It is now well established that genetic background influences an athlete's ability to excel in different sport disciplines. Previous studies have demonstrated that among power athletes, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the AGT genotype (Thr-Thr), was significantly more prevalent among weightlifters compared to sprinters and jumpers indicating that despite the common features of these sport subtypes (short and very intense), they vary in their strength and speed abilities, as well as in their genetic make-up. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the AGT SNP can be used also to distinguish elite from national levels weightlifters. The AGT M235T genotype frequencies were assessed in 47 weightlifters (30 elite, 17 national level) and 86 non-athletes control. The Thr-Thr genotype was significantly higher among weightlifters (29.8%) compared to controls (12.8%) (p=0.048). Thr allele frequency was significantly higher among weightlifters (55.3%) compared to controls (37.8%) (p=0.021). However, there was no difference in the prevalence of the polymorphism between national level and elite athletes. In conclusion, the results suggest that the AGT polymorphism cannot predict elite competitive weightlifting performance.


Problem Statement: Rich stimuli received by sensory organs such as vision, hearing, and touch are important elements that affect an individual's perception, identification, classification, and conceptualization of the external world. In primary education, since students perform conceptual abstraction based upon concrete characteristics, when they lack sufficient knowledge of and experience with these characteristics, they encounter serious difficulty with performing conceptual abstraction and using concepts according to their functions. Purpose of the Study: This study examined the impact of teaching based on rich stimuli upon students' effective use of conceptualization processes and whether multimedia-based learning can change the attitudes of students toward learning. Methods: A 28-item concept test (r.703) and 28-item attitude scale (r.87) were developed for a unit titled "Let's Get Acquainted with Our Region" of a social studies course. The levels of students' learning concepts covered in the unit and their use in accordance with their functions were examined via a pretest–posttest model. Students in the experimental group were taught 24 concepts covered in the unit through multimedia-based teaching activities for 6 weeks. In the control group, the same concepts were taught with teaching activities already established for the unit. Students in the experimental group subjected to multimedia-based teaching were compared with the control group students in terms of how they perceived, distinguished, classified, generalized, and functionally used concepts. An attitude scale was also administered both before and after teaching to determine whether any change occurred in the attitudes of students toward their respective courses. Data analysis involved calculating means and standard deviations, as well as t tests and one-way analysis of variance. Finding and Results: In terms of identifying and classifying concepts and making inferences through generalization, students in the experimental group showed a significantly positive change in attitude toward the social studies course. Conclusions and Recommendations: This study highlighted the importance of a balanced use of information channels and the critical role of contextual arrangements in multimedia-based teaching concerning how students use concepts according to their functions at the end of concept-teaching processes. Based on the findings, some recommendations can be made regarding the concept-teaching process, the teaching materials used in the teaching process, and the elimination of deficiencies about concept teaching. Keywords: Classification, conceptualization, functional use, generalization, identification, rich stimuli


Disruption of a signaling microdomain in endothelial cell projections contributes to hypertension. Endothelial cells provide vasodilator signals to reduce blood pressure. In the small resistance arteries and arterioles, which determine the distribution and pressure of blood, the major signal is hyperpolarization reflecting the endothelial activity of calcium-activated potassium channels (KCa). In this issue of Science Signaling, Sonkusare et al. report that the scaffold protein AKAP150 is required for the kinase PKC and the calcium channel TRPV4 to enable receptor-mediated relaxation signaling. This scaffold enhances TRPV4 gating cooperativity and markedly amplifies the Ca2+ signal, which ultimately activates (mainly) IKCa channels. Normally restricted to tiny endothelial projections, AKAP150 localization and associated signaling is disrupted in a model of hypertension, thereby diminishing hyperpolarization and vasodilation.


Abstract Information-rich attributes of minerals reveal their physical, chemical, and biological modes of origin in the context of planetary evolution, and thus they provide the basis for an evolutionary system of mineralogy. Part III of this system considers the formation of 43 different primary crystalline and amorphous phases in chondrules, which are diverse igneous droplets that formed in environments with high dust/gas ratios during an interval of planetesimal accretion and differentiation between 4566 and 4561 Ma. Chondrule mineralogy is complex, with several generations of initial droplet formation via various proposed heating mechanisms, followed in many instances by multiple episodes of reheating and partial melting. Primary chondrule mineralogy thus reflects a dynamic stage of mineral evolution, when the diversity and distribution of natural condensed solids expanded significantly.


Correlativity of perception is defined as a capacity to discover similar configurations of stimuli and to form high- level configurations from them. It is equivalent to describing information in terms of generative elements and their transformations. Such a representation saves memory and reveals causality in data generation. This approach is implemented in a model of artificial perception wherein data are selforganized in order to segregate patterns before recognizing them. Input information is described as generative patterns and their transformations. The least complex data representation that leads to a causally related semantic description is chosen, with (Kolmogorov) complexity defined by the amount of memory store required. The model is applied to voice separation and to rhythm/tempo tracking. Chord spectra are described by generative subspectra, which correspond to tonal spectra, and by their translations, which coincide with the intervals of the chord. Time events are also described by generative rhythmic patterns. Tempo and rhythm interdependence is overcome by the optimal sharing of complexity between representations of rhythmic patterns and tempo curve. The model explains the function of interval hearing, certain statements of music theory, and some effects of rhythm perception. Applications to image processing and modeling of abstract thinking are also discussed.


Permanent establishment has been used as a principle or threshold to determine whether a country has taxing rights on the business profits of a non-resident taxpayer.That threshold, however, has raised many questions in the context of e-commerce. Many countries are now concerned
of how to determine permanent establishment in an e-commerce environment. Some view that the existing rule is insufficient to cope with e-commerce. This is because the existing tax rules were not designed in the era of e-commerce.Tax authorities are also concerned about the tax revenue loss, as there are no specific tax laws relating to permanent establishment in e-commerce. This study was conducted to solicit the perceptions of tax offices and tax practitioners on the criteria used to tax business profits in an e-commerce environment.This paper discusses how permanent establishment is determined in the conventional and e-commerce environments.The findings indicate that the existing tax threshold concerning permanent establishment is applicable in taxing e-commerce business profit, however, further amendments and changes should be incorporated to cater for e-commerce environment.The subjects also perceived that additional criteria should be included in the existing tax laws on permanent establishment to ensure tax treatment on e-commerce do not leave room for tax loss.


With regulation seeking to foster competition at the same time as also having to protect essential services, the authors investigate regulatory styles, costs of new regulatory functions and how firms in the new regulatory landscape access and influence regulatory authorities. The authors consider how EU pressures may hinder or help the functioning of new regulatory markets and the establishment of business–regulator relationships, as well as the broader policy implications for these new regulatory environments. The book also determines how regulatory authorities emerge and evolve under different state traditions and assesses, over time, the degree to which there is potential for convergence, divergence and continued differences as regulatory functions mature.


ABSTRACT The presence of benzene and phenol in the environment can lead to serious health effects in humans and warrant development of efficient cleanup strategies. The aim of the present work was to assess the potential of indigenous endophytic bacterial strains to degrade benzene and phenol. Seven strains were successfully isolated from Cannabis sativa plants irrigated with oil refinery wastewater. Molecular characterization was performed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Phenol was biodegraded almost completely with Achromobacter sp. (AIEB-7), Pseudomonas sp. (AIEB-4), and Alcaligenes sp. (AIEB-6) at 250, 500, and 750 mg L−1; however, the degradation was only 81%, 72%, and 69%, respectively, when exposed to 1000 mg L−1. Bacillus sp. (AIEB-1), Enterobacter sp. (AIEB-3), and Acinetobacter sp. (AIEB-2) degraded benzene significantly at 250, 500, and 750 mg L−1. However, these strains showed 80%, 72%, and 68% benzene removal at 1000 mg L−1 exposure, respectively. Rates of degradation could be modeled with first-order kinetics with rate constant values of 1.86 × 10−2 for Pseudomonas sp. (AIEB-4) and 1.80 × 10−2 h−1 for Bacillus sp. (AIEB-1) and half-lives of 1.5 and 1.6 days, respectively. These results establish a foundation for further testing of the phytoremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils in the presence of these endophytic bacteria.


For two formulations of currently usual numerical weather prediction models the evolution of maximum achievable resolution is predicted for the next 24 years. One of those formulations is the semi-implicit, semi-Lagrangian and spectral (sisLsp) method as used e.g., by ECMWF. This formulation requires global communications. The other one is the explicit, Eulerian, grid point (exEugp) formulation, requiring local communications only. The evolution prediction is based on an analysis of computation and communication requirements and on extrapolation of computation and communication performance of future computer systems. The main result is that model performance will continue to grow, approximately exponentially, for another two decades. After that, however, the finite speed of light will make global communications very inefficient. As a result, towards the end of our investigation period, sisLsp models lose their current advantage, which derives from their lower compute operations count, and exEugp models start to perform better, because they do not need global communications. The extrapolation of computer performance into the future requires quite a few assumptions on future configurations. Our results are not very sensitive to those assumptions, except if the configuration parameters are chosen to model a Grid computer. On a Grid computer, even models without global communication requirements show some performance loss due to the finiteness of the speed of light towards the end of the investigation period.


