OBJECTIVE
To evaluate three-dimensional (3D) condylar and mandibular growth in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) with unilateral temporomandibular joint involvement treated with a distraction splint.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans were taken for 16 patients with JIA with unilateral TMJ involvement before treatment (T0) and 2 years after treatment (T1). All patients received orthopedic treatment with a distraction splint. Eleven patients without JIA who were undergoing orthodontic treatment without a functional appliance or Class II mechanics and who had taken CBCT scans before and after treatment, served as controls. Reconstructed 3D models of the mandibles at T0 and T1 were superimposed on stable structures. Intra- and intergroup growth differences in condylar and mandibular ramus modifications and growth vector direction of the mandibular ramus were evaluated.

RESULTS
In all patients with JIA there were asymmetric condylar volume, distal and vertical condylar displacement, and ramus length differences that were smaller on the affected side. Condylar displacement was more distal and less vertical in the JIA group than in the control group. A larger distal growth of the condylar head and a more medial rotation of the ramus on the affected side were found in the JIA group.

CONCLUSION
The orthopedic functional treatment for patients with JIA allows for condylar adaptation and modeling, thereby hindering, although with a widely variable response, a further worsening of the asymmetry. Unilateral affection has a possible influence on the growth of the nonaffected side.


Compassionate conservatism is a new political force in the land, sweeping the grassroots of people of all faiths, races, and ethnicities. In its parts it offers solutions to many of our most intractable problems; in its whole it is nothing less than an innovative philosophy of government. No author is more qualified to explain its power and promise than Marvin Olasky, described by "The New York Times" as "the godfather of compassionate conservatism."Compassionate conservatism offers a new paradigm for how the government can and should intervene in the economy. It begins with a long-lost premise about human behavior: economics, by itself, is not what changes lives. Only faith, and deeply held beliefs, can do that. For decades government has focused only on material well-being, ignoring the passions and convictions that make life worth living. What is conservative about the new movement is that its leaders also know that government cannot instill these beliefs. What it can do is help them flourish. It can give aid, inspiration, and direction to America's natural "armies of compassion" that have been a hallmark of our history since the founding.Compassionate conservatism offers a way to transcend the root problems that currently oppress too many deserving Americans. It offers a unique vision of the triangular relationship between the state, our many churches, and our tens of thousands of charities. It is a true reinvention of welfare, a wholesale revolution in the welfare state, and a redefinition of the social safety net. In "Compassionate Conservatism" Marvin Olasky takes us on a road trip with his son, Daniel, across the country, showing exactly how the new movement is unfolding. Along the way, he offers a set of principles, and a brief tour through history to show that these are not so much radically new ideas as rediscoveries of long-lost wisdom. Read this book for a blueprint of the future of politics and welfare in America.


Abstract Conservation and land management decisions often are based primarily on natural science, but could be more successful if human influences were effectively integrated into decision making. This is especially true for efforts to manage invasive plants, whose arrival is usually the product of deliberate human introduction. Risk-assessment models that predict the probability that a nonnative plant will naturalize or invade are useful tools for managing invasive plants. However, decisions based on such models could affect stakeholders differently. Careful assessment of risk-analysis methodologies should consider the importance of stakeholder participation. We surveyed the perceptions of four stakeholder groups (conservation professionals, master gardeners, professional horticulturists, and woodland landowners) in Iowa about invasive plants, general management approaches, and risk-assessment models. We also examined whether or not a stakeholder's nature relatedness plays a role in shaping his or her responses. Stakeholder perceptions varied less than expected across all four groups. Eighty-seven percent of respondents agreed invasive plants are a problem, and 88.4% agreed that we have a responsibility to manage them to protect natural areas. Support for the use of risk-assessment models also was high, with 78.7% of respondents agreeing that their use has potential to prevent plant invasions. Nature relatedness scores for all groups were correlated with respondent perspectives on invasive plants. Respondents believed biologically significant error rates (errors that might introduce a new invasive plant) should not exceed 5 to 10%. Respondents were more tolerant of horticulturally limiting errors (errors that restrict sale/use of a plant that would not have become invasive), reporting rates of 10 to 20% as acceptable. Researchers developing risk-assessment models might wish to aim for error rates within these bounds. General agreement among these stakeholder groups suggests potential support for future risk-management efforts related to invasive plants. Management Implications: Many conservation professionals and land managers have spent countless hours containing or eradicating invasive plants encroaching on natural areas. Given the costs and effort associated with their control, prohibiting the introduction of new nonnative plants that are likely to become invasive would be very beneficial. Risk-assessment models are statistical tools that can be used to screen new plant introductions for invasiveness, but implementing these models comes with challenges. Because most new plant introductions are deliberately initiated by humans, stakeholders' needs must be taken into consideration if these pre-emptive management efforts are to be successful. We identified and surveyed four stakeholder groups (conservation professionals, master gardeners, professional horticulturists, and woodland landowners) in Iowa, who are important voices in decision-making for invasive plants, about their perspectives on general management approaches, and risk-assessment models. We also examined whether or not nature relatedness (a person's sense of connection to the natural world) plays a role in shaping these perspectives. We found these stakeholder groups had relatively minor differences of opinion. Stakeholders agreed that invasive plants were a problem that we have a responsibility to manage, and were open to the idea of passing state laws or mandates to achieve that goal. This was true even of professional horticulturists and master gardeners, who would potentially incur more costs than benefits from such regulations. Stakeholders also displayed consistently high levels of nature relatedness, and concern these groups have about invasive plants might be influenced by their identification with nature. Overall, our findings suggest that risk analysis to limit introduction of potentially invasive plants is likely to be acceptable in Iowa. When selecting a risk-assessment model to adopt, stakeholders believe choosing models with a low chance of introducing potentially invasive plants is more important than choosing models with a low chance of prohibiting a plant unlikely to become invasive. Current risk-assessment models, which emphasize prevention of invasive plant introduction at the expense of preventing introduction of benign plants, appear to be aligned with stakeholder preferences.


Normal human breast epithelial cells were transfected with expression vectors containing the p53 gene mutated at either codon 143, 175, 248 or 273, or by infection with a recombinant retroviral vector containing the p53 gene mutated at codons 143, 175, 248, or 273. The breast epithelial cells were monitored for extension of in vitro lifespan and immortalization. Expression of some, but not all, p53 mutants resulted in an extension of in vitro lifespan. Experiments with the p53 temperature sensitive mutant 143ala revealed that at 32 degrees C, the nonpermissive temperature, the growth of breast epithelial cells was inhibited. At 37 degrees C, the mutant conformation, there was increased proliferation of cells, resulting in extension of in vitro lifespan. Breast epithelial cells expressing p53 mutant 273his maintained DNA binding and transcriptional activities and one clone immortalized after a period of growth arrest (crisis). The progression of this immortalization event was characterized by the reactivation of telomerase using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP), and terminal restriction fragment analysis (TRF). This is the first reported immortalization of human mammary epithelial cells transfected with a mutant 53.


Use of digital visualization tools in planning is nowadays widely practiced around the world by various contributors to the field and in different planning scales. Visualization facilitates perception of underlying thoughts and objectives of planning alternatives and consequently assists with communication of the plan to stakeholders of different groups. This – in turn - enables them to actively and efficiently participate in the procedure from the very initial stages to the implementation phase thanks to the insight provided by user-friendly visualization tools. Available visualization tools for planning, however, are either not integrated and efficient enough or too resource- or expertise-demanding and thus not entirely fulfilling the qualities mentioned above. This study is a search for a conceptual framework for the optimal web-based visualization tool. Web-basedness diminishes temporal and spatial distance among the users and planning agents and provides the possibility for more participation in and interaction with planning projects. Within this study, major characteristics of an optimal tool have been investigated through literature and online resources, contacts with experts and practitioners, a survey over existing products and visual analysis of the outcomes. An evaluation cube was initially developed and then used as the basis for a set of duality criteria. A selection of visualization tools were examined against those criteria and results were demonstrated visually. Eventually, findings were used to provide a backcasted example of the optimal tool and suggestions were made for actual development of the package to be used by planning agents.


Accurate estimation of delays in Static Timing Analysis (STA) using Non Linear Delay Model (NLDM) based Look Up Table (LUT) is a major challenge in nanometer range VLSI circuits. Issues with NLDM based LUT are mostly due to the arbitrary choice of input signal transition time trin and load capacitance (Cl) and the large number of simulations to be performed for characterizing an entire standard cell library. In this paper, we present a systematic method to reduce standard cell library characterization time significantly. For this purpose we propose and use a simple and physically reasonable logic gate delay model in which delay varies linearly with Cl and trin. We also determine its region of validity in the (Cl, trin) space. We express the delay model coefficients and its region of validity as a function of inverter (or logic gate) size. We do not use device current/capacitance models in our work and hence the method is general enough to be used with scaling. With the help of this new model proposed, We were able to save approximately of 51% SPICE simulations during the standard cell library characterization. We observe that the delay obtained using our LUTs is as accurate as that of the delay obtained through traditional LUTs.


Chicano English can rightly be said to be, in its different varieties, the most widespread ethnic dialect of U.S. English, spoken by large sections of the population in the American Southwest. It represents a type of speech referred to by E. Haugen as a 'bilingual' dialect, having developed out of a stable Spanish-English setting. In their book, the authors provide a comprehensive examination of Chicano English, devoting particular emphasis to the social factors determining its characteristic features and uses. Special attention is given to the question of homogeneity as against ordered variation within Chicano English, to features of pronunciation and grammar, to its communicative functions, to the evaluative attitudes of its speakers and others and, finally, to its uses in literature and the media. In spite of its importance, Chicano English has been insufficiently documented; this monograph is intended to contribute towards redressing the balance.


