OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine whether the insulin gene variable number of tandem repeats (INS VNTR) is associated with growth patterns in fetal life and infancy.

DESIGN AND METHODS
This study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study from fetal life until young adulthood. Fetal growth was assessed by ultrasounds in early, mid-, and late pregnancy. Anthropometry in infancy was assessed at birth and at the ages of 6 weeks, 6 months, and 14 months. DNA for genotyping of the INS VNTR promoter region was available in 859 children.

RESULTS
The genotype distribution was I/I 50.8%, I/III 40.0%, and III/III 9.2%. III/III individuals had a shorter gestational age (P<0.005 versus I/I) and a lower birth weight (P<0.05 versus I/I). There were no differences in birth weight after adjusting for gestational age. Class III homozygotes had a smaller abdominal circumference/head circumference (HC) ratio (P<0.005 versus I/I) in mid-pregnancy, but not in late pregnancy. Also, III/III subjects had a relative decrease in HC (SDS) from mid-pregnancy to the age of 14 months (P<0.05 versus I/I). No other differences in pre- and postnatal growth characteristics and patterns were found.

CONCLUSIONS
Class III homozygotes were born at an earlier gestational age. No association was found between INS VNTR and birth weight adjusted for gestational age. Our data suggest that the III/III genotype may be associated with asymmetrical growth in mid-pregnancy, but not in late pregnancy.


This thesis is mostly about supervised visual recognition problems. Based on a general definition of categories, the contents are divided into two parts: one which models categories and one which is not category based. We are interested in data driven solutions for both kinds of problems.In the category-free part, we study novelty detection in temporal and spatial domains as a category-free recognition problem. Using data driven models, we demonstrate that based on a few reference exemplars, our methods are able to detect novelties in ego-motions of people, and changes in the static environments surrounding them.In the category level part, we study object recognition. We consider both object category classification and localization, and propose scalable data driven approaches for both problems. A mixture of parametric classifiers, initialized with a sophisticated clustering of the training data, is demonstrated to adapt to the data better than various baselines such as the same model initialized with less subtly designed procedures. A nonparametric large margin classifier is introduced and demonstrated to have a multitude of advantages in comparison to its competitors: better training and testing time costs, the ability to make use of indefinite/invariant and deformable similarity measures, and adaptive complexity are the main features of the proposed model.We also propose a rather realistic model of recognition problems, which quantifies the interplay between representations, classifiers, and recognition performances. Based on data-describing measures which are aggregates of pairwise similarities of the training data, our model characterizes and describes the distributions of training exemplars. The measures are shown to capture many aspects of the difficulty of categorization problems and correlate significantly to the observed recognition performances. Utilizing these measures, the model predicts the performance of particular classifiers on distributions similar to the training data. These predictions, when compared to the test performance of the classifiers on the test sets, are reasonably accurate.We discuss various aspects of visual recognition problems: what is the interplay between representations and classification tasks, how can different models better adapt to the training data, etc. We describe and analyze the aforementioned methods that are designed to tackle different visual recognition problems, but share one common characteristic: being data driven.


Synopsis This paper presents the first application of U-series disequilibria dating to the Late Devensian raised marine strata of Scotland. The Errol Clay Formation (ECF) is an extensive deposit of laminated glaciomarine silty-clays found offshore from and within the Firths of eastern Scotland. The stratigraphic significance of these deposits lies in their diachronous deposition following the retreat of the Late Devensian ice sheet, and local glaciotectonization following the readvance of the Younger Dryas. In spite of their importance to an understanding of the deglaciation of Scotland, the paucity and poor preservation of biogenic material have hitherto hampered radiocarbon dating of these sediments. A working clay pit at Gallowflat [NO 211 209], in the inner Firth of Tay, provided access to a 5.3 m section of the ECF. A characteristic feature of the lower ECF is that the basal sub-units are rich in calcareous concretions, believed to have formed rapidly at the sediment water interface during glaciomarine sedimentation. Eight individual concretions were hand-picked from the 1.4 m concretion rich sub-unit, 0.5 m above the Devensian till, yielding a U-Th age of 14.2 ±0.9 ka (2σ) using the total-dissolution isochron method. This date accords with the few 14C dates presently available and offers a new approach to establishing the dynamics of the ECF deglaciation record.