Since the discovery that cod liver oil cured rickets back in 1918, bone disease has been the hallmark of vitamin D deficiency. Still, hundreds year later, we do not know the optimal vitamin D intake or levels for our skeleton. As for most nutrients, the effects of vitamin D intake in the body follow a U-shaped pattern—with an increased risk of detrimental effects at both very low and very high intakes, with a broad range of intakes in between regarded safe and sufficient (1). What the thresholds for too little and too much should be for vitamin D, are still not clarified.


This literature review was written as part of the AHRC funded Connected Communities project: CoDesign: Leaning Reflections. As such it aims to provide a broad overview of different approaches to theorising and doing 'co-constructed' research in order to help create a common baseline for shared learning and cross-project discussion within the co-design projects from the two-phase funding stream as part of the AHRC Connected Communities programme. It is, therefore, written from a specific objective and in this sense does not aim to define the discourse on co-construction or its boundaries.


Requesting and sharing information through computer-mediated technology is an integral part of our lives in this information age. However, when deciding whether or not and how to engage in information exchanges, parties involved often have different needs and constraints. In addition, they are often unaware of each others' needs and constraints. Such asymmetry in motivation and information leads to suboptimal allocation of attention and time and contributes to the growing problems of information overload, costly interruptions and missed opportunities. A potential solution is to employ market mechanisms to support information exchange. Markets are institutions that allow individuals to trade goods and services efficiently. Applying markets to information exchange, askers can use pricing to signal the importance of the information exchange and compensate the answerers for their time. Answerers can use pricing mechanisms to filter incoming requests, reducing interruption costs and information overload.
This dissertation studies the strengths and weaknesses of using economic markets for interpersonal information exchange. Are there costs in incorporating markets into our everyday information exchanges? How do we design these markets to maximize the benefits of market forces while minimizing the costs? Part 1 of the dissertation examines whether or not economic markets can indeed improve welfare for people involved. Part 2 studies the use of markets for question and answer (Q&A) services, a specific, but a popular type of interpersonal information exchange. Part 3 elucidates how using economic markets for information exchange may affect interpersonal relationships.


The article scrutinizes Armenia's foreign policy trajectory since its independence. It applies a model of foreign policy analysis that takes into account structural, dispositional, and intentional dimensions and outlines a more dynamic structure-agency interplay. By contrast to reductionist system-level explanations, the argument is that individual-level factors such as the perceptions and beliefs of Armenia's presidents are central to understanding why Armenia embarked on a foreign policy path where it became economically and militarily absorbed by Russia. The case study of Armenia's foreign policy serves as a plausibility probe that illustrates the relevance of individual-level factors in foreign policy decision making. The article thus offers insights into the foreign policy of a small state.


Two potent myths have traditionally defined our understanding of the artist Edvard Munch (1862--1944): he was mentally unstable, as his iconic work The Scream (1893) suggests, and he was radically independent, following his own singular vision. Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, and Myth persuasively challenges these entrenched perceptions. In this book, Jay A. Clarke demonstrates that Munch was thoroughly in control of his artistic identity, a savvy businessman skilled in responding to the market and shaping popular opinion. Moreover, the author shows that Munch was keenly aware of the art world of his day, adopting motifs, styles, and techniques from a wide variety of sources, including many Scandinavian artists. By presenting Munch's paintings, prints, and drawings in relation to those of European contemporaries, including Harriet Backer, James Ensor, Vincent van Gogh, Max Klinger, Christian Krohg, and Claude Monet, Clarke reveals often surprising connections and influences. This interpretive approach, grounded in Munch's diaries and letters, period criticism, and the artworks themselves, reintroduces Munch as an artist who cultivated myths both visual and personal. Becoming Edvard Munch features beautiful color reproductions of approximately 150 works, including 75 paintings and 75 works on paper by Munch and his peers.


Collegiate recreational sports facilitate critical achievement-oriented activities that contribute to student development on college campuses. Achievement goal theory serves as a framework for understanding the motivation that guides one's behavior towards desired achievement-related outcomes (LeUnes, 2008). The 3x2 achievement goal model postulates six distinct goals (task-approach, task-avoidance, self-approach, self-avoidance, other-approach, other-avoidance; Elliot, Murayama, & Pekrun, 2011). As achievement goals have been associated with both positive and negative outcomes of sport (Gucciardi, Mahoney, Jalleh, Donovan, & Parkes, 2012; Kavussanu, White, Jowett, & England, 2011), further investigation through a more precise measure of achievement goals is warranted. Therefore, the current study sought to examine the relationships between achievement goals and perceived benefits of recreational sport participation, using the 3x2 model. A questionnaire was administered to 907 recreational sport participants at a post-secondary institution in the United States. Using structural equation modeling, the researchers found the task-approach goal to have a positive, significant relationship with perceived benefits of recreational sport participation (i.e., social, intellectual, fitness). Conversely, all other achievement goals indicated a non-significant relationship with perceived benefits. The findings demonstrate the utility of the 3x2 achievement goal model in recreational sport and help inform intentional programming and staff practices to enhance student development.


Gordon Tullock is among a small group of living legends in the field of political economics. This volume provides an entree to the mind of an original thinker. Professor Rowley provides deliberately sparse contextual introduction to each volume, opting to allow the very able and eloquent Tullock to speak for himself.


The Motivation Crowding Effect suggests that external intervention via monetary incentives or punishments may undermine, and under different identifiable conditions strengthen, intrinsic motivation. As of today, the theoretical possibility of motivation crowding has been the main subject of discussion among economists. This study demonstrates that the effect is also of empirical relevance. There exist a large number of studies, offering empirical evidence in support of the existence of crowding-out and crowding-in. The study is based on circumstantial evidence, laboratory studies by both psychologists and economists, as well as field research by econometric studies. The pieces of evidence presented refer to a wide variety of areas of the economy and society and have been collected for many different countries and periods of time. Crowding effects thus are an empirically relevant phenomenon, which can, in specific cases, even dominate the traditional relative price effect. Copyright 2001 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd


Project background Although the management of occupational safety and health (OSH) in construction has been problematic historically, there have been improvements in recent years. Health, however, is typically more difficult to manage than safety, and is often the poor relation, despite the evidence that the human costs of work-related ill-health far exceed those of accidents in construction. Improving practices in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can be particularly difficult but there is evidence that, for safety at least, good practices 'trickle' from major projects and companies to smaller organisations and to those who work in them. This research assessed the impact that large projects can have specifically on the way SMEs manage occupational health (OH) risks: it used in-depth interviews with workers, managers and OSH professionals. The research was conducted on the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC), a major construction project which sought to drive good practice in its supply chain. By focussing in detail on eleven of these 'mid-level' companies – which sit between the well-resourced main contractors and very small, typically family-run, micro-organisations – it was possible to explore the specific barriers to good practice becoming embedded and consider the interventions necessary to overcome these. Key findings Many of those working on the project considered that the general arrangements for health risk management were similar to the way they usually worked, and particularly were in line with the way that they would work on other high-profile projects. This reduced the likelihood of those companies learning new practices specifically from this project. Nevertheless, there were some cases where subcontractors had purchased new equipment or adopted new habits to meet the requirements in relation to the management of dust or manual handling. This had given them an insight into the usefulness and benefits of such tools or measures and increased their commitment to use them elsewhere. The main area where interviewees reported requirements on this project to be substantially different to their usual practices was for health assessments. This was an area where the client/main contractor had set out to achieve high standards, by bringing an OH provider onto site and requiring that all contractors arranged health checks for their workers. It was also an area where many of the subcontractors were currently falling below recognised good practice. Some companies which had not done health assessments previously said they would now continue with them; and those who were already doing them to a limited degree had used the project to drive the process forward internally. Some had also learnt about risk assessing and supporting individuals with health conditions, largely as a result of discussions with the occupational health adviser (OHA) on site. Many operational workers interviewed were well informed about risk; they were also highly motivated to take care of their health. There was substantial evidence of 'trickle-down', that these workers learnt from large projects such as this and carried this knowledge with them. Those in more senior or professional roles also learnt and transferred good practice between jobs. The subcontractors which adopted good practices most willingly were those which were already working hard to improve their OSH. This typically reflected a growing recognition of their responsibility and duty of care towards their workforce and also an organisational desire to do more work on prestigious projects (which were likely to pay the subcontractors enough to be able to work to these higher standards). One of the biggest barriers to good practice in relation to occupational health risks was a lack of knowledge – individuals at all levels made decisions based on an incorrect understanding of either the risks involved or the legal requirements. For example, the legal requirements relating to health surveillance were widely misunderstood; also, many workers believed masks to be the best solution to dust exposure but underestimated the importance of being clean shaven. Many interviewees commented that their main exposure to health hazards, particularly noise and dust, arose from the activities of others. Typically, they relied on PPE to protect them in these situations. A third barrier to good practice was the relatively high proportion of subcontract, self-employed or agency workers. This reflects common working practice in the industry, and the high turnover of workers on site was reported to influence training, safety culture and the costs and provision of health assessments. However, there were examples of contractors working hard to overcome this, by using the same subcontractors or self-employed workers regularly, or actively increasing the number of workers employed directly. Cost was also identified as a potential barrier to good practice: not necessarily for those working on this project, but, in their opinion, for others on less prestigious projects and those running smaller businesses. Conclusions and Recommendations This research has confirmed the impact that major projects can have on driving good practice along the supply chain and that this applies to health as much as it does to safety. It is therefore important that the clients on such projects: • Set and enforce consistently high standards, to expose the supply chain and its workforce to good practices and encourage them to rise to these expectations • Set expectations for the provision of health assessments, so that companies are motivated and supported to put mechanisms in place • Make such expectations very clear at the tender stage to ensure that work is priced and planned appropriately • Employ suitable occupational health specialists such as OH advisers and occupational hygienists to raise standards and support and educate managers and OSH practitioners • Actively develop knowledge in the supply chain by sharing the expertise of in-house specialists • Manage the interactions between contractors to minimise worker exposures from trades other than their own Additionally, industry wide commitment is required relating to: • Consistency within the industry, and ensuring that prequalification and accreditation schemes set high standards for health alongside those for safety • Training for managers, supervisors and OSH professionals to ensure they are as knowledgeable about health as they are about safety • Improved materials for workforce training so that they fully understand the impact of work related ill-health and know how to avoid it • Increased education regarding OH/medical obligations so that senior managers and others in small companies understand what sensitive data they should and should not collect • Processes for managing OH data at an industry level to ensure that records can follow a worker from one project or employer to another, and that all are working to the same minimum standard; such a process could then operate alongside the current requirement for each worker to have a CSCS card. • Increasing the availability of specialist resource such as OH advisers, OH physicians and occupational hygienists, as there is a shortage of all disciplines across the UK Ongoing efforts will be required to achieve widespread change. Clients on major projects need to focus on setting high standards and clear expectations; and ongoing engagement from major contractors and from bodies such as the Health in Construction Leadership Group, Build UK, and Working Well Together are important to propagate good practice through the supply chain. At the same time, wider industry interventions and continued technological advancements will be needed to enable and build on this; alongside legal intervention where necessary to support the minimum acceptable standard.


