use' remain unexplored. The purpose of our study is to examine the role of information practices on intention to authorise secondary use of personal data. The results show that privacy concerns and trusting beliefs significantly affect individual perceptions of information practices. Perception of information practices in turn exerts significant effect on intention to authorise secondary use of personal data. Both theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed.


We study a particular class of cyclic causal models, where each variable is a (possibly nonlinear) function of its parents and additive noise. We prove that the causal graph of such models is generically identifiable in the bivariate, Gaussian-noise case. We also propose a method to learn such models from observational data. In the acyclic case, the method reduces to ordinary regression, but in the more challenging cyclic case, an additional term arises in the loss function, which makes it a special case of nonlinear independent component analysis. We illustrate the proposed method on synthetic data.


Directional antennas have numerous advantages over traditional omnidirectional antennas, which include more spatial reuse, extended range, less interference, and less energy consumption. Directional antennas introduce deafness and new hidden terminal problems. Deafness may cause more collisions, and hidden terminal problems may result in more retransmissions, poor quality of service, more energy consumption, and less packet delivery ratio. Hence, it is important to design of an effective medium access protocol specifically for directional antennas in order to reap the benefits of directional antennas while managing deafness and hidden terminal problems, otherwise the challenges can adversely affect system performance. In wireless sensor networks, the sensors are battery powered with limited supply of energy. Therefore, energy efficient protocols and solutions are immensely important with the desired goal of extending the network lifetime longer than what is possible through the omnidirectional antennas. In this thesis, I have proposed an energy efficient scheduled directional medium access control protocol (DTRAMA) which is specially designed for the wireless sensor nodes which use directional antennas in wireless sensor networks. It is a traffic adaptive scheduled medium access protocol in which nodes create their transmission and sleep schedules on the basis of their traffic. Scheduled medium access for packet transmission is used to address the deafness and hidden terminal problems caused by the use of directional communication in contention based MAC protocols. Use of directional antenna reduces interference which indirectly improves packet delivery ratio by improving the signal to noise ratio and by reducing the packet error rate. DTRAMA is energy efficient: firstly because the nodes use directional data communication which requires lower node transmit power than the omnidirectional data communication for the same transmission range; and secondly, because the nodes schedule their sleep period to reduce idle listening and overhearing which improves energy efficiency. In DTRAMA, sleep schedule of the node is traffic adaptive which is essential to maximize the sleep period. The node, by using spatial reuse checks, reuses the wireless medium to the maximum extent to reap the spatial reuse benefits of the directional antenna. The nodes reduce their packet latency through spatial reuse. Through simulation and by using different topologies, I have compared the performance of DTRAMA with those of omnidirectional schedule MAC protocol (TRAMA) and contention based directional MAC protocol (DMAC), which clearly shows that DTRAMA outperforms TRAMA and DMAC in packet delivery ratio and outperforms TRAMA in terms of packet latency.


As sessile, benthic filter feeders, brachiopods share an intimate relationship with their chosen substrate. Individuals of Micromitra burgessensis in the Burgess Shale Formation are preserved in life position, attached to a range of hard substrates, including skeletal debris, conspecific brachiopods, sponges and enigmatic tubes. Here we investigate the phenotypic variability of M. burgessensis associated with differing substrate attachments. We apply geometric morphometrics to test for variation by plotting landmarks on the exterior of ventral and dorsal valves of M. burgessensis specimens that are preserved attached to different substrates. Using principal component, canonical variate analyses and anova, we determine that there is some variation in shape related to substrate. Canonical variate analyses, for ventral valves and dorsal valves, indicate that specimens attached to the same substrate are recognizable in shape from specimens attached to other substrate types. The strength of differentiation however, is not robust and combined with our discriminate analysis of separate populations suggests that there is the potential for substrates to exercise only weak control over the morphology of Brachiopoda.