This article is a summary of the respective opinions of Gaetan Pirou, economist and of Georges Ripert, jurist, on Law and Political Economy, and the author's personal position on the subject. Is Political Economy a human discipline, a science, a doctrine? Does there not exist between the two, relationships and contacts that would be useful and perhaps even necessary to the two kinds of specialists to understand? The author points out certain interesting distinctions to be noted between economic fact and juridical fact, scientific law and positive law, moral science and experimental science. He concludes in emphasizing that the law, economics and other social disciplines complete one another to advantage with all the consequences arising from this.


In the context of multiple hypothesis testing, the proportion π0 of true null hypotheses in the pool of hypotheses to test often plays a crucial role, although it is generally unknown a priori. A testing procedure using an implicit or explicit estimate of this quantity in order to improve its efficency is called adaptive. In this paper, we focus on the issue of false discovery rate (FDR) control and we present new adaptive multiple testing procedures with control of the FDR. In a first part, assuming independence of the p-values, we present two new procedures and give a unified review of other existing adaptive procedures that have provably controlled FDR. We report extensive simulation results comparing these procedures and testing their robustness when the independence assumption is violated. The new proposed procedures appear competitive with existing ones. The overall best, though, is reported to be Storey's estimator, albeit for a specific parameter setting that does not appear to have been considered before. In a second part, we propose adaptive versions of step-up procedures that have provably controlled FDR under positive dependence and unspecified dependence of the p-values, respectively. In the latter case, while simulations only show an improvement over non-adaptive procedures in limited situations, these are to our knowledge among the first theoretically founded adaptive multiple testing procedures that control the FDR when the p-values are not independent.


Fundamental limitations on achromatic holographic systems are examined by using Gaussian-bracket expressions for the first order and chromatic properties of a general holographic system. It is shown that there is one and only one holographic triplet that is corrected for both primary-color errors and secondary axial color. Secondary color is shown to be fundamentally uncorrectible in a holographic triplet. Also, a rigorous proof is given that any achromatic image of a real object that is formed by an all-holographic imaging system must be virtual, regardless of the number of holographic elements in the system.


Qinghai Hoh Xil, located in the northeastern extremity of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, is the largest and highest plateau in the world. This extensive area of alpine mountains and steppe systems is situated more than 4,500 m above sea level, where sub-zero average temperatures prevail all year-round. The site's geographical and climatic conditions have nurtured a unique biodiversity. More than one third of the plant species, and all the herbivorous mammals are endemic to the plateau. The property secures the complete migratory route of the Tibetan antelope, one of the endangered large mammals that are endemic to the plateau. © UNESCO


Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is an active process of self destruction that requires the activation of a genetic programme that may lead to changes in cell morphology, DNA fragmentation, and protein cross linking.1 Apoptosis can be triggered in several ways and involves many cellular functions.2 The mechanism provides protection from the possible consequences of uncontrolled cell proliferation, which could lead to neoplasia. Cell death is a factor in the pathogenesis of several diseases, including autoimmune disorders, cancer, AIDS, and neurodegenerative diseases. Regulation of apoptosis in cells undergoing proliferation may be the key to reversing the natural progression of these disorders.3 Apoptosis involves the sequential activation of a series of caspases, which are proteolytic enzymes that degrade a number of death substrates. Caspase is activated by two pathways—the mitochondrial pathway and the death receptor pathway—and thereby may trigger nuclear enzymes to degrade chromosomal DNA and alter mitochondrial function. Specific pathways and non-specific signals (such as cytotoxic drugs and radiation) may activate caspase. The most common of these pathways involves death receptors that have structures belonging to the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) receptor superfamily of proteins. Interaction of tumour necrosis factor with this receptor can induce cell death by the activation of various kinase enzymes that act as secondary messengers within the cell.4 Another member of this family, Fas antigen, and its ligand (FasL), are molecules used by immune effector cells to kill targets.5

#### Summary points

Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) inhibits Fas expression

Antibodies to TSH receptors inhibit Fas mediated apoptosis

Soluble Fas increases in untreated Graves' disease

Interleukin 1β and TNF-α induce the production of soluble Fas

Fas, DR4, and DR5 are expressed in thyroid carcinoma cell lines

Recombinant TRAIL (TNF related, apoptosis induced ligand) induced apoptosis occurs in 10 thyroid carcinoma cell lines