I have recently unearthed reports of a sword dance competition held at Blyth, Northumberland, in January 1881, enabling me to provide a supplementary list of thirteen additional rapper sword dance teams to this Index. Altogether, fifteen sets took part in the contest held in the Theatre Royal on 16 and 30 January 1881, thus establishing that the rapper sword dance was more widespread in the second half of the nineteenth century than previously indicated. (1) Two reports of the competition were published in the Blyth Weekly News on 22 January 1881 and 5 February 1881; my listing is taken from the first of these, to which I have added OS grid references for team locations where traceable: Durham The Wear Yule Dough Set Northumberland The Lads that Everybody Likes, Tyneside The Excelsior Set, Seaton Burn NZ2473 Henderson Gibson's Putter Set, Holywell NZ3174 The Merry Lads, Choppington NZ2583 Load's Old Set, Scotland Gate NZ2584 First Rose of Northumberland, Cramlington NZ2777 The Funny Lads, Dudley NZ2673 The Hastings Canny Lads, Hartley NZ3475 Bob the Nailor's Young Set, Cowpen Quay NZ3182 Dudley Putters' Set NZ2673 East Holywell Putters NZ3173 First Northumberland In view of the dearth of records for nineteenth-century sword dance competitions, I quote here in full the two accounts of this tournament: THEATRE ROYAL, BLYTH A monster sword dancing competition took place at this place of amusement on Saturday night last, and was perhaps the greatest affair of the kind that has ever taken place. The proprietor gave the munificent sum of [pounds sterling]5 for first prize when no less than fifteen sets of dancers contended, namely, The Wear Yule Dough Set; The Happy Lads of Hetton; The Lads that everybody likes, from Tyneside; The Excelsior Set, from Seaton Burn; Henderson Gibson's Putter Set, Holywell; The Merry Lads, Choppington; Load's Old Set, Scotland Gate; First Rose of Northumberland, Cramlington; The Funny Lads, Dudley; The Hastings Canny Lads, Hartley; Bob the Nailor's Young Set, Cowpen Quay; Dudley Putters' Set[;] East Holywell Putters; and first Northumberland. Messrs. William Dixon, William Oliver, Henry Gillis, Robert Crammond, Cambois, and Thomas Messer, Waterloo, officiated as judges. The sets balloted for turns, and the singer in of the set whose turn came first was to sing the well-known ditty beginning:-- Six actors I have brought, Who were never on stage before, But they will do their best, And the best can do no more. It is needless to say that the above novel contest drew together a very large audience who seemed to enjoy immensely the old fashioned pastime which dates as far back in England as the time of Edward III. The antics and grotesque figures of the Bettys and Tommys as they led their respective dancers on to the scene of action was highly amusing, and the performance of each set was very graceful as they whirled and eddied round each other. The conditions were for each set to pay an entrance fee of 10s. The entrance fee was divided amongst the losing sets together with [pounds sterling]1 to pay their expenses. At the expiration of the dancing it was very difficult for the judges to decide, but they eventually came to the conclusion that i[t] was a tie between 'The Jolly Lads Set', Seghill, and 'Load's Old Set', Scotland Gate. It has been since decided to dance the tie off on Saturday, January 29th, when as Mr. Fynes announced from the stage, he will give another prize of [pounds sterling]4 open to all with the exception of the winners of the above prize. (2) THEATRE ROYAL, BLYTH Last week's proceedings were brought to a close on Saturday night last, by the interesting drama of 'Maria Martin' and the Sword Dancing Competition, which the judges were unable to decide the fortnight previous--the two sets on the occasion were 'Jolly Lads Set, Seghill', and 'Load's Old Set, Scotland Gate'. …


This paper proposes an adaptive dynamic Mho distance relay based on a phase comparator scheme for protecting interconnected transmission networks compensated with a Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC). The proposed relay uses an impedance index factor to initiate the fault detection subroutine. The RMS of the positive sequence current of the faulted loop and the TCSC terminal current are compared for TCSC zone identification. A phase comparator for ground and phase distance elements is proposed, relying on the positive sequence voltage as a polarized memory quantity, while the operating and polarizing quantities are developed using estimated TCSC impedance to mitigate its negative impact. The proposed scheme is easy in implementation and independent on synchronized data transfer, as minimum communication requirements are needed. To evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme, extensive simulation studies were carried out on an IEEE9 bus system compensated with TCSC for different firing angles covering four modes of TCSC operations, different fault types, and fault locations. In addition, an IEEE-39 bus network, as a large interconnected system, is tested for validation purposes. The achieved results designate the precision of the proposed scheme. Moreover, the results indicate its effectiveness for fault resistance tolerance, close-in three phase faults, and stable power swing phenomenon compared with conventional relays.


Evidence abounds that a segment of our field views the current status of communication research with alarm. Whether the specific issues involve the logic of theory construction, the methodologies employed in collecting and analyzing data, or the criteria used in assessing scientific evidence, the refrain is constant: prevailing research practices are fruitless and wrong-headed and our wrong-headedness will be remedied by an alternative approach that will lead to a tree scientific understanding of human communication. In other words, the lost souls responsible for promulgating heathen research practices of old are urged to repent and to accept the word of the philosophical and scientific messiahs who have come to save them. A new gospel is compelling when sinners are convinced that they have really sinned or when they are persuaded that it is indeed new and better than the prevailing theology. Unfortunately, we find the scriptures of alarmists jumbled. Rather than presenting a ringing reaffirmation of our own faith, we will content ourselves with pointing out several of the confusions and ambiguities encountered in the critics' writings. There are two kinds of confusions and ambiguities: those associated with practices which are characterized as the "reigning paradigm" and those associated with certain alternative paradigms that have been advocated. Although our comments are relevant to the problem of assessing scientific evidence, they also relate to broader issues concerning the epistemological moorings of communication research. INDICTMENTS OF THE REIGNING PARADIGM: OR, ARE YOU POSITIVE THAT'S A POSITIVIST? Disciples of the new research order frequently warn that stubborn adherence to prevailing practices forces the researcher to worship at the pagan shrine of an outmoded, discredited logical positivism. Despite the religious fervor of their remarks, it is often difficult to discern just how or in what ways these critics equate current communication research practices with positivism. Indeed, some skeptics have dismissed the effort to make such an equation as a red herring which relies on a naive or distorted view of logical positivism. For instance, Robert Bostrom stated in a recent paper that "close attention to most of these polemics reveals a standard tactic: the construction of a far-fetched and altogether unrepresentative set of assertions which are blandly identified as the essence of the positivistic position."(1) As we attempt to untangle some of the ways that prevailing research practices have been linked with positivism, it will become apparent that we are at least partially sympathetic with Bostrom's indictment of this practice. In some cases, allegiance to logical positivism is equated with paying homage to the covering law model of explanation. Typically, the argument proceeds as follows: (1) logical positivism champions the covering law model of explanation; (2) the covering law model demands universal, invariant generalizations; (3) no such generalizations have been discovered in communication; therefore, (4) the covering law model is deficient; and (5) logical positivism is deficient. This argument is patently specious, both on intellectual and practical grounds. Nowhere in the literature of logical positivism does one encounter the claim that covering laws constitute the sole acceptable means of scientific explanation. In his classic analysis, Carl G. Hempel distinguishes three types of scientific explanation, two of which rely upon statistical or probabilistic premises.(2) An astute critic of the law-governed approach to theory construction, Donald Cushman, has characterized the logical positivist position regarding explanation thus: "According to this view [positivism], laws enunciate the uniform concomitance of phenomena, the prototype instance of which is either a universal implication (all A are B) or a problematic correlation [italics ours]."(3) Simply stated, total allegiance to the covering law model of explanation is not an inherent feature of a positivistic perspective, nor does knowledge of one's position regarding the efficacy of covering law explanations permit his or her classification as positivist or non-positivist. …


Mango is one of the most consumed fruit in the world and the most exported by Peru. At present, Peru is the sixth largest exporter in the world. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to analyze the determinants of mango exports by Peru by making more focus to the main target markets, namely the United States and the European Union for the period from 2000-2011. For this end, we used the model of Vector Error Correction. The choice of model is discussed in the methodology. The variables used to explain the determinants of mango exports are domestic prices, wholesale prices in the United States and the European Union, the internal income of the United States and the European Union and the exchange rate euro / dollar. The results show that international prices and income in the United States are determinant to explain exports of this fruit. The results show that the international prices and the income of importers markets are determinant to explain the export of this fruit.