OBJECTIVE
The diagnosis and management of urinary tract infections (UTI) vary widely across countries and practices. The objective of this study was to gain insight into general practitioners' (GP) perceptions on the current management of UTIs and asymptomatic bacteriuria in Spain.

METHODS
Cross-sectional, internet-based questionnaire study answered from July to September 2013. GPs affiliated with the largest Spanish scientific society in primary care (Sociedad Española de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria) were invited to participate in the study. They were asked about the tests ordered in both uncomplicated and complicated UTIs and about the management in three clinical scenarios, depicting a 50-year woman with: 1. An uncomplicated UTI, 2. A complicated UTI, and 3. An asymptomatic bacteriuria.

RESULTS
The questionnaire was completed by 1,239 GPs (6.7%). Urine cultures were reportedly requested by 26.3% of the GPs in uncomplicated UTIs and by 71.8% of the cases corresponding to the complicated UTIs whereas it was declared that dipsticks were the preferred tests in only uncomplicated UTIs (38.2%). A total of 22% and 13.2% of the GPs stated that they would withhold antibiotic therapy in patients with low-count and high-count asymptomatic bacteriuria, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
GPs have important misconceptions as to the indications for ordering urine cultures and in interpreting the definitions of common UTIs and treating UTIs and asymptomatic bacteriuria. The unnecessary use of antibiotics in patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria is considerable in Spain.


Abstract We consider random monic polynomials of degree n over a finite field of q elements, chosen with all qn possibilities equally likely, factored into monic irreducible factors. More generally, relaxing the restriction that q be a prime power, we consider that multiset construction in which the total number of possibilities of weight n is qn. We establish various approximations for the joint distribution of factors, by giving upper bounds on the total variation distance to simpler discrete distributions. For example, the counts for particular factors are approximately independent and geometrically distributed, and the counts for all factors of sizes 1, 2, …, b, where b = O(n/log n), are approximated by independent negative binomial random variables. As another example, the joint distribution of the large factors is close to the joint distribution of the large cycles in a random permutation. We show how these discrete approximations imply a Brownian motion functional central limit theorem and a Poisson-Dirichiet limit theorem, together with appropriate error estimates. We also give Poisson approximations, with error bounds, for the distribution of the total number of factors.


The creative writing of landscape and environment is riding high on the research agendas of a number of scholarly fields. In literary studies, ecocriticism has seen attempts to map a set of characteristics that constitute an environmentally-oriented text, often with the result that non-fiction writing (or, less often, poetry) is the form prioritized. By contrast, fiction has been seen as less capable of embracing landscape and environment because it is concerned first and foremost with human affairs and has taken the narrative shapes that typically accompany this emphasis. However, the post-war and contemporary period has seen extensive formal experimentation running counter to this set of assumptions. First, novelists concerned with landscape and environment have found ways to demonstrate the implication of human history in natural history. Second, non-fiction writers have recognized that they might profitably deploy literary forms and techniques usually associated with fiction in their writing of landscape and environment. The upshot has been a generic coalescence and the emergence of landscape writing as a category that straddles habitual divisions in the way that literary forms are conceived. The plasticity of the environment – for better or worse – has registered in urban and rural settings, as well as those that fall somewhere between this (perhaps outmoded) binary. The increasingly unavoidable knowledge of the consequences of human actions upon the environment form an important context for the falling away of older forms such as the nature novel and act as a spur to re-conceptualize both places and ways to write about them.


AmaNdebele is a very attractive book with beautifully reproduced colour photographs taken by the renowned photographer Peter Magubane, who secured enormous credibility as a photojournalist during the violent years of apartheid. While some South African readers who browse through the glossy portrayals of ceremonial attire and homestead decorations may recall Magubane's earlier books such as Soweto speaks (1981) and Soweto: The fruit of fear (1986) in which the photographer laid bare the ferocious violence of apartheid rule, many readers will skip over the nuances of both Magubane's disrupted career and the contentious relationship between the Ndebele people and the South African apartheid government.


The concept of Ecosystem Services (ES), widely understood as the " bene fi ts that humans receive from the natural functioning of healthy ecosystems " (Jeffers et al., 2015), depicts a one-way fl ow of services from ecosystems to people. We argue that this conceptualisation is overly simplistic and largely inaccurate, neglecting the reality that humans often contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of ecosystems, as often evidenced (but not exclusively) in many traditional and Indigenous societies. Management interventions arising from Ecosystem Services research are thus potentially damaging to both ecosystems and indigenous rights. We present the concept of ' Services to Ecosystems ' (S2E) to address this, closing the loop of the reciprocal relationship between humans and ecosystems. Case studies from the biocultural ecosystems of Amazonia and the Paci fi c Northwest of North America (Cascadia) are used to illustrate the concept and provide examples of Services to Ecosystems in past and current societies. Finally, an alternative framework is presented, advancing the existing framework for Ecosystem Services by incorporating this reconceptualization and the loop of reciprocity. The framework aims to facilitate the inclusion of Services to Ecosystems in management strategies based upon Ecosystem Services, and highlights the need for ethnographic research in Ecosystem Service-based interventions.


EC O N O M I C R ES E A R C H S E RV I C E / U S DA With the onset of the current recession in December 2007, the nonmetro unemployment rate jumped from 5.5 percent in the fi rst quarter of 2008 to 8.5 percent a year later. This is the largest yearto-year point increase in the nonmetro unemployment rate since the beginning of the ERS data series in 1973. The metro unemployment rate increased from 5.2 percent to 8.9 percent in the same period. An adjusted unemployment rate, computed by ERS, provides a more comprehensive measure that takes into account unemployed as well as underemployed and marginal workers (including discouraged workers). The nonmetro adjusted unemployment rate increased from 10.3 percent to 15.8 percent between the fi rst quarters of 2008 and 2009. This was the highest adjusted unemployment rate since the fi rst quarter of 1983, when it was 17.4 percent. A large increase in the number of involuntary part-time workers accounted for part of the rise in the nonmetro adjusted unemployment rate in the fi rst quarter of 2009. Involuntary part-time workers are those who want full-time work but work less than 35 hours a week due to slack economic conditions or the inability to fi nd full-time work. Employers will often cut back on employees' hours before resorting to layoffs. Between the fi rst quarters of 2008 and 2009, the number of nonmetro involuntary part-time workers increased 58.8 percent, to 1,4 million workers. Also contributing to the jump in the adjusted unemployment rate was a rise in the number of marginally attached workers—those who are not currently working or looking for work but who would work if a job were available. There was a 20.1-percent increase in marginal workers between the fi rst quarters of 2008 and 2009. Changes in the unemployment rate refl ect whether businesses anticipate the economy will get better or worse. Often, businesses will not begin hiring until there is a clear indication that the economy is improving. Consequently, nonmetro unemployment is likely to continue to rise for some time, even if there is a quick upturn in the economy. In the last two recessions in 1990-91 and 2001, the national unemployment rate peaked approximately six quarters after the recessions had offi cially ended. For example, nonmetro unemployment did not peak until the third quarter of 2003—seven quarters after the 2001 recession had ended.


Molecular and morphological evidence unite the hemichordates and echinoderms as the Ambulacraria, but their earliest history remains almost entirely conjectural. This is on account of the morphological disparity of the ambulacrarians and a paucity of obvious stem-groups. We describe here a new taxon Herpetogaster collinsi gen. et sp. nov. from the Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian) Lagerstätte. This soft-bodied vermiform animal has a pair of elongate dendritic oral tentacles, a flexible stolon with an attachment disc, and a re-curved trunk with at least 13 segments that is directed dextrally. A differentiated but un-looped gut is enclosed in a sac suspended by mesenteries. It consists of a short pharynx, a conspicuous lenticular stomach, followed by a narrow intestine sub-equal in length. This new taxon, together with the Lower Cambrian Phlogites and more intriguingly the hitherto enigmatic discoidal eldoniids (Cambrian-Devonian), form a distinctive clade (herein the cambroernids). Although one hypothesis of their relationships would look to the lophotrochozoans (specifically the entoprocts), we suggest that the evidence is more consistent with their being primitive deuterostomes, with specific comparisons being made to the pterobranch hemichordates and pre-radial echinoderms. On this basis some of the earliest ambulacrarians are interpreted as soft-bodied animals with a muscular stalk, and possessing prominent tentacles.


Millions of Americans engage in tanning each year, defined as intentional ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure in the form of sunbathing or the use of indoor tanning beds. An emerging body of research suggests that UVR has addictive properties and some tanners engage in excessive tanning. This article provides an overview of the evidence of tanning addiction and a systematic review of existing tanning interventions with the goal of evaluating their potential to impact addicted tanners. Our search identified 24 intervention studies that were summarized and discussed according to 3 primary themes. First, there is a dearth of tanning interventions that target excessive tanning or are designed as treatments for tanning addiction. Second, tanning interventions are primarily educational interventions designed to increase knowledge of the risks of tanning. Third, there are notable aspects of existing tanning interventions that are relevant to addiction science, including the use of brief motivational and cognitive-behavioral-based interventions. Future directions are considered including recommendations for utilizing the existing evidence base to formulate interventions targeting excessive tanners. (PsycINFO Database Record


This paper investigates through a series of immersive and interactive installations how traditional notions of family archives have altered due to new media. Notions regarding the affect this might have on the performance of memory are central to this investigation. My creative praxis is situated within a practice-led research methodological paradigm. As this paper will discuss, practice-led research centralises interdisciplinary practices, fosters a holistic and experimental art-making process and is informed by theoretical frameworks and subjectivity. Photographs, videos and personal belongings are sourced from own family's archives. Consequently, my research approach positions me as artist, subject and researcher working within a framework that encourages subjectivity and reflexivity. This paper will explore the importance for transitional dialogues in practice-led research between theory and artistic practices, processes and products.