FasL is strongly …


Vibrational energy harvesters (VEHs) are devices which convert ambient vibrational energy into electrical power, offering an alternative to batteries for powering wireless sensors. Detailed experimental characterisation of a 2-degree-of-freedom (2-Dof) VEH is presented in Part A of this paper, while a theoretical analysis is completed in Part B. This design employs velocity amplification to enhance the power harvested from ambient vibrations, while also seeking to increase the bandwidth over which power can be harvested. Velocity amplification is achieved through sequential collisions between free-moving masses. Electromagnetic induction was chosen as the transduction mechanism as it can be readily implemented in a velocity amplified system, although other transduction mechanisms can also be used.The VEH prototype was tested experimentally under both sinusoidal excitation and exponentially correlated Gaussian noise, with different VEH geometries. The maximum power generated under a sinusoidal excitation of arms = 0.6 g was 12.95 mW for a resistive load of 13.5 Ω at 12 Hz, while the maximum power under exponentially correlated Gaussian noise with σ = 0.8 grms, autocorrelation time τ = 0.01s and resistive load 13.5 Ω was 5.3 mW. Maximum bandwidths of 54% and 66%, relative to the central frequency, were achieved under sinusoidal and noise excitation, respectively. The device shows resonant peaks at approximately 15 and 30 Hz, while significant power is also generated in the 17–20 Hz range due to non-linear effects. The VEH component dynamics were analysed using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV), while Lab VIEW was used to control the electromagnetic shaker, read the LDV signal and record the VEH output voltage. The aim of this investigation is to achieve a more complete understanding of the dynamics of velocity-amplified systems to aid the optimization of velocity amplified VEH designs.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


The paper proposes an efficient signal processing system mainly consisting of an adaptation-based nonlinear echo cancellation (NLEC) layer and a joint perceptual subband residual echo suppression (SBRES) layer and noise reduction (SBNR) layer. The theoretical analyses, subjective and objective test results show that the proposed signal processing system can offer a significant improvement for automatic speech recognition and full-duplex voice communication performance in emerging artificial intelligence speakers. The proposed SBRES and NLEC layers can reduce various types of echoes including linear, nonlinear, and time-variant echo. Correspondingly, the proposed SBNR layer can effectively reduce not only noises but also echoes that have the similar statistical characteristics to noises. Non-uniform auditory perceptual critical bands are employed so as to better reflect cochlea mechanisms. The SBRES and SBNR layers are jointly accomplished in frequency domain, which results in a significant reduction of MIPS consumption from real time implementation point of view.


Over the past century, American society has witnessed great advances in medical technologies. While innovations such as organ transplants, sonograms, and artificial prostheses are generally seen in a positive light, there are sometimes unforeseen ethical and moral issues that accompany their implementation. Within the medical system of the U.S. military these issues are compounded in unique ways. New surgical methods are allowing soldiers to survive and eventually recover from even the worst injuries, leading to an unprecedented number of U.S. combat veterans returning home from deployment missing one or more limbs. Through the application of advanced prosthetic systems, these veterans are not only able to recover but to return to or even exceed full physical functionality. The research presented in this paper explores the impact that medical technologies have on service members, including how "useful bodies" are rebuilt through the application of medical technologies, and how the wounded veterans experience and perceive this reformation of identity. This phenomenological study of three veterans dealing with limb loss explores how the magnified drive for usefulness within the U.S. military compounds with new medical technologies to recreate useful bodies and rebuild personal identity.


An increasingly common use case for machine learning models is augmenting the abilities of human decision makers. For classification tasks where neither the human or model are perfectly accurate, a key step in obtaining high performance is combining their individual predictions in a manner that leverages their relative strengths. In this work, we develop a set of algorithms that combine the probabilistic output of a model with the class-level output of a human. We show theoretically that the accuracy of our combination model is driven not only by the individual human and model accuracies, but also by the model's confidence. Empirical results on image classification with CIFAR-10 and a subset of ImageNet demonstrate that such human-model combinations consistently have higher accuracies than the model or human alone, and that the parameters of the combination method can be estimated effectively with as few as ten labeled datapoints.