– The purpose of this paper is to identify the extent of actual malnutrition and its risk among cancer patients receiving radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy in the Libyan city of Benghazi., – A cross‐sectional nutritional assessment study using the patient‐generated subjective global assessment (PG‐SGA) was carried out on 200 (91 males and 109 females) cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy., – A total of 25 per cent of the subjects were severely malnourished while 73.5 per cent were either at risk of malnutrition or suspected to be malnourished. Almost all (99.5 per cent) needed some degree of intervention (critical in nature for 83.5 per cent). Family income and physical activity were associated with nutritional status (p<0.05). Body Mass Index alone is an insensitive criterion for identifying malnutrition among such patients. All the sections and subsections of the PG‐SGA had a statistically significant positively correlation with its total score (r=0.51‐0.96, p<0.05). Dieticians played a very limited role in patient nutritional care., – It is suggested that dieticians should play a more participatory and prominent role in a multidisciplinary team involved in patient nutritional care. The PG‐SGA can help identify areas where tailor made strategies to counteract specific malnutrition or its risk can be planned, implemented and monitored., – There exists a considerable prevalence of malnutrition among Benghazi cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, most of whom need critical intervention.


To demonstrate the value of academic library, it is imperative to align library's role and outcomes with the parent institution's vision and mission (Cottrell, 2011). This paper discusses Singapore Management University Libraries' initiatives, to tie up library's instructional services with the university's vision, especially through collaboration with schools and other departments within the university. Singapore Management University has a ten-year vision to be an iconic university that provides transformative education for a new generation of graduates. The transformative education translates into an active learning which consists of 3 components: mindset for collaboration, curriculum based on experiential learning, and spaces for group work. One of library's first attempts in experiential learning was through collaboration with Business School. The Business School offers a course in Managing Process Improvement (MGMT317) which assigns real process issues for students to analyze, using six-sigma project-based approach. Library joined as one of the clients that presented real operational issues. Library put forward a seat-hogging issue that was causing problem to library's seating capacity, and diverting library manpower from its main operation. A group of six students were assigned to analyze and propose improvement. Two Business Faculty guided the group in project management framework and thought them in using process improvement tools. One Librarian and one Library Team Lead were representing Library as the business client. The 16-week process was remarkable, as librarians were shifting their teaching role into a client/advisor role with lots of face to face time with students, and plenty of teachable moments. It also pushed all parties involved to look beyond internal boundaries for best practices, and possible collaboration to resolve certain issues. The key takeaway was that experiential learning takes far more effort and commitment from librarians as compare to regular instructional classes. The results, however, were very promising as a) the learning outcomes were achieved, b) the business solution was usable and c) deeper engagement with students and Business School Faculty was established.


A cavity stabilized, SESAM mode-locked Cr4+:YAG laser capable of generating sub-100 fs pulses has been developed. Locking the 130-MHz pulse repetition frequency to that of a hydrogen maser-referenced frequency synthesizer provides a 30-nm wide frequency comb for the 1530-nm wavelength region. In conjunction with a pair of acetylene stabilized, external cavity diode lasers, this laser provides a high precision measurement tool for the determination of acetylene transition frequencies.


Chemical maps and images were made of the test of Textularia earlandi, an agglutinated foraminifera, by ESEM-EDS (Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectrometer). The specimen is about 300μm long, comprising 17 imbricated growth chambers. In order to evaluate themass distribution along the test, mineral grain densities, as deduced through chemical mapping, as well as the volumes of 650 grains, were treated by geostatistical methods. The volume of the imbricated spheres was 3D-modelled using theMonte-Carlo method. It is calculated that the volume of the chamber grows regularly. The mass of the chambers undergo some variation due to occurrence of various proportions of minerals with different densities. The mass distribution within each chamber is smoothly distributed. Further development on other protists with various shape and geometry could be easily imagined.


Opinions are divided on whether firms use corporate reports (1) to communicate with external parties in a clear and transparent manner (incremental information hypothesis), (2) to shape messages to suit their own agenda, or, worse still, (3) to mislead audiences (impression management hypothesis). Two competing hypotheses are considered in this chapter to explain why equity offerings coincide with stock overpricing. The dominant hypothesis to date – the market timing hypothesis – is that managers opportunistically time equity offerings to coincide with high stock prices. The empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis is ambiguous. The impression management hypothesis offers an alternative perspective. In this context, impression management entails the construction of an impression by organizations with the intention of influencing stockholders' view of the firm as reflected in the stock price. Managers may engage in impression management, using persuasive language in pre-equity-offering communications (e.g., narrative disclosures), to drive up the stock price in advance of planned equity offerings.


The paper deals with fractal characteristics (Hurst exponent) and wavelet-scaleograms of the information distribution model, suggested by the authors. The authors have studied the effect of Hurst exponent change depending upon the model parameters, which have semantic meaning. The paper also considers fractal characteristics of real information streams. It is described, how the Hurst exponent dynamics depends on these information streams state in practice


Temporal relations among multiple action segments play an important role in action segmentation especially when observations are limited (e.g., actions are occluded by other objects or happen outside a field of view). In this paper, we propose a network module called Graph-based Temporal Reasoning Module (GTRM) that can be built on top of existing action segmentation models to learn the relation of multiple action segments in various time spans. We model the relations by using two Graph Convolution Networks (GCNs) where each node represents an action segment. The two graphs have different edge properties to account for boundary regression and classification tasks, respectively. By applying graph convolution, we can update each node's representation based on its relation with neighboring nodes. The updated representation is then used for improved action segmentation. We evaluate our model on the challenging egocentric datasets namely EGTEA and EPIC-Kitchens, where actions may be partially observed due to the viewpoint restriction. The results show that our proposed GTRM outperforms state-of-the-art action segmentation models by a large margin. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of our model on two third-person video datasets, the 50Salads dataset and the Breakfast dataset.


Efficiency of processes determines the success of companies competing in contemporary market. The efficiency of production companies are heavily dependenton the efficiency of material flow. This is mostly due to high the cost-manufacturing processes. The efficiency of material flow depends on many factors. One of key factor is the task environment of company. The authors focused their research around the integration of planning processes in companies. They noted that companies with integrated planning processes are less dependent to changes in the task environment. Continuing with this topic, authors have developed two models: model of integration planning processes in manufacturing companies and model of material flow.The aim of the paper is to verify the following research hypothesis: the efficiency of material flow in companies with integrated planning process is less dependent on the volatility of the task environment.The article presents the results of simulation conducted in the software iGrafx Process for SixSigma. In the simulation experiment reflects the volatility of the task environment and planning processes at different levels of integration. The conducted experiments allowed to collect the results on the efficiency of material flow. The authors measure the efficiency of material flow in many dimensions: as operational efficiency (measured by customer service level indicator) and financial (measured by profitability indicator).The results were statistically analysed. Authors examined the correlation between the efficiency of material flow and the volatility of the task environment in conditions of different levels of integration of planning process. The research hypothesis was verified statistically with using an ANOVA method.


Two large tectonic terranes, Alexander and Wrangellia, at the northwestern margin of North America, have long been considered exotic to each other and the rest of the northern Cordillera. Pennsylvanian plutons tie the two terranes together, but their seemingly dissimilar geological character led most workers to believe the two evolved separately before and after the Pennsylvanian. New chemical abrasion zircon U-Pb geochronology, whole-rock geochemistry, and other geological evidence from Paleozoic magmatic rocks in Yukon, Canada, suggest that the terranes evolved together by the late Paleozoic and that the Alexander terrane partially forms the basement to a portion of Wrangellia. Large ca. 363 Ma gabbro complexes have non-arc geochemical signatures and intrude both terranes. Volcanic rocks near the base of northern Wrangellia are ca. 352 Ma and have back-arc to N-MORB geochemical signatures. At higher stratigraphic levels, Wrangellia contains abundant Mississippian to Pennsylvanian arc volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks (Skolai arc). Similar-aged arc/back-arc rocks are found in the southern part of Wrangellia (Sicker arc) and are interpreted as the southern extension of the Skolai arc. We propose that the gabbros represent the initiation of extension through an arc located at the margin of the Alexander terrane (Skolai/Sicker arc system). Extension progressed enough to deposit basalts within a back-arc basin setting. Subduction reversal closed the basin and rejuvenated the arc in the Pennsylvanian. Collision of the arc with the Alexander terrane led to exhumation and deposition of conglomerates unconformably on top of the gabbros. The evolution of the Alexander terrane and Wrangellia proposed here is broadly similar to the Late Devonian plate tectonic history along the northwestern Laurentian margin and is likely part of the same chain of arcs/back-arcs.