Users often describe what they want to accomplish with an application in a language that is very different from the application's domain language. To address this gap between system and human language, we propose modeling an application's domain language by mining a large corpus of Web documents about the application using deep learning techniques. A high dimensional vector space representation can model the relationships between user tasks, system commands, and natural language descriptions and supports mapping operations, such as identifying likely system commands given natural language queries and identifying user tasks given a trace of user operations. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach with a system, CommandSpace, for the popular photo editing application Adobe Photoshop. We build and evaluate several applications enabled by our model showing the power and flexibility of this approach.


The Y chromosome encodes male-specific minor histocompatibility (H-Y) antigens that stimulate T- and B-lymphocyte responses after sex-mismatched allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). A CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clone that recognizes a novel HLA-B*2705-restricted H-Y antigen encoded by the DDX3Y gene was isolated from a male who had received a hematopoietic cell graft from his human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sister. The antigenic peptide is a decamer that differs from the homologous DDX3X-encoded peptide at 4 positions. Expression of DDX3Y and of the H-Y epitope that it encodes was examined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and by CTL recognition assays. Expression of DDX3Y is detected in all myeloid and lymphoid leukemic cells that carry an intact Y chromosome. Moreover, the DDX3Y-encoded H-Y epitope is presented on the surface of both myeloid and lymphoid leukemic cells from male HLA-B*2705(+) patients. DDX3Y-specific CTLs prevent engraftment of human acute leukemia in nonobese diabetic/severe combined immune deficient mice, demonstrating that the DDX3Y-encoded H-Y antigen is also expressed in leukemic stem cells. These results demonstrate that CD8(+) T-cell responses against DDX3Y have the potential to contribute to graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) activity after female into male allogeneic HCT. This study is registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00107354.


The research concerned semi-dyadic relations in SMEs and large companies that managed innovative suppliers in New Zealand construction supply chains. It explored effects of (independent) company variables on (mediating) procurement management variables, and also the effects of these variable types on (dependent) procurement performance variables when managing innovative suppliers. Exploratory interviews (N=5) revealed that innovation procurement seemed professional and logical within their contexts. Survey I (N=112) revealed that most case companies followed a product leadership strategy, and were equally entrepreneurial to innovative customers and innovative suppliers. They were innovative and gave innovative suppliers a dominant innovation role. They seemed to prefer radical innovations less than incremental innovations, but still somewhat more than New Zealand averages. Companies had slight preferences for new, small, or foreign suppliers for radical innovations. Innovations with supplier interactions were more beneficial to the company and the natural environment, than innovations without supplier interactions. Higher company innovation-benefits could equal higher environmental innovation-benefits. This profile differed from the profile of average companies in the construction supply chain. Survey I found weak correlations among output performance variables and process or proxy performance variables. Dependent (procurement and performance) variables were affected differently. Conversely, independent (company and procurement) variables had different effects. Different from extant literature, Survey I found limited statistically-significant effects of company variables on procurement management variables, and of these two variable types on performance. A minority (41%) of company variables affected procurement variables; only two company variables (13%) affected performance; a minority (40%) of procurement variables affected performance. Product leadership and NPD/innovation experience affected performance. Moreover, trust, lifestyle strategies and survival strategies affected procurement variables. Conversely, 27% of performance variables (satisfaction on marketing & sales; benefits for the natural environment) and 30% of procurement variables (entrepreneurial orientation with innovative suppliers, relation intensity with manufacturers, and small vs large suppliers for radical innovations) responded stronger on some company variables. Company size ( 250 staff) had little effects. Innovating, opportunity-seeking and trust towards innovative suppliers, and relation intensity with innovative service providers had highest effects on performance. Conversely, 46% of the performance variables (satisfaction with innovative suppliers, benefits for natural environment and company) responded stronger on innovating, opportunities-seeking and trust variables. Survey II (N=33) identified 12 procurement best-practices that respondents used for specific supplier or innovation types. Causality should be treated cautiously. Findings reflected the inconclusive results from extant literature. The research provided a nuanced and varied understanding on management of innovative suppliers, on the effects of entrepreneurial orientation to innovative suppliers, on the limited effects of company size, on the complex relations between various performance measures, and on entrepreneurship as a theoretical lens in innovation procurement. Companies had several options on how they managed their innovative suppliers. Additionally, the company characteristics and context of in this nascent research domain could be more important than commonly assumed from extant research.


We analyze asymptotic ergodic capacity of multidimensional vector-sensor array MIMO (PMD-MIMO) channels established by the use of dual-polarized antennas in the form of 1D, 2D and/or 3D MIMO arrays. Based on the identification of the decomposition of PMD-MIMO channels into multiple independently-fading and scaled classical MIMO channels in parallel, we consequently derive corresponding asymptotic ergodic capacities analytically via tools out of free probability theory. The analysis of derived asymptotic ergodic capacity expressions in terms of antenna locus aspect ratio beta, average symbol SNR per antenna gamma3 and cross-polar discrimination XPD as well as comparison with asymptotic ergodic capacity of classical MIMO channels present important gains in using compact multidimensional vector-sensor array MIMO systems in asymptotic regimes.


The design, development and deployment of a data warehouse (DW) is a complex, time consuming and prone to fail task. This is mainly due to the different aspects taking part in a DW architecture such as data sources, processes responsible for Extracting, Transforming and Loading (ETL) data into the DW, the modeling of the DW itself, specifying data marts from the data warehouse or designing end user tools. In the last years, different models, methods and techniques have been proposed to provide partial solutions to cover the different aspects of a data warehouse. Nevertheless, none of these proposals addresses the whole development process of a data warehouse in an integrated and coherent manner providing the same notation for the modeling of the different parts of a DW. In this paper, we propose a data warehouse development method, based on the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and the Unified Process (UP), which addresses the design and development of both the data warehouse back-stage and front-end. We use the extension mechanisms (stereotypes, tagged values and constraints) provided by the UML and we properly extend it in order to accurately model the different parts of a data warehouse (such as the modeling of the data sources, ETL processes or the modeling of the DW itself) by using the same notation. To the best of our knowledge, our proposal provides a seamless method for developing data warehouses. Finally, we apply our approach to a case study to show its benefit.


Robert Millner Shackleton, who died peacefully in his sleep on 3 May 2001, was born on 30 December 1909 in Purley, Surrey, the son of John Millner Shackleton (an electrical engineer of Irish derivation who, at one time, worked for the Post Office telephones) and Agnes Mitford Shackleton (née Abraham). He was distantly related to the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and was educated at the Quaker school of Sidcot, which profoundly influenced his subsequent life and career. He entered Liverpool University in January 1927 and graduated with a first–class honours BSc in geology in July 1930 under P. G. H. Boswell FRS, the first George Herdman Professor of Geology. He was only the fourth student in the history of the department to achieve a First. Shackleton's first visit to Africa was as an undergraduate in July to September 1929 to attend the 15th International Congress in Pretoria, South Africa. He always remembered Boswell's help and how he had persuaded him into going and even shared a cabin on the Union Castle ship to South Africa with him to reduce the cost at a time when most professors would not have done so. He saw the Karroo, the Kimberley diamond mine, the Witwatersrand mines, the Bushveld, Rhodesia, and the Drakensberg. This visit to Africa was to be the foundation of his love of Africa, its people and its geology. Shackleton went on to complete a PhD at Liverpool in December 1933 on the Moel Hebog area of North Wales, between Tremadoc and Nantlle, although some of the work was done while at Imperial College, London (IC), where he was Beit Research Fellow from 1932 to 1934, largely facilitated by Boswell, who was also an IC man and had moved back there to the Chair in 1930. The Moel Hebog mapping included examining some cliff faces never scaled by any geologist or, indeed, anyone before; it was part of a systematic re–survey of North Wales encouraged by Boswell, and followed the surveys of Snowdonia by David and Howell Williams. The Moel Hebog mapping was superb and, with his other field achievements, led to his receiving the Silver Medal of the Liverpool Geological Society in 1957. Shackleton was one of several Liverpool students, including one of us (B.E.L.), who from the 1920s onwards did part of their PhD work at IC. He had a petrological training, being taught silicate analysis by A. W. Groves at IC, but the petrological and palaeogeographic interpretation of his PhD area was hindered by the fact that ignimbrites had not yet been recognized and only a few chemical analyses could be completed. The published account (7) è did not appear until 1959 and then only because of the encouragement and devoted help given by Dr J. C. Harper.