This thesis presents the challenges and current state of the art related to soundscapes modeling and design. The concept of soundscape comprises various fields of knowledge and craft: from scientific to technical and artistical. Moreover, current scenarios demand new digital content creation (DCC) paradigms focused on user generated content (UGN) platforms and on-line repositories of sound assets, like Freesound. The work carried out focuses on DSP methodologies that can be used to support the creation and design of soundscapes. We stress their relationship with the nature of interactive and immersive environments. One application area is explained for the use-case of "sound concepts" that need to be modeled using material from various recordings, carried out using different setups or sound design techniques. An homogenization algorithm is presented with the aim to reach a certain homogenization across groups of samples by means of auditory-based features. Then, a study about the transformations that can be applied using this model are presented as equalization methods. To support the development and evaluation of the techniques presented, a prototype in Matlab and the integration of a SuperCollider server with the game engine Unity 3d have been carried out. Additionally, some applications and use-cases are also mentioned within the contexts of interactive (non-linear) and linear sound design.


Abstract Climate-change research suggests that civilization and its ecological underpinnings may face catastrophe without profound changes in our collective cultural behavior. Yet, meaningful policy responses seem largely insufficient. This article describes a body of original research from the state of Oregon in the United States aimed at uncovering alternative pathways around the current stalemate. Drawing from sixteen studies conducted from 2008 to 2012, I find evidence of strong grassroots attitudinal support for reducing consumption, with agreement in the 70–88% range. Broad cultural agreement about excess consumption bridges ideological divisions regarding climate change. Seeing climate change as a symptom of the underlying problem—consumption—may reveal new solutions. The studies find deconsumption policy support to be marginal and at odds with policy-leadership views favoring economic growth. However, this work observes evidence of grassroots, consumeless attitudes and behavior despite ongoing policy to stimulate growth. The article discusses motivations, barriers, dissonance, and behavior about lowering consumption.


The British architectural historian, critic and writer, Reyner Banham, formed the concept of 'unhouse' in a period of intense technological transformation during the middle years of the twentieth century. His unhouse proposed the seemingly radical idea to dematerialize the walls and roof of a house, to remove the strictures that tie buildings, and thus people, to the encumbrances of what he termed: 'the dead weight of domestic architecture' (A Home is Not a House, 1965). Presented as an accumulation of technological services, including landscape flood lights, TV and stereo speakers, radio and tape deck, electric cooker and refrigerator, the unhouse would cater for all essential human needs, providing a convenient and transportable 'standard of living package'. Combined with a 'power membrane', which would furnish a curtain of hot or cold air around the unhouse, the design proposed that the exterior building or fixed structure might be dispensed with altogether. While recognized as deliberately provocative and slightly eccentric at the time, Banham's ideas have acquired a certain currency again, in the early years of a new century, in a similar period of immense technological transformations. Faced with the challenges of climate change, mass movement of people, and globalized economic systems, the unhouse, which suggested new features of solar power, natural insecticides (the universal pest lure and destructor) and environmentally-friendly noise reduction or anti-noise pollution, demonstrates certain practices of sustainable design behavior that has influenced some recent architects and designers. Overall, however, the unhouse does not represent a freeing up of humans from their environment, with a low-cost, itinerant lifestyle choice. Rather, unhouse exists within theories or ideas that might be described as 'anti-interiority', themes that originate within Modernist architecture and that have been challenged over recent decades. Therefore, this paper situates Banham's unhouse within a category of dominant architectural and design theory that suppressed or diminished the importance of interior spaces and their relevance to human wellbeing and social relations. (Reed, 1996; Colomina et al, 1996; Sparke, 2008; and Hollis, 2009). It argues that architecture and design in the twenty-first century, whilst acknowledging the prescient nature of Banham's concept, takes into account the significance of social meanings that are ascribed to the interior. For example, in exploratory designs from more contemporary projects, such as Superflux's Mitigation of Shock (2017-19) and Philips' Microbial Home (2011), the designers seek to create immersive experiences in future interiors. Subjective encounters with internal spaces are incorporated with much thought and consideration for human patterns of behavior; of domestic rituals, self-sufficiency, comfort and embodied materiality. Banham (and others) sought to expunge the interior of historical 'weightiness' but in doing so merely avoided the intrinsic, and sometimes, difficult nature of our relationship to our interiors, and the ways in which physical interiors are not simply reflective of our personalities but are, importantly, the summation of our interiority as human beings. In Banham's shift from 'form and hardware to service and software' (Whiteley, 2002), he essentially repeated Modernist attitudes to domestic life in the interior, as elements of our being that ought to be streamlined, updated and restructured, in an 'almost universal expendability' (A Home is not a House, 1965); in this sense, the 'mess' and subjectivity of life in the domestic interior was not an important factor in the delivery of new technologies. The opposite might be said today as domestic technologies are grounded in user experiences. Such ideas are explored in this paper that explains how new theories of interior space are emerging from architecture and design practices engaged with the many layered meanings of interiority, embracing the significance of 'home' that Banham and others appeared to overlook.