Abstract The accuracy of a neutronics model depends not only on the validity of the equations that are solved but also on the quality of the cross-section model. This last is currently constituted by a set of correlations, the parameterized tables, relating the data of the neutronics problem to the local conditions. The more the correlations represent the local conditions, the more the results will be accurate. For a simulation model, this means that the results will be closer to the measurements. The goal of the data identification method presented is to solve a constrained inverse problem and to obtain the parameters of some further correlations that will enhance the accuracy of the results. The constraint imposed minimizes the error committed in solving the diffusion equation, using as reference the results of a more accurate computer code or the measurements performed for in-core flux maps. Some purely numerical examples and an application in conjunction with in-core measurements illustrate the method.


The smart grid incentivizes distributed agents with local generation (e.g., smart homes, and microgrids) to establish multi-agent systems for enhanced reliability and energy consumption efficiency. Distributed energy trading has emerged as one of the most important multi-agent systems on the power grid by enabling agents to sell their excessive local energy to each other or back to the grid. However, it requests all the agents to disclose their sensitive data (e.g., each agent's fine-grained local generation and demand load). In this paper, to the best of our knowledge, we propose the first privacy preserving distributed energy trading framework, Private Energy Market (PEM), in which all the agents privately compute an optimal price for their trading (ensured by a Nash Equilibrium), and allocate pairwise energy trading amounts without disclosing sensitive data (via novel cryptographic protocols). Specifically, we model the trading problem as a non-cooperative Stackelberg game for all the agents (i.e., buyers and sellers) to determine the optimal price, and then derive the pairwise trading amounts. Our PEM framework can privately perform all the computations among all the agents without a trusted third party. We prove the privacy, individual rationality, and incentive compatibility for the PEM framework. Finally, we conduct experiments on real datasets to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the PEM.


Dichelachne was established by Endlicher in 1833 to accomodate a species collected by Ferd. Bauer in Norfolk I. Trinius and Ruprccht (1843) revised the genus, adding 6 more species, referring to previously published names, but giving new names as they had no access to the type materials of these. It has appeared that their specific concept was too narrow and in current literature only 4 species are accepted. This number has been reduced here to 3. Some other species have been placed in this genus now and then, but have proved to belong to different genera, as Deyeuxia, Agrostis, Stipa, and Oryzopsis. This shifting of species between quite different genera reflects the instability of the opinion about the taxonomic place of the genus. Some, as Trinius (1836), Trinius & Ruprecht (1843), F. v. Mueller (1873), and Pilger (1954) have considered it as a Stipea, others such as R. Brown (1810), Bentham (1878), Bentham & Hooker f. (1883), C. E. Hubbard (1934), and Miss Vickery (1961) have regarded it as an Agrostidea. Terrell (1971) placed it, together with Agrostis and Calamagrostis, in the Aveneae because of the presence of liquid endosperm. Although there is an overall resemblance to Stipa, closer inspection shows that it is very closely related to Deyeuxia of the Agrostideae in view of the dorsal, unarticulated, and simple awn, the microscopic, but sometimes well-developed rachilla-process which in Dichelachne crinita sometimes bears up to 3 florets, and the punctiform hilum. The difference with Deyeuxia is very slight, and mainly regards the lenght of the awn and the callus-hairs, as may be observed from the table.


The topic of this study is the computation of Maass cusp form, i.e. the eigenfunctions
of the hyperbolic Laplace-Beltrami operator on punctured surfaces namely singly
punctured two-torus and triply punctured two-sphere. Punctured surfaces are surfaces
with points removed or located infinitely far away and they have complex
topological and geometrical properties. The presence of the punctures or cusps
means that there is a continuous spectrum as well as the discrete one. This work
focuses on the discrete part of computational nature.
Hejhal developed an algorithm to compute Maass cusp form on triangle groups. The
algorithm of Hejhal is based on automorphy condition and also applies to the
computation of the Maass cusp forms on Fuchsian group whose the fundamental
domain has exactly one cusp. In this work the method due to Hejhal was recalled and extended for computation of
Maass cusp on singly punctured two-torus which still has one cusp but a nonzero
genus. The algorithm was modified further to carry out the computation for the
surfaces with three cusps i.e. triply punctured two-sphere. All the computations were
implemented in Mathematica and built in a way accessible to any one with an
introductory knowledge in Mathematica.
The results of the study are the first low-lying eigenvalues, examples of Fourier
coefficients and graphic plots of Maass cusp forms each for modular group, singly
punctured two-torus and triply punctured two-sphere. The eigenvalues and the
Fourier coefficients were computed with the desired accuracy. Some comparisons
between singly punctured two-torus and triply punctured two-sphere are also
presented.


Two important perspectives on courts highlight fundamentally different elements of the process of adjudication and yield distinct predictions about judicial outcomes. The Attitudinal Model of judicial voting (AM) posits judge ideology as a strong predictor of court outcomes. Alternatively, the Law and Economics perspective (LE) focuses on the settlement behavior of litigants and reasons that while judges may vote ideologically, litigants adapt to these ideological proclivities, nullifying the effect of judge ideology. This analysis focuses on reconciling expectations about the effects of judge ideology and litigant strategies by examining their contingent nature and the conditioning effects of institutional design. The analysis examines state supreme courts from 1995 through 1998 to identify strong empirical evidence supporting both perspectives. While some state supreme courts have discretionary dockets allowing judges to select cases they want to decide, others lack discretionary control, making outcomes largely litigant driven. The empirical support for each perspective largely hinges on this fundamental feature of institutional design.


This publication is part of a larger scholarly project and one in a series that aims to create a "legal toolkit" for addressing sexual violence in custody. This chart catalogues statutes that address adult sex offender registration requirements in all fifty states, as well as surrounding territories. This chart provides a list of all registrable offenses; indicates whether sex offender registration is required for staff sexual misconduct; details the type of information maintained in the sex offender registry, community notification and other websites; identifies limitations on residency or employment; and identifies the duration of registration.


Many nudges are designed to make people better off, as judged by themselves. This criterion, meant to ensure that nudges will increase people's welfare, contains some ambiguity. It is useful to distinguish among three categories of cases: (1) those in which choosers have clear antecedent preferences, and nudges help them to satisfy those preferences (often by increasing "navigability"); (2) those in which choosers face a self-control problem, and nudges help them to overcome that problem; and (3) those in which choosers would be content with the outcomes produced by two or more nudges, or in which ex post preferences are endogenous to nudges, so that without additional clarification or work, the "as judged by themselves" criterion does identify a unique solution for choice architects. Category (1) is self-evidently large. Because many people agree that they suffer self-control problems, category (2) is large as well. Cases that fall in category (3) create special challenges, which may lead us to make direct inquiries into welfare or to explore what informed, active choosers typically select.


Introduction: Many of effects of exercise are mediated through cytokines. Inflammatory cytokines are increased by exercise and inhibited by anti-inflammatory cytokines. Meanwhile, vaccination leads to an increase in the inflammatory cytokines. To test the hypothesis that exercise training might alter the cytokine response to the influenza vaccine, we measured selected cytokines in elite boy gymnasts and non-exercising subjects who were administered with the influenza vaccine and compared these against non-vaccinated gymnasts. Methods: Forty five healthy 9to 12years old children (30 gymnasts and 15 untrained) were assigned to training group (TG), training-vaccine group (TVG) and vaccine group (VG). The exercise protocol consisted of a 3 hours gymnastic practice, 3 days per week, for 8 weeks. TVG and VG group were immunized with trivalent influenza vaccine in the 0(Pre), 4 and 8 weeks. Prevaccination, 4 and 8 week blood samples were obtained in all subjects. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated measures tests. Significance level was accepted at P<0.05. Results: After the intervention, significant decreases in IL-6 and IFN-γ were observed in all the groups (P<0.05). A significant difference, in IL-6 level between TVG and TG groups at week 8, and a significant differences in INF-γ level between TVG and TG groups at week 4 were also observed (P<0.05). There was not a significant increase in the IL-2 in TVG and TG groups, but a significant increase was observed in VG (P<0.05). A significant difference in IL-2 level between TVG and VG groups, between TG and VG at 4 week and between TVG and VG at 8 week was observed. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that gymnastic training and vaccine in healthy children lead to reduction in inflammatory cytokines. This might explain the immature immune system response in children to both vaccination and exercise training.


Parental engagement is an important avenue for supporting student achievement. Positive relationships between parents and teachers are increasingly recognized as vital in this process. Most studies consider parents' and teachers' perceptions separately, and it is unknown whether shared perceptions of relationship quality matter with respect to child outcomes. This study investigated the role of relationship congruence in predicting child academic, social, and behavioral outcomes in 175 elementary students referred for behavioral consultation. Results indicated that teacher, but not parent, ratings of child social skills and externalizing behaviors were more favorable in the presence of a shared, positive view of the relationship. Furthermore, parents who reported higher levels of home-school conferencing and greater self-efficacy were more likely to be in congruent, positive relationships. Though preliminary, these results suggest that shared perceptions of relationship quality may be important in understanding reports of child behavior and finding ways to support positive student outcomes.