Premise of the study: The teosinte branched1 (tb1) gene is a major QTL controlling branching differences between maize and its wild progenitor, teosinte. The insertion of a transposable element (Hopscotch) upstream of tb1 is known to enhance the gene's expression, causing reduced tillering in maize. Observations of the maize tb1 allele in teosinte and estimates of an insertion age of the Hopscotch that predates domestication led us to investigate its prevalence and potential role in teosinte. Methods: Prevalence of the Hopscotch element was assessed across an Americas-wide sample of 1110 maize and teosinte individuals using a co-dominant PCR assay. Population genetic summaries were calculated for a subset of individuals from four teosinte populations in central Mexico. Phenotypic data were also collected from a single teosinte population where Hopscotch was found segregating. Key results: Genotyping results suggest the Hopscotch element is at higher than expected frequency in teosinte. Analysis of linkage disequilibrium near tb1 does not support recent introgression of the Hopscotch allele from maize into teosinte. Population genetic signatures are consistent with selection on this locus revealing a potential ecological role for Hopscotch in teosinte. Finally, two greenhouse experiments with teosinte do not suggest tb1 controls tillering in natural populations. Conclusions: Our findings suggest the role of Hopscotch differs between maize and teosinte. Future work should assess tb1 expression levels in teosinte with and without the Hopscotch and more comprehensively phenotype teosinte to assess the ecological significance of the Hopscotch insertion and, more broadly, the tb1 locus in teosinte.


This work deals with recognizing surface by processing local information from their corresponding tactile images and fusing them to obtain the global pattern of surface irregularities. Tactile images are acquired while exploring surfaces with four kinds of texture patterns. Texture information is obtained from each of the images by edge detection of the region where higher amount of pressure is felt. These edge detected images are fused to obtain the pattern of surface irregularities. The fused images are classified using hierarchical multi-class Support Vector Machine which yields an accuracy of 83.334% in 0.083 seconds. It is observed that the classification accuracy is enhanced by image fusion than that obtained by concatenating features of each component image which formed the fused images in the former case. When noise is gradually added to the features, the classifier shows an accuracy of 75% even when SNR is 8dBW, indicating the robustness of the classifier. Also, the performance of the algorithm is tested by adding white Gaussian noise to the raw images. Finally, McNemar Test validates the results. Thus, the algorithm can be integrated into a tactilesensing system in real-time scenario for identifying surfaces based on texture.


This article questions the utility of considering Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as a single grouping—the BRICS.  Not only are there at least as many differences between the countries' economies and media as there are similarities, but many of their characteristic features are shared with a much wider range of societies. The scale and rates of growth of the five economies are very different.  Politically, they range from a long-established democracy to an equally long-established one-party state.  They all have high levels of corruption, including of journalists, but estimates of the degree of media freedom and the degree to which journalists are jailed or murdered vary widely.  Overall, there is little to warrant considering these countries as a homogenous bloc.  Of these countries,Chinais by far the largest and the only one that is today a serious challenger to Western domination.


Celiac Disease (CD) is a multisystem disorder that is caused by gluten and affects approximately 1% of the United States population. Approximately 10% of CD patients have neurological complications, such as ataxia, brain atrophy, dementia, epileptic seizures, peripheral neuropathy, and cognitive impairment. CD patients have also been found to have lower health-related quality of life (HRQL) than the general population. Given the established relationships of physical activity and aerobic fitness with HRQL and executive function in other chronic disease populations and in older adults, it seems likely that these same relationships may exist for CD patients. However, these relationships have not been investigated. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if both physical activity (number of vigorous bouts of physical activity/week; MET hours/week) and aerobic fitness were positive predictors of HRQL and executive function in CD patients. The relationship of functional fitness with those same outcome variables was also explored given the established positive relationship between functional fitness and HRQL. Separate canonical correlations were used for the HRQL composite and the executive function composite with the physical activity measures, aerobic fitness, and functional fitness. Canonical correlations for the HRQL composite with number of vigorous bouts of physical activity/week, MET hours/week, aerobic fitness, or functional fitness were not statically significant. However, canonical correlations for the executive function composite with number of vigorous bouts of physical activity/week (Rc = .55; p=0.02) and functional fitness (Rc = .57; p=0.01) were statistically significant. The results do not support positive relationships for any of the predictor variables with HRQL, and this may be due to our high functioning CD sample, which scored higher than normative scores on measures of HRQL. However, these findings do support a positive relationship for number of vigorous bouts of physical activity/week and functional fitness with executive function.


We identify the on-time performance as a key to evaluate a railway timetable's robustness to disturbances and evaluate the on-time performance for two single services on the Swedish Southern Mainline for the autumn period 2011. We analyse the punctuality by studying how the performance develops en route. Typically the time spent in the stations is underestimated, which partly is compensated for by time margins along the line, giving rise to a sawtooth formed delay muster with an increasing trend. The standard deviation in the delay reports seems to be a good indicator for the precision in the traffic. In this material it is almost linearly increasing with a good minute per hour scheduled running time. Two attempts are made to change the timetable for a better performance. By using socio-economic values a customer-oriented description of the current timetable is calculated as a trade-off between high punctuality and short travel time. This timetable does not affect any other traffic. Minor effects to other traffic would be the result if the existing margins are re-distributed to better match the demand en route in some sense. As long as no more time supplement is added, we will, however, not improve on the punctuality to the final destination. For future research is left, how the decrease in precision can be accounted for already in the timetable construction.


This paper addresses a classical question: Does immigration reduce wages and increases unemployment in receiving countries? Fears that immigrants take jobs away from natives have been fuelled by the current financial and economic crisis in host countries on both sides of the Atlantic and resulted in tighter immigration policies. From a theoretical perspective, an increasing labor supply through immigration does not necessarily reduce wages, or, if labor markets are not perfect, increase unemployment. In contrast, economic theory predicts that capital stocks adjust to labor supply changes such that aggregate wage levels and the real interest rate remain constant. Similarly, trade and the adjustment of production can absorb changes in labor supply such that immigration leaves wages and employment opportunities unaffected. It remains thus an empirical question, whether and to which extent immigration does actually affect labor markets in host countries. There exists a comprehensive empirical literature addressing these issues. The overwhelming share of this traditional literature uses the variance of the foreigner share across local labor markets for the identification of the immigration effects. Meta-studies of this literature indicate that an immigration of 1 percent of the labor force reduces wages by no more than 1 percent and increased the unemployment rate by less than 1 percentage point. Even these small effects need not to be significant. This literature has been challenged by an increasing criticism which states that the area approach systematically underestimates the wage and employment effects if other factors such as native migration, regional trade and capital mobility equilibrate the effects of immigration across local labor markets. A recent literature uses therefore the variance of the foreigner share across education and work experience groups at the national level for identification. Although some of these studies find effects which are substantially larger than those of the traditional literature, there exist meanwhile a number of studies which find similar aggregate effects as the traditional area approach. These studies consider that capital stocks adjust to labor supply shocks and that natives and immigrants are imperfect substitutes in the labor market, i.e. do not perfectly compete even if they possess the same education and work experience level. A shortcoming of most of the recent literature is that it does not address the impact of immigration systematically in a setting with imperfect labor markets and persistent unemployment. Novel approaches which consider wage-bargaining and other imperfections, find that immigration can do both, reduce wages and increase unemployment. Although the effects disappear in the long-term when capital stocks adjust, they may affect labor markets significantly in the short term. The most important challenge for immigration and integration policies is however the finding that different groups in the labor markets are affected by immigration in very different ways: While natives tend to benefit across all education groups from immigration, immigrants lose substantially from further immigration in terms of lower wages and higher unemployment. Addressing these inequalities forms the main challenge for immigration, integration and related labor market policies.


Effective engine mapping and calibration are contingent upon tight control of the environment in which the mapping and calibration are performed. Among the most important variables to be controlled are the temperatures of coolant and oil that circulate through the engine block. Because of the large time constants associated with thermodynamic systems, controlling these variables often represents a bottleneck in the engine mapping and calibration processes. In this paper, we examine a particular layout for a thermal management unit, which is currently being used in practice. By developing and analyzing a thermodynamic model of the system, we are able to gain insight into the system dynamics and explore special features to optimize the temperature response. In particular, we will show how the overactuation in the system may be leveraged in the presence of hard saturation constraints and different dynamic actuator authorities. We present design and validation results (both simulation and experimental) for the proposed controller, and compare the performance to the baseline controller in order to quantify improvements.


Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a potential candidate for learning to cope with stress in a high-stress professional environment. In a pilot study the authors evaluated the potential of MBSR for stress management. Workers participated in an MBSR training for stress-related problems (treatment, n = 12) or waited for such a course (control, n = 11). The authors conducted interviews and measured coping and well-being. Qualitative interviews indicated that subjects had attained more awareness of work-related problems contributing to stress and had grown more critical toward their work environment. In the treatment group, positive strategies of coping with stress increased and negative strategies of coping decreased (significant difference at post treatment: p = .039 compared to control). Eighty-two percent of the participants reported having reached their personal goal


BACKGROUND
Radial head fractures often occur in association with other elbow fractures and soft-tissue injuries. Radial head replacement is indicated for irreparable radial head fractures associated with elbow instability. The purpose of this study was to analyze the results after treatment of such injuries with a titanium radial head prosthesis, repair of torn collateral ligaments, and early mobilization of the elbow.

MATERIALS
Sixteen patients with sixteen Mason type-III radial head fractures and collateral ligament injury were treated with use of a titanium radial head prosthesis over a five-year period at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Modbury Public Hospital in South Australia. The surgery was performed acutely in ten patients and was delayed an average of thirty-seven days (range, fifteen to seventy-nine days) in six. All patients were followed clinically and radiographically for a mean of 2.8 years (range, 1.2 to 4.3 years).