If "slavery" is defined broadly to include bonded child labor and forced prostitution, there are upward of 25 million slaves in the world today. Individuals and groups are freeing some slaves by buying them from their enslavers. But slave redemption is as controversial today as it was in pre-Civil War America. In Buying Freedom , Kwame Anthony Appiah and Martin Bunzl bring together economists, anthropologists, historians, and philosophers for the first comprehensive examination of the practical and ethical implications of slave redemption. While recognizing the obvious virtue of the desire to buy the freedom of slaves, the contributors ask difficult and troubling questions: Does redeeming slaves actually increase the demand for--and so the number of--slaves? And what about cases where it is far from clear that redemption will improve the material condition, or increase the real freedom, of a slave? Buying Freedom includes essays by the editors and by Dean Karlan and Alan Krueger, Carol Ann Rogers and Kenneth Swinnerton, Arnab Basu and Nancy Chau, Stanley Engerman, Jonathan Conning and Michael Kevane, Jok Madut Jok, Ann McDougall, Lisa Cook, Margaret Kellow, John Stauffer, and Howard McGary.


Identification of static nonlinear elements (i.e., nonlinear elements whose outputs depend only on the present value of inputs) is crucial for the success of system identification tasks. Identification of static nonlinear elements though can pose several challenges. Two of the main challenges are: (1) mathematical models describing the elements being unknown and thus requiring black-box identification; and (2) collection of sufficiently informative measurements. With the aim of addressing the two challenges, we propose in this paper a method of predetermining informative measurement points offline (i.e., prior to conducting experiments or seeing any measured data), and using those measurements for online model calibration. Since we deal with an unknown model structure scenario, a high order polynomial model is assumed. Over fit and under fit avoidance are achieved via checking model convergence via an iterative means. Model dependent information maximization is done via a D-optimal design of experiments strategy. Due to experiments being designed offline and being designed prior to conducting measurements, this method eases off the computation burden at the point of conducting measurements. The need for in-the-loop information maximization while conducting measurements is avoided. We conclude by comparing the proposed D-optimal design method with a method of in-the-loop information maximization and point out the pros and cons. The method is demonstrated for the single-input-single-output (SISO) static nonlinear element case. The method can be extended to MISO systems as well.


People with disabilities are often the recipients of volunteer services but are rarely considered as a potential volunteer resource, such as in sport events where volunteers are an essential component of major sport event operation and legacy potential. For London's 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, there was a determined effort by the Organizing Committee to recruit people with disabilities to be Games Makers (i.e., volunteers). This exploratory research investigated 786 London 2012 volunteers who self-identified as having disability or access needs. The research design involved an online questionnaire examining their motivations for volunteering, their experiences, their likelihood to continue volunteering, and their sociodemographic profile. This article contributes to the literature by examining the motivations of people with disability volunteering, at a mega-sport event, as this has not been done previously. The factor analysis identified eight components; transactional; altruistic; it's all about the games; volunteering community; rewards; availability; variety; and application. The solution highlighted the duality of human capital-related transactinal components where the individual wanted to improve their skills and the altruistic components of giving back and it's all about the games experience. The discussion examined these components in comparison to other mega-events volunteers to examine commonalities and contrasts.


Error-free lesion bypass and error-prone lesion bypass are important cellular responses to DNA damage during replication, both of which require a DNA polymerase (Pol). To identify lesion bypass DNA polymerases, we have purified human Polκ encoded by the DINB1 gene and examined its response to damaged DNA templates. Here, we show that human Polκ is a novel lesion bypass polymerase in vitro. Purified human Polκ efficiently bypassed a template 8-oxoguanine, incorporating mainly A and less frequently C opposite the lesion. Human Polκ most frequently incorporated A opposite a template abasic site. Efficient further extension required T as the next template base, and was mediated mainly by a one-nucleotide deletion mechanism. Human Polκ was able to bypass an acetylaminofluorene-modified G in DNA, incorporating either C or T, and less efficiently A opposite the lesion. Furthermore, human Polκ effectively bypassed a template (–)-trans-antibenzo[a]pyrene-N 2 -dG lesion in an error-free manner by incorporating a C opposite the bulky adduct. In contrast, human Polκ was unable to bypass a template TT dimer or a TT (6-4) photoproduct, two of the major UV lesions. These results suggest that Polκ plays an important role in both error-free and errorprone lesion bypass in humans.


Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a term used to describe cardiac muscle damage-induced heart failure. Multiple structural and biochemical reasons have been suggested to induce this disorder. The most prominent feature of the diabetic myocardium is attenuated insulin signalling that reduces survival kinases (Akt), potentially switching on protein targets like FoxOs, initiators of cell death. FoxO1, a prominent member of the forkhead box family and subfamily O of transcription factors and produced from the FKHR gene, is involved in regulating metabolism, cell proliferation, oxidative stress response, immune homeostasis, pluripotency in embryonic stem cells, and cell death. In this review we describe distinctive functions of FoxOs, specifically FoxO1 under conditions of nutrient excess, insulin resistance and diabetes, and its manipulation to restore metabolic equilibrium to limit cardiac damage due to cell death. Because FoxO1 helps cardiac tissue to combat a variety of stress stimuli, it could be a major determinant in regulating diabetic cardiomyopathy. In this regard, we highlight studies from our group and others who illustrate how cardiac tissuespecific FoxO1 deletion protects the heart against cardiomyopathy and how its down-regulation in endothelial tissue could prevent against atherosclerotic plaques. In addition, we also describe studies that show FoxO1's beneficial qualities by highlighting their role in inducing anti-oxidant, autophagic, and anti-apoptotic genes under stress conditions of ischaemia–reperfusion and myocardial infarction. Thus, the aforementioned FoxO1 traits could be useful in curbing cardiac tissue-specific impairment of function following diabetes.


In this paper, a Frequency-Dependent Pi Model (FDPi) of a three-core submarine cable is presented. The model is intended to be used for the representation of submarine cables in an Offshore Wind Power Plant (OWPP) scenario for both time and frequency domain analysis. The frequency-dependent variation of each conductive layer is modeled by a Foster equivalent network whose parameters are tuned by means of Vector Fitting (VF) algorithm. The complete formulation for the parameterization of the model is presented in detail, which allows an easy reproduction of the presented model. The validation of the model is performed via a comparison with a well-established reference model, the Universal Line Model (ULM) from PSCAD/EMTDC software. Two cable system case studies are presented. The first case study shows the response of the FDPi Model for a three-core submarine cable. On the other hand, the second case study depicts the response of three single-core underground cables laying in trefoil formation. This last case shows the applicability of the FDPi Model to other types of cable systems and indirectly validates the response of the aforementioned model with experimental results. Additionally, potential applications of the FDPi model are presented.


The recent global recession and international financial crisis have sparked fresh interest in financial data. Traditionally, data on the balance sheets of financial intermediaries has been collected fairly comprehensively, but data on debt securities markets has been considerably more patchy. New Zealand's financial system is still dominated by lending intermediated by the balance sheets of banks. However, debt securities markets are likely to continue to grow in importance, and understanding developments, and changes through periods of stress, will be of growing importance, both to the Reserve Bank and to others wanting to understand the financial aspects of the New Zealand economy. The Reserve Bank has been seeking to build up its resources in this area and the next step in this will be the development of a security-by-security database covering the issuance of securities within New Zealand. This article outlines some of the reasons for wanting better, more comprehensive and more timely information on activity in New Zealand's debt securities markets, and some of the issues and challenges around developing such a database.


The idea of local learning, classifying a particular point based on its neighbors, has been successfully applied to supervised learning problems. In this paper, we adapt it for Transductive Classification (TC) problems. Specifically, we formulate a Local Learning Regularizer (LL-Reg) which leads to a solution with the property that the label of each data point can be well predicted based on its neighbors and their labels. For model selection, an efficient way to compute the leave-one-out classification error is provided for the proposed and related algorithms. Experimental results using several benchmark datasets illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.