We describe the use of symmetry for verification of transistor-level circuits by symbolic trajectory evaluation (STE). We present a new formulation of STE which allows a succinct description of symmetry properties in circuits, Symmetries in circuits are classified as structural symmetries, arising from similarities in circuit structure, data symmetries, arising from similarities in the handling of data values, and mixed structural-data symmetries. We use graph isomorphism testing and symbolic simulation to verify the symmetries in the original circuit, Using conservative approximations, we partition a circuit to expose the symmetries in its components, and construct reduced system models which can be verified efficiently, Introducing X-drivers into switch-level circuits simplifies the task of creating conservative approximations of switch-level circuits, Our empirical results show that exploiting symmetry with conservative approximations can allow one to verify systems several orders of magnitude larger than otherwise possible. We present results of verifying static random access memory circuits with up to 1.5 Million transistors,.


Carbon films deposited unintentionally on substrate holder and reactor walls significantly influenced on diamond nucleation and growth using magneto-active microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition method (MPCVD). In this study, the etching process of such carbon films for a reproducible cleaning process has been investigated. In order to clarify the effect of magneto-active microwave pure-oxygen plasma, CO2 and CO products were mainly measured as functions of treatment time, plasma pressure, microwave power and substrate bias voltage. The results obtained show that there are three time regions in the etching process which may depend on the spatial distributions of the oxygen-related radicals and the carbon films in the chamber. It is found that relatively inefficient etching proceeded in the third stage, the origin of which is discussed.


The urban transit routing problem (UTRP) is concerned with finding efficient travelling routes for public transportation systems. This problem is highly complex, and the development of effective algorithms to solve it is very challenging. Furthermore, realistic benchmark data sets are lacking, making it difficult for researchers to compare their problem-solving techniques with those of other researchers. In this paper we contribute a new set of benchmark instances that have been generated by a procedure that scales down a real world transportation network, yet preserves the vital characteristics of the network layout including "terminal nodes" from which buses are restricted to start and end their journeys. In addition, we present a hyper-heuristic solution approach, specially tailored to solving instances with defined terminal nodes. We use our hyper-heuristic technique to optimise the generalised costs for passengers and operators, and compare the results with those produced by an NSGAII implementation on the same data set. We provide a set of competitive results that improve on the current bus routes used by bus operators in Nottingham.


This paper studies the influence of metropolitan externalities on productivity for different types of long-run R&D engagement based on information from the Community Innovation Survey. We apply a dynamic general method of moments model to a panel of manufacturing and service firms with different locations in Sweden, classified as a metropolitan region, the largest metropolitan region, a metropolitan city, the largest metropolitan city and a nonmetropolitan area. This analysis generates three distinct results. First, the productivity premium associated with persistent R&D is close to 8 per cent in nonmetro locations and about 14 per cent in the largest city. Second, a firm without any R&D engagement does not benefit at all from the external milieu in metro areas. Third, no productivity premium is associated with occasional R&D effort regardless of the firm's location.


Digitization of business interactions and processes is advancing full bore. But in many organizations, returns from IT investments are flatlining, even as technology spending has skyrocketed. These challenges call for new levels of IT savvy: the ability of all managers-IT or non-IT-to transform their company's technology assets into operational efficiencies that boost margins. Companies with IT-savvy managers are 20 percent more profitable than their competitors.In IT Savvy, Peter Weill and Jeanne Ross-two of the world's foremost authorities on using IT in business-explain how non-IT executives can acquire this savvy. Concise and practical, the book describes the practices, competencies, and leadership skills non-IT managers need to succeed in the digital economy. You'll discover how to:-Define your firm's operating model-how IT can help you do business -Revamp your IT funding model to support your operating model -Build a digitized platform of business processes, IT systems, and data to execute on the model -Determine IT decision rights -Extract more business value from your IT assetsPacked with examples and based on research into eighteen hundred organizations in more than sixty countries, IT Savvy is required reading for non-IT managers seeking to push their company's performance to new heights.


When the Taliban took control of Kabul, Kamila Sidiqi and all the women of Kabul saw their lives transformed. Overnight, they were banned from schools and offices and even forbidden from leaving their front doors on their own. The economy collapsed and young men left the city in search of work and security. Desperate to help her family and support her five brothers and sisters at home, Kamila began sewing cothes in her living room. Little did she know that the tailoring business she started to help her siblings would be the beginning of a dresmaking business that would create jobs and hope for one hundred neighbourhood women and would come to mean the difference between starvation and survival for hundreds of families like her own.


1. Several phenomena observed in man during acute exposure to high altitude could be explained in part by a decrease in compliance of systemic capacitance vessels. 2. Serial measurements of forearm venous compliance were made with a water-filled plethysmograph in healthy men during a 24 h stay at 4300 m. 3. A decrease in venous compliance (increase in venous tone) occurred in all subjects and averaged 17·0 ± 6·2% (SEM). 4. In seven normal men during 1 week at 4300 m, a decrease in venous compliance again occurred in all subjects and was sustained throughout the 1 week period. There was also a rise in forearm blood flow and a fall in forearm vascular resistance. Increases in urinary excretion of noradrenaline and vanilmandelic acid suggested that these responses are mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. 5. Acute laboratory studies suggest that the response is primarily triggered by hypocapnia and potentiated by hypoxia; it cannot be duplicated by hyperventilation or by mild hypoxia in the absence of hypocapnia. 6. This decrease in systemic venous compliance may play an important role in the increased central blood volume and cardiac output which are seen acutely following ascent to high altitude.


The microblogging site Twitter is now one of the most popular Web destinations. Due to the relative ease of data access, there has been significant research based on Twitter data, ranging from measuring the spread of ideas through society to predicting the behavior of real-world phenomena such as the stock market. Unfortunately, relatively little work has studied the changes in the Twitter ecosystem itself; most research that uses Twitter data is typically based on a small time-window of data, generally ranging from a few weeks to a few months.  Twitter is known to have evolved significantly since its founding, and it remains unclear whether prior results still hold, and whether the (often implicit) assumptions of proposed systems are still valid. In this paper, we take a first step towards answering these question by focusing on the evolution of Twitter's users and their behavior.  Using a set of over 37 billion tweets spanning over seven years, we quantify how the users, their behavior, and the site as a whole have evolved.  We observe and quantify a number of trends including the spread of Twitter across the globe, the rise of spam and malicious behavior, the rapid adoption of tweeting conventions, and the shift from desktop to mobile usage.  Our results can be used to interpret and calibrate previous Twitter work, as well as to make future projections of the site as a whole.


Silicon avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are sensitive to operating temperature fluctuations and are also susceptible to radiation flux expected in satellite-based quantum experiments. We introduce a low power voltage adjusting mechanism to overcome the effects of in-orbit temperature fluctuations. We also present data on the performance of Si APDs after irradiation (γ-ray and proton beam). Combined with an analysis of expected orbital irradiation, we propose that a Si APD in a 400 km equatorial orbit may operate beyond the lifetime of the satellite.


Abstract A novel semiorganic nonlinear optical (NLO) crystal, bis(thiourea) barium nitrate (BTBN) was synthesized and grown by slow evaporation method. Structure of the new crystalline compound was confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and it showed that BTBN belongs to orthorhombic crystal system. The crystalline nature of the BTBN was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction study. Important functional groups of BTBN were identified by FT-IR spectroscopic analysis. UV-Vis-NIR spectral study showed that the grown crystal is transparent in the entire visible region with low cut off wavelength of 304 nm. BTBN exhibits a SHG efficiency which is nearly 2.38 times higher than that of KDP. The BTBN crystal has high mechanical strength and belongs to soft category, which was confirmed by micorhardness study. The thermal stability of BTBN was determined from TGA and DTA thermal study which revealed that the BTBN crystal has thermal stability up to 243.1 °C. The surface properties and presence of elements was analyzed by SEM and EDAX study, respectively.


Abstract—This paper presents a numerical solution, namely limit and shakedown analysis, to predict the safety state of smart structures made of heterogeneous materials under unknown cyclic loadings, for instance, the flexure hinge in the micro-positioning stage driven by piezoelectric actuator. In combination of homogenization theory and finite-element method (FEM), the safety evaluation problem is converted to a large-scale nonlinear optimization programming for an acceptable bounded loading as the design reference. Furthermore, a general numerical scheme integrated with the FEM and interior-point-algorithm based optimization tool is developed, which makes the practical application possible.


Abstract Although there is a deep and wide consensus that international conflict over territory is especially common and destructive, there is less agreement over what it is about territory that leads to these outcomes. Understanding the role of territory in international conflict requires complementing realist and materialist understandings of the value of territory with one grounded in the constructivist theories that dominate studies of nationalism and geography. Doing so recognizes that homeland territoriality, because it raises the value of a specific territory and provides an imperative to establish sovereignty over it, plays a distinctive role in driving international conflict. This article presents a systematic, replicable operationalization of the homeland status of territory that, because it is consistent with constructivist theories of nationalism, can be used to integrate constructivist understandings of the role of territory into quantitative studies of territorial conflict. This measure is then used to test the implication that the loss of subjectively defined homeland territory increases the likelihood of international conflict relative to the loss of nonhomeland territory. The findings that dividing homelands is especially likely to lead to conflict are corroborated by a second novel measure of the homeland status of territory that is based on the identification of co-ethnics in a territory before the border was drawn.