RESULTS
Eight patients had an excellent result; five, a good result; and three, a fair result, according to the Mayo Elbow Performance Score. The three fair results occurred in patients with delayed surgery. The mean flexion contracture was 15 degrees (range, 0 degrees to 42 degrees ), with an average loss of 10 degrees (range, 0 degrees to 25 degrees ) of full flexion compared with that of the contralateral elbow. Both pronation and supination decreased an average of 12 degrees (range, 0 degrees to 45 degrees ) compared with that of the contralateral forearm.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of treatment of Mason type-III radial head fractures with a monoblock titanium radial head prosthesis and soft-tissue reconstruction are satisfactory. Early mobilization of the elbow is important for the restoration of elbow range of motion and function.


Problem, research strategy, and findings: The practice of horizontal high-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has become widespread in many areas of the United States, yet the regulatory landscape for local governments is highly variable and legally uncertain. We do not have a clear idea of what fracking-related policies local governments are adopting, nor how factors such as local government capacity influence policy adoption. We survey 140 local government officials in shale gas drilling areas in four states: Colorado, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania. We first identify the most common policies local governments use to address fracking and investigate the influence of different types of local capacity on adoption of policies to address fracking. We find that although most communities have not adopted many fracking regulations, higher-capacity communities and those who have experienced a fracking-related accident are more likely to adopt stricter regulations. Local officials are concerned that they lack capacity to address fracking. Our survey asks whether a respondent community did not adopt a policy for legal reasons or other reasons, but did not delve into what those other reasons for non-adoption might be. Our response rate for Louisiana was very low. Takeaway for practice: Local governments appear to have at least some legal room to adopt fracking policy, yet most have not done so proactively. Investing in capacity building in the form of technical assistance or training for local officials would help communities decide how they wish to address fracking from a policy standpoint without waiting for the catalyst of a fracking-related industrial accident.


PURPOSE
To compare clinical findings and the aqueous levels of inflammatory mediators between toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS) and endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) animal models and to evaluate the efficacy of systemic steroid pretreatment in both animal models.

METHODS
Rats were used in this study. Ortho-phthalaldehyde solution was injected into the anterior chamber to produce TASS (n=30), and lipopolysaccharide was injected into one hind footpad to produce EIU (n=30). Clinical findings were evaluated under slit-lamp examination, and the aqueous levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured 24 hours after these procedures. Twelve of the rats in each animal model were pretreated with intraperitoneal injection of dexamethasone for 4 days before the development of TASS and EIU.

RESULTS
Corneal haze scores were significantly higher for TASS than EIU, but clinical scores for anterior uveitis were not different between the two animal models. Although aqueous levels of PGE2 were markedly increased in both animal models, PGE2 levels were significantly higher for TASS than for EIU. However, an increase in aqueous levels of TNF-α was observed only in EIU. Dexamethasone pretreatment reduced the corneal haze score and clinical score for anterior uveitis in both animal models and inhibited the increase in aqueous levels of PGE2 and TNF-α.

CONCLUSIONS
Prostaglandin E2 and TNF-α in aqueous humor seem to be regulated differently in animal models of TASS and EIU. However, dexamethasone pretreatment improved the clinical findings and inhibited the increases in PGE2 and TNF-α in both animal models.


The recent cuts being made in IT budgets across the globe can be attributed to any number of modern day crises. For instance, organizations are still recovering from the recession almost 5 years later, and IT infrastructures have been having to deal with reduced budgets and still expected to deliver the service that clients are accustomed to. Addressing the challenges presented in the modern day data enter has also been a serious, especially in regard to the rising energy cost the global warming issue. This paper looks at the literature behind virtualization and mainly virtual desktop infrastructure as the solution to these issues. Through this research and the implementation of a small test virtual desktop environment using VMware and Wyse technology, it was able to portray the clear improvements that hyper visor and desktop virtual can bring to IT infrastructures drawing particular attention to power consumption and the green incentives.


Building upon the successes of previous scientific ocean drilling programmes, the IODP offers scientists worldwide unprecedented opportunities to address a vast array of
scientific problems in all submarine settings. The scientific advisory structure of the proposal-driven IODP recently planned the inaugural drilling expeditions, targeting critical scientific problems in the eastern Pacific, central Arctic, and north Atlantic Oceans in 2004 and 2005 (Figure 1, Table 1). Co-led by Japan and the United States, with initial significant contributions from the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD), the
IODP is guided by an initial science plan, Earth, Oceans, and Life (www.iodp.org/isp.html), developed with broad input from the international geoscientific community. For the first
time, scientists will have permanent riser and non-riser drilling vessels and mission-
specific capabilities such as drilling barges and jack-up rigs for shallow water and Arctic drilling at their disposal. Japan is providing the new riser vessel, Chikyu, to the IODP beginning in 2006; the United States is supplying the non-riser drilling vessel, currently JOIDES Resolution, beginning in 2004; and ECORD is furnishing mission-specific platforms beginning in 2004. The planned IODP expeditions for 2004 and 2005 directly address principal themes of Earth, Oceans, and Life.
? The Juan de Fuca Ridge Flank Hydrogeology expedition: the deep biosphere and the subseafloor ocean.
? The Central Arctic Paleoceanography, North Atlantic Neogene-Quaternary Climate, and Norwegian Margin Bottom Water expeditions: environmental change, processes, and effects.
? The Atlantis Oceanic Core Complex expedition: solid Earth cycles and geodynamics.
? The Central Arctic Paleoceanography expedition will drill the central Arctic Ocean for the first time, and it is also the first mission-specific platform expedition performed under
the auspices of international scientific ocean drilling.


Objective: To explore women's perceptions of "choice" of place of delivery in remote and rural areas where different models of maternity services are available. Setting and methods: Remote and rural areas of the North of Scotland. A qualitative study design involved focus groups with women who had recent experience of maternity services. Results: Women had varying experiences and perceptions of choice regarding place of delivery. Most women had, or perceived they had, no choice, though some felt they had a genuine choice. When comparing different places of birth, women based their decisions primarily on their perceptions of safety. Consultant-led care was associated with covering every eventuality, while midwife-led care was associated with greater quality in terms of psycho-social support. Women engaged differently in the choice process, ranging from "acceptors" to "active choosers." The presentation of choice by health professionals, pregnancy complications, geographical accessibility and the implications of alternative places of delivery in terms of demands on social networks were also influential in "choice." Conclusions: Provision of different models of maternity services may not be sufficient to convince women they have "choice." The paper raises fundamental questions about the meaning of "choice" within current policy developments and calls for a more critical approach to the use of choice as a service development and analytical concept.


The Willgerodt-Kindler (WK) reaction of is one of most synthesis methods used to access the thioamides. The known to thioamides have made this reaction more attractive in catalytic synthesis methods. Heterogeneous catalysis acid with the montmorillonite K-10 applied to this reaction under activation microwave for the synthesis of phenyl (morpholino) methanethiones derivatives shows that the mixture (aldehyde, sulfur, morpholine and K-10) is not only appropriate, but optimizes the reaction. This solid catalyst was easily separated from the reaction mixture and was recycled at least twice (02) without any loss of activity. Operational simplicity, short reaction times, excellent yields and benign environmental conditions are other advantages of this protocol, thus respecting the principles of green chemistry. Among the thioamides synthesized, 4-(morpholine-4-carbonothioyl)benzoic acid (h) is a novel molecule which to our knowledge has never before been synthesized. We obtained it with a yield of 68%. In summary, we can be concluded that the heterogeneous catalysis acid conditions with the montmorillonite K - 10 favourable to the Willgerodt-Kindler reaction for carbonyl compounds. The structures of thioamides synthesized were characterized and confirmed by highresolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) 1D and 2D (COSY, HSQC, HMBC).


Anne Hutchinson was perhaps the most famous Englishwoman in colonial American history, viewed in later centuries as a crusader for religious liberty and a prototypical feminist. Michael Winship, author of the highly acclaimed Making Heretics, provides a startlingly new and fresh account of her oft-told tale, disentangling what really happened from the legends that have misrepresented her for so long. During the 1630s, religious controversies drove a wedge into the puritan communities of Massachusetts. Anne Hutchinson and other members began to speak out against mainstream doctrine, while ministers like John Cotton argued for personal discovery of salvation. The puritan fathers viewed these activities as a direct and dangerous threat to the status quo and engaged in a fierce and finally successful fight against them. Refusing to disavow her beliefs, Hutchinson was put on trial twice--first for slandering the colony's ministers, then for heresy--and banished from the colony. Combing archives for neglected manuscripts and ancient books for obscure references, Winship gives new voice to other characters in the drama whose significance has not previously been understood. Here are Thomas Shepard, a militant heresy hunter who vigorously pursued both Cotton and Hutchinson; Thomas Dudley, the most important leader in Massachusetts after Governor John Winthrop; Henry Vane, a well-connected supporter of radical theology; and John Wheelwright, a bellicose minister who was a lightning rod for the frustrations of other dissidents. Winship also analyzes the political struggle that almost destroyed the colony and places Hutchinson's trials within the context of this turmoil. As Winship shows, although the trials of Anne Hutchinson and her allies were used ostensibly to protect Massachusetts' Christian society, they instead nearly tore it apart. His concise, fast-moving, and up-to-date account brings puritan doctrine back into focus, giving us a much closer and more informed look at a society marked by religious intolerance and immoderation, one that still echoes in our own times. As long as governments take it upon themselves to define orthodoxies of conscience, The Times and Trials of Anne Hutchinson will be required reading for students and concerned citizens alike.