Abstract Various advanced two-level iterative methods are studied numerically and compared with each other in conjunction with finite volume discretizations of symmetric 1-D elliptic problems with highly oscillatory discontinuous coefficients. Some of the methods considered rely on the homogenization approach for deriving the coarse grid operator. This approach is considered here as an alternative to the well-known Galerkin approach for deriving coarse grid operators. Different intergrid transfer operators are studied, primary consideration being given to the use of the so-called problemdependent prolongation. The two-grid methods considered are used as both solvers and preconditioners for the Conjugate Gradient method. The recent approaches, such as the hybrid domain decomposition method introduced by Vassilevski and the globallocal iterative procedure proposed by Durlofsky et al. are also discussed. A two-level method converging in one iteration in the case where the right-hand side is only a function of the coarse variable is introduced and discussed. Such a fast convergence for problems with discontinuous coefficients arbitrarily varying on the fine scale is achieved by a problem-dependent selection of the coarse grid combined with problem-dependent prolongation on a dual grid. The results of the numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the performance of the studied approaches.


Nations use product standards, and manipulate them, for reasons othen than practical use or safety. The Soviets once cultivated standards to isolate themselves. In the United States, codes and standards are often used to favor home industries over external competition, and to favor some producers over others. Krislov compares and contrasts the United States, the EC, the forner Eastern bloc, and Japan, to link standard choice with political styles and to trace growing internationalization based on product efficiency criteria."


Compilers are among the most widely-studied pieces of software; and, modularizing these valuable artifacts is a recurring theme in research. However, modularization of cross-cutting concerns in compilers is not yet well explored. Even today, implementation of one compiler concern scatters across and tangles with the implementation of several other concerns, thereby leading to a mismatch between different compiler modules and the operations they represent. Essentially, current compiler implementations fail to explicitly identify the control dependencies of different phases, and separately characterize the actions to execute during those phases. As a result, information about their program-execution path remains non-intuitive: it stays hidden within the program structure and cuts-across several phase implementations. Consequently, this makes compiler designs and artifacts difficult to comprehend, maintain and reuse. Such limitations occur primarily as a result of the inability of mainstream object-oriented languages, such as Java, to organize the cross-cutting concerns into clean modular units. This thesis demonstrates how such modularity-issues in compilers can be addressed with the help of a relatively new, yet powerful programming paradigm called aspect-oriented programming.


STATE OF CALIFORNIA } COUNTY OF } On before me, , (here insert name and title of the officer) personally appeared , who proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) whose names(s) is/are subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged to me that he/she/they executed the same in his/her/their authorized capacity(ies), and that by his/her/their signature(s) on the instrument the person(s) or the entity upon behalf of which the person(s) acted, executed the instrument. I certify under PENALTY OF PERJURY under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing paragraph is true and correct.


This volume proposes a new approach to the Arab conquests and the spread of Islam in North Africa. In recent years, those studying the Islamic world have shown that the coming of Islam was not marked by devastation or decline, but rather by considerable cultural and economic continuity. In North Africa, with continuity came significant change. Corisande Fenwick argues that the establishment of Muslim rule also coincided with a phase of intense urbanization, the appearance of new architectural forms (mosques, housing, hammams), the spread of Muslim social and cultural practices, the introduction of new crops and manufacturing techniques and the establishment of new trading links with sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

This concise and accessible book offers the first assessment of the archaeology of early Islamic North Africa (7th–9th centuries), drawing on a wide range of new evidence from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It lays out current debates about its interpretation and suggests new ways of thinking about this crucial period in world history. Essential reading for those interested in understanding the impact of the Arab conquests and the spread of Islam on daily life, it will also challenge students of archaeology and history to think in new ways about North Africa, the earliest Islamic empires and states and the transition from the Roman to the medieval Mediterranean.


Financial options are contracts that specify the right to buy or sell an underlying asset at a strike price by an expiration date. Standard exchanges offer options of predetermined strike values and trade options of different strikes independently, even for those written on the same underlying asset. Such independent market design can introduce arbitrage opportunities and lead to the thin market problem. The paper first proposes a mechanism that consolidates and matches orders on standard options related to the same underlying asset, while providing agents the flexibility to specify any custom strike value. The mechanism generalizes the classic double auction, runs in time polynomial to the number of orders, and poses no risk to the exchange, regardless of the value of the underlying asset at expiration. Empirical analysis on real-market options data shows that the mechanism can find new matches for options of different strike prices and reduce bid-ask spreads. Extending standard options written on a single asset, we propose and define a new derivative instrument ---combinatorial financial options that offer contract holders the right to buy or sell any linear combination of multiple underlying assets. We generalize our single-asset mechanism to match options written on different combinations of assets, and prove that optimal clearing of combinatorial financial options is coNP-hard. To facilitate market operations, we propose an algorithm that finds the exact optimal match through iterative constraint generation, and evaluate its performance on synthetically generated combinatorial options markets of different scales. As option prices reveal the market's collective belief of an underlying asset's future value, a combinatorial options market enables the expression of aggregate belief about future correlations among assets.


Even though health insurance is expanding rapidly in Vietnam, its coverage is not effective. There remain inefficiencies in the healthcare system with quality concerns, especially at primary care and in remote areas. However, very little is known about how health insurance is valued by people and whether health insurance coverage can translate into quality healthcare. This paper investigates the relationship between health insurance and patient satisfaction with medical care in the poorest regions of Vietnam. We use multi-level models for ordinal responses on a cross-sectional dataset of the poorest regions of Vietnam in 2012. We find that it is not health insurance coverage per se but the financial coverage that matters to improve patient satisfaction with medical care. Patient satisfaction depends on the breadth and depth of insurance coverage (i.e. services and medicines covered, co-payment rate for each service) and the ability to use health insurance to reduce medical costs via the co-payment mechanism.


Alcohol (ALC) use and abuse by adolescents has been rising at an alarming rate. Whether ALC consumption during prepubertal years affects specific hormones and the process of sexual maturation is not known. We used immature female rhesus macaques to assess the effects of ALC on circulating levels of hormones known to be critical for the pubertal process. Ten monkeys averaging 20.3 +/- 0.3 months of age were bled by saphenous vein puncture at 0830 and 2030 h each day for 5 consecutive days to determine baseline levels of GH, insulin-like growth factor I, FSH, LH, estradiol (E2), and leptin. For the next 12 months, each day at 1330 h five monkeys were administered ALC (2 g/kg), and five monkeys were administered an isocaloric sucrose solution via a nasogastric approach. Blood was again collected twice daily on 5 consecutive days at 24, 28, and 32 months for hormone analysis. Food consumption and weight gain were similar for ALC-treated and control animals. The expected night-related increase in serum GH occurred during late juvenile development (28-32 months of age) in control animals, but was suppressed (P < 0.05) in ALC-treated animals. This action was paralleled by a decrease (P < 0.01) in serum insulin-like growth factor I. Serum LH and E2 were also depressed by ALC, with their effects most pronounced at 32 months (LH, P < 0.01; E2, P < 0.001). Serum FSH and leptin were not altered. Although ALC did not affect age at menarche, the interval between subsequent menstruations was lengthened (P < 0.05), thereby showing that ALC affected the development of a regular monthly pattern of menstruation. These results demonstrate the detrimental effects of ALC on the activation of hormone secretion that accompanies puberty in female rhesus monkeys. They also suggest that the subsequent growth spurt and normal timing or progression of puberty may be at risk in human adolescents and teenagers consuming even relatively moderate amounts of ALC on a regular basis.


Objectives To determine the outcome of treating distal interphalangeal joint collateral ligament (DIJCL) desmopathy using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided ligament injection. Methods Medical records of 13 adult horses diagnosed with DIJCL desmopathy using low-field MRI and treated by MRI-guided ligament injection of mesenchymal stem cells and/or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) were reviewed. Information collected included signalment, MRI diagnosis, treatment type, time to resolution of lameness, and level of exercise after treatment. Results Collateral ligament inflammation was diagnosed as a cause of lameness in 13 horses. MRI was used to guide the injection of the injured DIJCL. All lameness attributed to DIJCL desmopathy resolved with the resulting level of performance at expected (10) or less than expected (3). Conclusion and clinical relevance Injection of the DIJCL can be safely completed in horses standing in a low-field magnet guided by MRI as previously demonstrated in cadaver specimens. The positive response in all horses suggests that administration of stem cells or PRP along with rest and appropriate shoeing may be a safe and useful treatment for DIJCL desmopathy.


We present Spitzer observations of the nearby dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 1705 obtained as part of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey. The galaxy morphology is very different shortward and longward of ~5 μm: optical and short-wavelength IRAC imaging shows an underlying red stellar population, with the central super star cluster (SSC) dominating the luminosity; longer wavelength IRAC and MIPS imaging reveals warm dust emission arising from two off-nuclear regions that are offset by ~250 pc from the SSC and that dominate the far-IR flux of the system. These regions show little extinction at optical wavelengths. The galaxy has a relatively low global dust mass (~2 × 105 M☉, implying a global dust-to-gas mass ratio ~2-4 times lower than the Milky Way average, roughly consistent with the metallicity decrease). The off-nuclear dust emission appears to be powered by photons from the same stellar population responsible for the excitation of the observed Hα emission; these photons are unassociated with the SSC (although a contribution from embedded sources to the IR luminosity of the off-nuclear regions cannot be ruled out). Low-resolution IRS spectroscopy shows moderate-strength PAH emission in the 11.3 μm band in the more luminous eastern peak; no PAH emission is detected in the SSC or the western dust emission complex. There is significant diffuse emission in the IRAC 8 μm band after starlight has been removed by scaling shorter wavelength data; the fact that IRS spectroscopy shows spatially variable PAH emission strengths compared to the local continuum within this diffuse gas suggests caution in the interpretation of IRAC diffuse 8 μm emission as arising from PAH carriers alone. The nebular metallicity of NGC 1705 falls at the transition level of ~0.35 Z☉ found by Engelbracht and collaborators, below which PAH emission is difficult to detect; the fact that a system at this metallicity shows spatially variable PAH emission demonstrates the complexity of interpreting diffuse 8 μm emission in galaxies. NGC 1705 deviates significantly from the canonical far-infrared versus radio correlation, having significant far-infrared emission but no detected radio continuum.