Earthquake-induced liquefaction features, including large sand blows, occur near Marianna, Arkansas, about 75 km southwest of Memphis, Tennessee, and 80 km south of the southwestern end of the New Madrid seismic zone. The Marianna sand blows formed between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago and predate paleoearthquakes attributed to the New Madrid seismic zone. The Marianna sand blows are similar in size to New Madrid sand blows, suggesting that they too formed as a result of very large earthquakes but were centered near Marianna and outside the New Madrid seismic zone. A large sand blow that formed about 3500 B.C. (5,500 years B.P.) may correlate with smaller sand blows to the northeast and southwest up to 175 km away. A compound sand blow that formed about 4800 B.C. (6,800 years B.P.) may have formed as the result of several very large, closely timed earthquakes. A fault zone associated with the eastern Reelfoot Rift margin seems the most likely source of large Middle Holocene earthquakes because of its great length (∼300 km), history of seismic activity, Late Wisconsin–Early Holocene fault movement in western Tennessee, and structural relationship to the New Madrid fault system. Additional study is needed to verify our initial findings, to identify the earthquake source, and to further define the earthquake potential of the Marianna area. If the eastern Reelfoot Rift margin were confirmed to be the source of Middle Holocene earthquakes near Marianna, seismicity would appear to vary in space and time within the Reelfoot Rift system. This would have important hazard implications for currently aseismic faults of the rift system and possibly of other aulacogens embedded in intraplate regions.


Objectives. We assessed weapon use in intimate partner violence and perspectives on hypothetical firearm policies. Methods. We conducted structured in-person interviews with 417 women in 67 battered women's shelters. Results. Words, hands/fists, and feet were the most common weapons used against and by battered women. About one third of the battered women had a firearm in the home. In two thirds of these households, the intimate partner used the gun(s) against the woman, usually threatening to shoot/kill her (71.4%) or to shoot at her (5.1%). Most battered women thought spousal notification/ consultation regarding gun purchase would be useful and that a personalized firearm ("smart gun") in the home would make things worse. Conclusions. A wide range of objects are used as weapons against intimate partners. Firearms, especially handguns, are more common in the homes of battered women than in households in the general population. Comments Reprinted from American Journal of Public Health, Volume 92, Issue 8, August 2004, pages 1412-1417. NOTE: At the time of publication, author Susan B. Sorenson was affiliated with the University of California. Currently (August 2007), she is a faculty member in the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/spp_papers/78


The current work investigates a circumferentially divided turbine volute designed such that each gas inlet feeds a separate section of the turbine wheel. Although there is a small connecting interspace formed between the nozzle and the mixed-flow rotor inlet, this design does well to preserve the exhaust gas energy in a pulsed-charged application by largely isolating the two streams entering the turbine. However, this type of volute design produces some interesting flow features as a result of unequal flows driving the turbine wheel. To investigate the influence of unequal flows, experimental data from the turbocharger facility at Imperial College have been gathered over a wide range of steady-state, unequal admission conditions. These test results show a significant drop in turbine performance with increasing pressure difference between inlets. In addition, the swallowing capacities of each gas inlet are interdependent, thus indicating some flow interaction between entries. To understand the flow physics driving the observed performance, a full 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the turbine was created. Results show a highly disturbed flow field as a consequence of the nonuniform admission. From these results, it is possible to identify the regions of aerodynamic loss responsible for the measured performance decrease. Given the unequal flows present in a double-entry design, each rotor passage sees an abrupt change in flow conditions as it rotates spanning the two feeding sectors. This operation introduces a high degree of unsteady flow into the rotor passage even when it operates in steady conditions. The amplitude and frequency of this unsteadiness will depend both on the level of unequal admission and the speed of rotor rotation. The reduced frequency associated with this disturbance supports the evidence that the flow in the rotor passage is unsteady. Furthermore, the CFD model indicates that the blade passage flow is unable to fully develop in the time available to travel between the two different sectors (entries).


Many active managers have very high annual turnover rates. While the tax cost from turnover can be viewed as a transaction cost which should be compared with the value it adds, that approach leaves open the question of whether the expected after tax return, given the turnover rate, is equal to or greater than the return which could have been obtained in other, more passively managed benchmark vehicles. To develop a consistent approach to answering that question, this article applies a constant decay model, which allows the integration of the gross turnover rate, the proportion of gains which should be long and short term, the expected deferral period before those long and short term gains are subject to taxation, and the tax rates at which those gains will be taxed. With that model, the effect of different fee structures can be analyzed, including a typical asset based mutual fund, as well as a performance based hedge fund structure.


4 Abstract: Heart sound signals will replicate the physiological and pathological characteristics of the heart. every heart beat is incredibly advanced and short and also the main frequency of heart sound signals is within the range of 10Hz to 250Hz. Phonocardiogram will record heart sounds, noise and also the extra sounds. Therefore it's a crucial complement to form up center diagnostic technique examination. Heart sounds are very weak acoustic signals. Within the method to gather heart sound signals it's prone to external acoustic signals and electrical noise interference, especially, the friction caused by subjects respiratory or body movement. The sounds made by friction within the phonocardiogram may produce to an enormous busy signal. Thus, it is vital to research heart sound accurately and eliminates the busy signal with success throughout pre-processing. The objective of this work is to serve as how Noise can be combated using adaptive filter for PCG signal. The problem of controlling the noise level has been one of the research topics over the years. This work focuses on Adaptive filtering algorithms and some of the applications of adaptive filter. The main concept is to use the LMS (Least-Mean-Square) algorithm to develop an adaptive filter that can be used in Adaptive noise Cancellation (ANC) application. In this paper we will learn the various algorithms of LMS (Least Mean Square), NLMS (Normalized Least Mean Square) and RLS (Recursive Least Square) on MATLAB platform with the intention to compare their performance in noise cancellation. The adaptive filter in MATLAB with a noisy tone signal and white noise signal and analyze the performance of algorithms in terms of MSE (Mean Squared Error), percentage noise removal, Signal to Noise Ratio, computational complexity and stability. The Adaptive Filter maximizes the signal to noise ratio & minimize the Mean Squared Error and compare their performance with respect to stability. Adaptive Noise Canceller is useful to improve the S/N ratio. This Paper involves the study of the principles of adaptive Noise Cancellation (ANC) and its Applications. Adaptive noise Cancellation is another technique of estimating signals corrupted by additive noise or interference. Its advantage lies in this, with no apriority estimates of signal or noise, levels of noise rejection are attainable that would be difficult or not possible to achieve by other signal processing methods of removing noise. Its cost, inevitably, is that it wants two inputs - a primary input containing the corrupted signal and a reference input containing noise correlate in some unknown approach with the first noise. The reference input is adaptively filtered and subtracted from the first input to get the signal estimate. Adaptive filtering before subtraction permits the treatment of inputs that are settled or random, stationary or time-variable. The result of uncorrelated noises in primary and reference inputs, and presence of signal parts within the reference input on the ANC performance is investigated. it's shown that within the absence of uncorrelated noises and once the reference is free from signal, noise within the primary input can be eliminated while not signal distortion. A configuration of the adaptive noise canceller that does not need a reference input and is incredibly helpful applications is additionally conferred.


A comparison is undertaken of theories for the gravity wave induced fluctuations in the intensity of airglow emissions and the associated temperature of the source region. The comparison is made in terms of Krassovsky's ratio ηE for a vertically extended emission region (ηE is the ratio of the vertically integrated normalized intensity perturbation to the vertically integrated normalized intensity-weighted temperature perturbation). It is shown that the formulas for ηE in the works by Tarasick and Hines (1990) and Schubert et al. (1991) are in agreement for the case of an inviscid atmosphere. The calculation of ηE using the theory of Tarasick and Hines (1990) requires determination of their function χ; we show that χ is simply related to the "single-level" Krassovsky's ratio η of Schubert et al. (1991). The general relationship between χ and η is applied to a simple chemical-dynamical model of the O2 atmospheric airglow and the altitude dependence of these quantities is evaluated for nonsteady state chemistry. Though the Tarasick and Hines (1990) formula for ηE does not explicitly depend on the scale heights of the minor constituents involved in airglow chemistry, ηE implicitly depends upon these scale heights through its dependences on chemical production and loss contained in χ. We demonstrate this dependence of ηE for the OH nightglow on atomic oxygen scale height by direct numerical evaluation of ηE; in this case the dependence originates in the chemical production of perturbed ozone.


We demonstrate the operation of a digital in-line microscope with LED illumination. We show with a practical example that, for typical setups, the limited temporal coherence and the spatial incoherence of the source do not affect the resolving power of the system. On the contrary, important advantages are obtained in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and alignment simplification.


This paper examines the health impact of being self-employed versus working for others among older adults (aged 50 ) and its implications. Facing an aging workforce, self-employment at older ages may provide an economic benefit via an alternative to retirement. However, little research has examined the health effects of self-employment in later life. Relying on the latest 7 waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study, this study comprehensively examines health using a 29-item index to measure the impact of self-employment status on changes in older adults' overall health. We conduct a 2-stage generalized panel data instrument variables regression model, with lagged values to control potential endogeneity and simultaneity issues. We find self-employment compared to wage-and-salary jobs result in better health, controlling for job stress and work intensity, cognitive performance, prior health conditions, socioeconomic and demographic factors. This positive self-employment impact stands out in knowledge-based industry sectors. In labor intensive industry sectors such as Durable Goods Manufacturing, self-employed older adults' more gradual retirement seems to result in a health advantage over wage-and-salary employees. Limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.


Abstract Chromium-spinels have been widely used as petrogenetic indicators to infer parent melt compositions and the tectonic setting of their formation. This study integrates petrographic, quantitative textural and geochemical analyses of Cr-spinel seams within the Dawros Peridotite, NW Connemara, Ireland to determine the composition of their parental magmas. Calculation of Cr no. (Cr/(Cr + Al)) (0.50–0.77) values and TiO2 (0.18–0.36 wt%) contents of the Cr-spinel seams, coupled with an estimation of the Al2O3 and TiO2 contents (~11.86 wt% and ~0.39 wt%, respectively) of their parental melts, indicates that they probably formed from boninitic melts sourced from a highly depleted mantle. This implies that the Cr-spinel seams formed in a supra-subduction zone undergoing high degrees of partial melting. The Cr-spinel data support tectonic models for the formation of the Dawros Peridotite (and Connemara Metagabbro-Gneiss Complex) during island arc collision, immediately prior to Grampian orogenesis at ~470 Ma. The occurrence of the Dawros chromitite seams at the approximate transition between the lower harzburgite sequence and the upper lherzolite sequence bears marked similarities to the positions of such seams in larger anorogenic layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions, and implies that the Dawros Peridotite behaved as an open-system magma chamber.


This thesis examines Britain's foreign policy identity by analysing the use of geopolitical tropes in discursive practices of ontological security-seeking in the British House of Commons since 1949, a period of great change for Britain as it lost its empire and joined NATO and the EC. The Empire was narrated according to a series of geopolitical tropes that I call Island Race identity: insularity from Europe and a universal aspect on world affairs, maintenance of Lines of Communication, antipathy towards Land Powers and the Greater Britain metacommunity. The aim of this thesis is to genealogically historicise and contextualise these tropes through interpretivist analysis of Commons debates concerning a series of events and issues from the establishment of NATO to the current parliament. By conceptualising parliamentary discourse as a social practice involving the fixing of ontologically secure subject positions, it presents a new reading of modern British foreign policy that addresses the traditional neglect of geopolitics and identity in approaches depicting a materially declining state engaging in the pragmatic pursuit of realist national interests.
The analysis shows how Britain's foreign policy identity continues to be reliant on the geopolitical constitutions of islandness that discursively defined the empire. This is not indicative of imperial nostalgia so much as it is evidence of how discursive practices of ontological security-seeking in a political environment with a shared debating culture tend to mobilise established identity tropes that have retained relevance even without their imperial underpinnings. Narrations of the Cold War and NATO, relations with the rest of Europe and globalisation are shown to be reliant on Island Race tropes that, through contextual interactions, fix Britain in subject positions of relevance according to how British values, forged by insular geography, are of universal relevance to a world in which Britain is in a pivotal geopolitical position.


A panel of independent judges evaluated a range of articles in popular print media sources for positive or negative bias about pork. From this came the development of an information variable reflecting consumer perceptions about food safety. The primary data from this evaluation was then used to estimate the impact of print media information on the consumer demand for pork.


This Article explores the potential of international development efforts and human rights law to enhance the livelihoods of rural women in the developing world. In particular, the Article takes up the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which enumerates in Article 14 specific rights for rural women as a class. Pruitt's focus here is on Article 14's guarantees in relation to land ownership, education, development planning, access to credit, marketing facilities and technology, and other rights that are linked closely to women's role as the architects of food security. While CEDAW has attracted enormous attention among legal scholars in the decades since its inception, Pruitt's is the first scholarly article to focus on the Convention's attention to rural women. To better understand the potential of CEDAW in relation to this particular population, Pruitt examines the drafting history of Article 14, as well as the most recent country reports of four Member States: China, Ghana, India, and South Africa. Written for a symposium called "Territory without Boundaries," Pruitt's discussion of CEDAW's Article 14 is situated in the context of massive rural-to-urban migration worldwide. Indeed, its publication comes just months after demographers report that, on a global scale, urban dwellers began to outnumber those living in rural areas. As globalization creates conditions that induce migration, causing the populations of cities to burgeon and their territories to sprawl, those same forces shape rural places, too. Although that which is rural is often thought of as quintessentially local, rural livelihoods around the world are buffeted by economic restructuring, migration, and climate change. Pruitt thus considers CEDAW in relation to migration's consequences for the women who are left behind. Among these consequences are enormous challenges, but also opportunities for change and empowerment.Pruitt's analysis raises several broad, structural issues. The first is the impact of rural spatiality — including a relative absence of formal legal institutions and actors — on the ability of rural women to realize the promise of international instruments such as CEDAW. The second is the extent to which development entails or encourages urbanization and how CEDAW's vision for empowering rural women might influence the trajectory of development efforts. The third is the wisdom of development strategies that fuel migration's urban juggernaut, particularly in light of changing perceptions and priorities in the developed world regarding food production and sustainability.Among other observations and conclusions, Pruitt lauds the priorities and framework of CEDAW's Article 14 in terms of the ways in which they seek to foster women's agency and material well-being. These include CEDAW's aspiration to secure women's roles in development planning and implementation and to empower them as producers of food. Pruitt also discusses the potential for CEDAW's Article 14 to accommodate legal pluralism, which can be particularly relevant in rural places, where custom and local sources of authority tend to be more entrenched and influential than in urban locales. Finally, Pruitt suggests that the population churn associated with migration represents an opening for the renegotiation of gender roles and other cultural practices in rural places. This is because migration enhances the prospect of raising the consciousness of rural communities regarding national and international legal norms, while also facilitating enforcement of rural women's rights by fostering their access to formal legal actors and institutions at higher scales, in urban places. Throughout her analysis, Pruitt considers parallels between developing and developed nations with regard to rural-urban difference, population trends, the industrialization of agriculture, and the social and economic consequences of these phenomena.


Tight junction (TJ) is recognized as a second barrier of the skin. Altered expression of TJ proteins in various skin diseases characterized by the abnormal permeability barrier such as psoriasis suggests that TJ could be affected by stratum corneum (SC) barrier status. However, the physiological relationship between SC and TJ barrier remains to be investigated. Therefore, we examined the effect of SC barrier disruption on the expression of TJ proteins, claudin (Cldn)-1 and Cldn-4, and TJ barrier function in hairless mouse skin. We also investigated whether the alterations in epidermal Ca2+ affected TJ proteins expression in vivo. Repeated tape-stripping induced a sequential change of the expression and function of TJ. As early as 15-30 minutes after tape-stripping, downregulation of Cldn-1 and Cldn-4 immunoreactivity and protein level without change in mRNA level was found. This was accompanied by the abnormal leakage of lanthanum. However, by 1 hour Cldn-1 and Cldn-4 immunolocalization recovered along with normalized lanthanum permeation pattern. Moreover, the mRNA and protein levels of Cldn-1 and Cldn-4 were increased by 1 to 6 hours after tape-stripping. Inhibition of calcium loss by immersion of barrier-disrupted skin into a high Ca2+ solution prevented the dislocation of Cldn-1 and Cldn-4. Occlusion of barrier-disrupted skin delayed the restoration of Cldn-1 and Cldn-4. Our results suggest that the alteration of epidermal Ca2+ gradient caused by SC barrier perturbation affects the TJ structure and function and the faster recovery of TJ as compared to the SC barrier may imply the protective homeostatic mechanism of skin barrier.


This paper presents the currently available experimental evidence for the occurrence of chiral resolution in bent-core nematic liquid crystals. The observation of chiral domains in these systems is discussed in context with other indications for the unique character of the nematic phase in bent-core materials, which challenge our understanding of nematic phase behaviour. Two possible mechanisms for the emergence of macroscopically chiral domains are exposed; the spontaneous resolution of chiral bent-core conformers and the occurrence of helical twist bend deformations due to a unique propensity for spontaneous bending of the nematic director in bent-core materials. The latter proposition is put into context with the recently developed cluster model, as overall it appears more appropriate to consider bent-core nematic systems as self-assembling-self-organising fluids with a hierarchical domain structure.