Purpose: We profiled the etiology and recovery of neuromuscular fatigue post-simulated-soccer-match-play.

Methods: Fifteen semi-professional players completed a 90 min simulated soccer match. Pre-, immediately-post and at 24, 48 and 72 h participants completed a battery of neuromuscular, physical and perceptual tests. Perceived fatigue and muscle soreness were assessed via visual analogue scales. Maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) and twitch responses to electrical (femoral nerve) and magnetic (motor cortex) stimulation during isometric knee-extensor contractions and at rest were measured to assess central (voluntary activation, VA) and peripheral (quadriceps potentiated twitch force, Qtw,pot) fatigue, and responses to single and paired-magnetic stimuli were assessed to quantify corticospinal excitability and short-intracortical inhibition (SICI), respectively. Countermovement jump, reactive strength index and sprint performance were assessed to profile the recovery of physical function.

Results: Simulated match-play elicited decrements in MVC that remained unresolved at 72 h (P = 0.01). Central fatigue was prominent immediately post-exercise (-9% reduction in VA) and remained depressed at 48 h (-2%, P = 0.03). Qtw,pot declined by 14% post-exercise, remained similarly depressed at 24 h and had not fully recovered by 72 h post (-5%, P = 0.01). Corticospinal excitability was reduced at 24 h (P = 0.047) only, and no change in SICI was observed. Measures of jump performance and self-reported fatigue followed a similar time-course recovery to neuromuscular fatigue.

Conclusion: Central processes contribute significantly to the neuromuscular fatigue experienced in the days post-soccer-match-play, but the magnitude and slower recovery of peripheral fatigue indicates that it is the resolution of muscle function that primarily explains the recovery of neuromuscular fatigue post-soccer match-play.


Postural imbalance can result from various vestibular (central and peripheral), neurological, orthopedic, and vascular disorders, as well as sensory conflicts, head injuries, infections, medications, and aging. Balance rehabilitation has been shown to improve the quality of life of individuals with balance disorders by facilitating the development of compensatory strategies which mitigate dizziness, improve balance, and increase the ability to perform activities of daily living. The goal of this work is to design a cell phone based balance training device that can be used in the home to assist a patient with therapist-assigned balance exercises or in an environment where access to balance therapy is limited (i.e., rural regions in the developing world). The prototype comprises an iPhone (iPhone SDK, Apple), an auxiliary pager motor (Samsung GH31-00154C), and an audio amplifier (Analog Devices SSM2301). Body motion is detected by on-board tri-axial accelerometers, and a tilt estimate is computed using a low-pass filter. The phone's native pager motor and an auxiliary pager motor are used to provide real-time vibrotactile cues of body tilt along a single axis. The phone is worn on the small of the back to provide anterior-posterior vibrotactile trunk tilt feedback during stance, and worn near the right hip to provide medial-lateral vibrotactile trunk tilt feedback during gait. Auditory files direct the user through a series of standard balance rehabilitation exercises. A summary of the user's performance is displayed on the phone's screen following completion of the exercise.


Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is the rate-limiting key enzyme in the biosynthesis of polyamines which have been confirmed to possess potent antioxidant and antiglycating properties. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship of the ODC polymorphism and circulating whole blood polyamine concentrations. The study subjects were non-smoking, healthy men (n = 30) and women (n = 30) aged 55–69 years with equal numbers of AA, GA, and GG genotypes of the ODC gene, who were randomly recruited from 607 health checkup examinees. The whole blood polyamines (spermidine and spermine) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography and were adjusted for hematocrit. The difference in the adjusted polyamines across theODC gene was statistically tested using analysis of covariance. Women homozygous for the A-allele showed significantly higher spermidine levels than those with other genotypes. No such association was found among men, and spermine showed no association with the ODC genotype. In conclusion, the ODC polymorphism is significantly associated with whole blood polyamines in women. The ODC gene seems to be expressed more actively among female A-allele homozygotes than women carrying the G-allele.


We propose an unbounded-depth, hierarchical, Bayesian nonparametric model for discrete sequence data. This model can be estimated from a single training sequence, yet shares statistical strength between subsequent symbol predictive distributions in such a way that predictive performance generalizes well. The model builds on a specific parameterization of an unbounded-depth hierarchical Pitman-Yor process. We introduce analytic marginalization steps (using coagulation operators) to reduce this model to one that can be represented in time and space linear in the length of the training sequence. We show how to perform inference in such a model without truncation approximation and introduce fragmentation operators necessary to do predictive inference. We demonstrate the sequence memoizer by using it as a language model, achieving state-of-the-art results.


Network positioning systems provide an important service to large- scale P2P systems, potentially enabling clients to achieve higher performance, reduce cross-ISP traffic and improve the robustness of the system to failures. Because traces representative of this environment are generally unavailable, and there is no platform suited for experimentation at the appropriate scale, network positioning systems have been commonly imple- mented and evaluated in simulation and on research testbeds. The performance of network positioning remains an open question for large deployments at the edges of the network. This paper evaluates how four key classes of network po- sitioning systems fare when deployed at scale and measured in P2P systems where they are used. Using 2 billion network measurements gathered from more than 43,000 IP addresses probing over 8 million other IPs worldwide, we show that network positioning exhibits noticeably worse performance than previously reported in studies conducted on research testbeds. To explain this result, we identify several key properties of this environment that call into question fundamental assumptions driving network positioning research.


The aging population has increased the importance of identifying and understanding mild cognitive impairment (MCI), particularly given that 6–15 % of MCI cases convert to Alzheimer's disease (AD) each year. The early identification of MCI has the potential for timely therapeutic interventions that would limit the advancement of MCI to AD. However, it is difficult to identify MCI-related pathology based on visual inspection because these changes in brain morphology are subtle and spatially distributed. Therefore, reliable and automated methods to identify subtle changes in morphological characteristics of MCI would aid in the identification and understanding of MCI. Meanwhile, usability becomes a major limitation in the development of clinically applicable classifiers. Furthermore, subject privacy is an additional issue in the usage of human brain images.
To address the critical need, a complete computer aided diagnosis (CAD) system for automated detection of MCI from heterogeneous brain images is developed. This system provides functions for image processing, classification of MCI subjects from control, visualization of affected regions of interest (ROIs), data sharing among different research sites, and knowledge sharing through image annotation.


The general thesis which I should wish to sustain on this topic is by no means new. It is, briefly, that even in the Republic, where the views on art which Plato propounds are notoriously unsatisfactory to the modern mind, this unsatisfactoriness is not due to any lack of aesthetic sympathy on Plato's part, but on the contrary to what is almost an excess of it. The position as far as I can understand it is this: the true artist (at least for the period of Platonic thought of which the Republic marks the culmination) is the philosopher, and true artistic insight is episteme. The work of art par excellence is primarily the philosopher's own life-that is, the philosopher himself.


Objectives
In addition to its role in hemostasis, vitamin K (VK) is involved in brain function through various proteins and sphingolipid metabolism. Warfarin (W), a widely prescribed anticoagulant drug, exerts its beneficial effect in coagulation by partially blocking the recycling of the vitamin. In previous studies, we provided evidence that, when administered in large doses, W leads to cognitive and exploratory behavior impairment, and alteration in the VK dependent proteins Gas6 and protein S (PS) and their downstream pro-survival extracellular signal-regulated (ERK) and serine-threonine (Akt) kinases pathways. In light of its widespread use as oral anticoagulant, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of W on cognition and behavior, Gas6 and PS and their signaling pathways when administered in doses comparable to those used in the clinical setting.

Methods
Male Wistar rats (n = 14/gp) were fed an AIN-93 based diet containing 750 mcg phylloquinone/kg/d and were randomly allocated to treatment with 0,1 mg W/kg/d (in drinking water) (W group) or not (C group), for 9 wks. Spatial memory (Morris Water Maze) and exploratory behavior (Open Field) were assessed. Gas6, PS, pAkt, pERK, caspases -3 and -12 (apoptosis), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and microglial CD11b/c protein (a marker of inflammation), were assessed by immunoblotting in hippocampus (HPP), frontal cortex (FC), and striatum (STR), three regions involved in cognition. VK contents were determined in these 3 brain regions by HPLC. Group difference was tested by unpaired Student t-test.

Results
Low dose W had no impact on brain VK concentrations, spatial memory, and exploratory behavior (all P > 0.05). In contrast, W treatment was associated with numerous cell-signaling modulations, namely increased PS, ERK and Akt activity, and caspase -3 and -12 expression, in HPP; increased BDNF in FC and STR; increased expression of CD11bc in STR, (all P < 0.05).

Conclusions
This study provides evidence that low dose W is not associated with cognitive and behavioral impairment despite numerous cell-signaling modulations that have the potential to be beneficial or detrimental to the brain. Whether these events represent compensatory mechanisms to maintain homeostasis deserves further investigation.

Funding Sources
Study funded by CIHR.