Abstract We present the first detailed description of Perudyptes devriesi, a basal penguin from the middle Eocene (~42 Ma) Paracas Formation of Peru, and a new analysis of all published extinct penguin species as well as controversial fragmentary specimens. The Perudyptes devriesi holotype includes key regions of the skull and significant postcranial material, thus helping to fill a major phylogenetic and stratigraphic (~20 million year) gap between the earliest fossil penguins (Waimanu manneringi and Waimanu tuatahi, ~58–61.6 Ma) and the next oldest partial skeletons. Perudyptes devriesi is diagnosable by five autapomorphies: (1) an anteroventrally directed postorbital process, (2) marked anterior expansion of the parasphenoid rostrum, (3) posterior trochlear ridge of the humerus projecting distal to the middle trochlear ridge and conformed as a large, broadly curved surface, (4) convex articular surface for the antitrochanter of the femur, and (5) extremely weak anterior projection of the lateral condyle of the tibiotarsus. The skull of Perudyptes is characterized by deep temporal fossae and an elongate, narrow beak that differs from other reported stem penguins in its short mandibular symphysis. The wing skeleton of Perudyptes preserves a combination of plesiomorphic features also observed in the basal penguin Waimanu and derived features shared with more crownward penguins. Features of the wing optimized as primitive for Sphenisciformes include retention of a discrete dorsal supracondylar tubercle on the humerus and presence of a modestly projected pisiform process on the carpometacarpus. Derived features present in Perudyptes and all more crownward penguins, but absent in Waimanu, include a more flattened humerus, development of a trochlea for the tendon of m. scapulotriceps at the distal end of the humerus, and bowing of the anterior face of the carpometacarpus. A combined molecular and morphological dataset for Spheniciformes was expanded by adding 25 osteological and soft tissue characters as well as 11 taxa. In agreement with previous results, Perudyptes devriesi is identified as one of the most basal members of Sphenisciformes. This analysis also confirms the placement of the middle/late Miocene (~11–13 Ma) fossil Spheniscus muizoni as a member of the Spheniscus clade and places the late Miocene (~10 Ma) Madrynornis mirandus as sister taxon to extant Eudyptes. These two species, known from relatively complete partial skeletons, are the oldest crown clade penguin fossils and represent well-corroborated temporal calibration points for the Spheniscus-Eudyptula divergence and Megadyptes-Eudyptes divergence, respectively. Our results reaffirm that the Miocene penguin taxon Palaeospheniscus, recently proposed to represent a member of the crown radiation, belongs outside of the crown clade Spheniscidae. The phylogenetic positions of small Eocene Antarctic penguin taxa (Delphinornis, Marambiornis, and Mesetaornis) recently proposed as possible direct ancestors to crown Spheniscidae were further evaluated using alternate coding strategies for incorporating scorings from isolated elements that preserve critical morphologies and are thought to represent these taxa, although they cannot yet be reliably assigned to individual species. Under all scoring regimes, Delphinornis, Marambiornis, and Mesetaornis were recovered as distantly related to Spheniscidae. Using synapomorphies identified in the primary analysis, we evaluated the phylogenetic position of fragmentary specimens, including the holotypes of valid but poorly known species, specimens currently unassignable to the species level, and morphologically distinct specimens that have not yet been named. All pre-Miocene specimens can be excluded from Spheniscidae based on presence of plesiomorphies lost in all crown penguins, consistent with a recent radiation for the penguin crown clade. This study provides additional support for a scenario of penguin evolution characterized by an origin of flightlessness near the K-T boundary, dispersal throughout the Southern Hemisphere during the early Paleogene, and a late Cenozoic origin for the crown clade Spheniscidae. Stratigraphic distribution and phylogenetic relationships of fossil penguins are consistent with distinct radiations during the Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene. While the Eocene and Oligocene penguin faunas are similar in many respects, the Miocene fauna is characterized by smaller average size and novel cranial morphologies, suggesting that an ecological shift in diet occurred close to the origin of crown Spheniscidae.


We present an analysis of the global impact of microplanktonic grazers on marine phytoplankton and its implications for remineralization processes in the microbial community. The data were obtained by an extensive literature search that yielded 788 paired rate estimates of autotrophic growth (µ) and microzooplankton grazing (m) from dilution experiments. From studies in which phytoplankton standing stock was measured in terms of carbon equivalents, we show that the production estimate from dilution experiments is a reasonable proxy (r = 0.89) for production determined by the standard 14C method. The ratio m: µ, the proportion of primary production (PP) consumed by micrograzers, shows that microzooplankton consumption is the main source of phytoplankton mortality in the oceans, accounting for 67% of phytoplankton daily growth for the full data set. This ratio varies modestly among various marine habitats and regions, with data averages ranging from 60% for coastal and estuarine environments to 70% for the open oceans, and from ~59% for temperateߚsubpolar and polar systems to 75% for tropicalߚsubtropical regions. Given estimates for the metabolic requirements of micrograzers and assuming they consume most bacterial production, regionally averaged estimates of the protistan respiration are 35ߚ43% of daily PP for the first level of consumer or 49ߚ59% of PP for three trophic transfers. The estimated contributions of microbial grazers to total community respiration are of the same magnitude as bacterial respiration. Consequently, potential ecosystem differences in micrograzer activity or trophic structure are a large uncertainty for biogeochemical models that seek to predict the microbial community role in carbon cycling from bacterial parameters alone.


The nesting demographics of sea turtles using beaches within the Barrow, Lowendal, Montebello (B-L-M) island complex on the North West Shelf of Western Australia were examined in the context of their spatial and temporal distribution and potential for exposure to industrially based artificial light sources. The distribution of overnight turtle tracks throughout the island complex confirmed high density nesting of Chelonia mydas (green turtles) on deep, sandy and high energy beaches and Natator depressus (flatback turtles) on deep, sandy and low energy beaches, while Eretmochelys imbricata (hawksbill turtle) tracks were most visible on shallow, sandy beaches adjacent to near shore coral reef habitat. The three species exhibited a summer nesting peak. Hawksbill turtles commenced nesting in September and continued through to January, green turtles commenced in November and decreased in March. Flatback turtles displayed the most constrained nesting season reported to date in Australia with 86% of the animals visits recorded in December and January only. Nesting population sizes estimated for the three species suggest that on a national scale the B-L-M complex is a moderately large green turtle and a large flatback rookery site. The hawksbill rookery is large on an international scale. While none of the green turtle nesting beaches fell within a 1.5 km radius of industrially based artificial light sources an estimated 42% of nesting flatback turtles and 12% of nesting hawksbill turtles were potentially exposed to these light sources.

Testing of green turtle and hawksbill hatchling response to different wavelengths of light indicate that hatchlings from the B-L-M region respond to low wavelength much like hatchlings tested in North America (Witherington 1992a). Flatback hatchlings displayed a similar preference for low wavelength light however their responses to discrete light wavelengths between 400 nm and 700 nm suggest that this species may not discriminate well between wavelengths that lie between 450 nm and 550 nm. This response may be related to the rapid attenuation of visible light that occurs in the turbid near shore habitats favoured by this species.

Field based arena studies carried out to investigate hatchling behaviour on nesting beaches with light types commonly used in industrial settings found green turtle and flatback hatchlings are significantly attracted to these lights compared to controls. Lights that emit strongly in the low wavelength range (i.e. metal halide and fluorescent) caused hatchling misorientation at lower intensities than the test light that emitted relatively poorly in this range (high pressure sodium vapour). Hawksbill hatchlings tested in situ under the influence of actual oil and gas onshore and offshore facility based lighting were disrupted from the most direct line to the ocean by these light emissions. Emergence fan mapping methods that measure hatchling orientation on nesting beaches were refined and are proposed as an alternative monitoring tool for use on beaches that are logistically difficult to access for large scale experimental orientation studies. The hatchling behaviour was clearly complicated by beach topography and moon phase.

Satellite tracking of post nesting female green and hawksbill turtles from North West Shelf rookeries has identified the Western Australian location of migratory corridors and foraging grounds for these species while Scott Reef turtles migrate from their south Timor Sea rookery to Northern Territory waters. Green turtle nesting on Barrow Island and Sandy Island (Scott Reef) forage at feeding grounds 200 - 1000 km from their nesting beaches. Hawksbill turtles nesting at Varanus Island and Rosemary Islands forage at locations 50 - 450 km from their nesting beaches. While all of the nesting beaches within the B-L-M island complex are protected under the Barrow-Montebello Marine Conservation Reserves, the only foraging ground similarly protected is the Northern Territory foraging ground used by Scott Reef green turtles. None of the foraging grounds used by North West Shelf green or hawksbill turtles is currently protected by conservation reserves.


Prior to the resumed climate negotiations in Bonn in July this year, it was thought that an agreement on the unresolved crunch issues of the Kyoto Protocol was unrealistic. This was primarily due to the US withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, and the failure of the previous climate negotiations that stranded mainly because of disagreement on the inclusion of land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) activities. The LULUCF issue is controversial in the climate negotiations, but an agreement has now been reached. This paper explores the possible contribution of LULUCF activities in promoting greenhouse gas emissions reductions. A survey on the literature of the potential and cost of LULUCF activities is therefore central. Analysis of the recent climate negotiations is also important. It is clear that the potential for carbon sequestration is large, but there are large variations in the estimates as factors such as land availability and the rate of carbon uptake complicate the calculations. There are also variations in the costs estimates, and economic analysis of LULUCF projects are not easily compared as no standard method of analysis has emerged and come into wide use. Despite the difficulties in comparing the costs of carbon sequestration, it is clear that it is a relatively inexpensive measure. Even though the potential for carbon sequestration is large, its role in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) is limited by the Kyoto Protocol. The recent climate negotiations in Bonn and Marrakesh have specified the modalities, rules and guidelines relating to LULUCF activities. One of the main outcomes is that Japan, Canada and Russia are allowed large inclusions of sinks in their GHG emission accounts.


Cellular adhesion and migration are key functions that are disrupted in numerous diseases. We report that desmin, a type-III muscle-specific intermediate filament, is a novel cell adhesion regulator. Expression of p.R406W mutant desmin, identified in patients with desmin-related myopathy, modified focal adhesion area and expression of adhesion-signaling genes in myogenic C2C12 cells. Satellite cells extracted from desmin-knock-out (DesKO) and desmin-knock-in-p.R405W (DesKI-R405W) mice were less adhesive and migrated faster than those from wild-type mice. Moreover, we observed mislocalized and aggregated vinculin, a key component of cell adhesion, in DesKO and DesKI-R405W muscles. Vinculin expression was also increased in desmin-related myopathy patient muscles. Together, our results establish a novel role for desmin in cell-matrix adhesion, an essential process for strength transmission, satellite cell migration and muscle regeneration. Our study links the patho-physiological mechanisms of desminopathies to adhesion/migration defects, and may lead to new cellular targets for novel therapeutic approaches.