This qualitative investigation studies the impact of belonging to a high school Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA or Alliance) on the lives of seven students. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted over a two-year time period. The author used voices of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and straight students to relate the experiences unique to each participant. In addition, data from media and spoken transcripts, video tapes of news reports, grade records, and the GSA advisor's personal observations were analyzed and organized into a framework of seven categories of impact. The results support previous research that Alliances positively impact academic performance, school/social/and family relationships, comfort level with sexual orientation, development of strategies to handle assumptions of heterosexuality, sense of physical safety, increased perceived ability to contribute to society, and an enhanced sense of belonging to school community. Implications for educators and questions for further research are included.


Making and breaking neuronal synapses As the brain develops, early synapse formation is exuberant and haphazard. But as development progresses, connections are refined into functional networks. In that process, many synapses get eliminated. Uesaka et al. now show that molecules already known for axon guidance are functional later on when they regulate the synaptic pruning needed to refine the circuits connected during axon guidance. Science, this issue p. 1020 Elimination of redundant synapses and formation of functional circuits in developing brain involves axon guidance molecules. Neural circuits are shaped by elimination of early-formed redundant synapses during postnatal development. Retrograde signaling from postsynaptic cells regulates synapse elimination. In this work, we identified semaphorins, a family of versatile cell recognition molecules, as retrograde signals for elimination of redundant climbing fiber to Purkinje cell synapses in developing mouse cerebellum. Knockdown of Sema3A, a secreted semaphorin, in Purkinje cells or its receptor in climbing fibers accelerated synapse elimination during postnatal day 8 (P8) to P18. Conversely, knockdown of Sema7A, a membrane-anchored semaphorin, in Purkinje cells or either of its two receptors in climbing fibers impaired synapse elimination after P15. The effect of Sema7A involves signaling by metabotropic glutamate receptor 1, a canonical pathway for climbing fiber synapse elimination. These findings define how semaphorins retrogradely regulate multiple processes of synapse elimination.


Cross-linguistic studies allow for analyses that would be impossible in a single language. To better understand the factors that underlie sentence production, we investigated production choices in main and relative clause production tasks in three languages: English, Japanese and Korean. The effects of both non-linguistic attributes (such as conceptual animacy) and language specific properties (such as word order) were investigated. Japanese and Korean are structurally similar to each other but different from English, which allowed for an investigation of the production consequences of non-linguistic attributes in different typological or word order contexts (when Japanese and Korean speakers make similar production choices that are unlike those of English speakers), as well as production choices that differ despite typological similarity (when Japanese and Korean speakers make different choices). Speakers of all three languages produced more passive utterances when describing animate entities, but the overall rate of passives varied by task and language. Further, the sets of items that were most likely to elicit passives varied by language, with Japanese and Korean speakers more likely to produce passives when patients were adversely affected by the depicted event. These results suggest a number of factors that contribute to language production choices across three languages, and how general cognitive constraints on sentence production may interact with the structure of a specific language.


UTILITIZING AND MOVING BEYOND A CONSTRUCTIONIST APPROACH TO TRACE THE EMERGENCE OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC IDENTITIES AMONG PRE-MEXICANS, MEXICANS AND AMERICANS OF MEXICAN DESCENT Owen Williamson Department of Sociology Master of Science Cornell and Hartmann (2007) developed a constructionist framework that can describe the development of racial and ethnic identities. Yet this framework has greater utility than its authors have intended as it also provides the best rubric to date for comprehending the transitions between collective identity group types. This study engages in a thorough investigation of the development of racial and ethnic identities within the context of those that precede it via an ethnohistorical analysis. It also demonstrates that this framework is capable of describing pre-modern religious and national identity types in addition to racial and ethnic identity types. This permits it to demonstrate that this framework can also be utilized in the analysis of identities and identity types in the pre-modern era, in addition to the modern examples that Cornell and Hartmann have used. To this end Weber's concept of the ideal type is used to support the examination of identity transitions among pre-Mexicans, Mexicans and Americans of Mexican descent in the ethnohistorical analysis. This methodological approach is in accordance with Romano's (1968) indication that the most effective way of understanding the way that Mexican persons define themselves is through a historical and not a sociological investigation. This investigation encapsulates the transition from pre-modern religious identities in the Iberian Peninsula, to the appearance of racial and national identities in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the Mexican Republic. It examines a second racialization of those that lived within the northern Mexican provinces as Mexicans in the newly conquered Southwestern United States come into contact with the dominant white majority of the United States. The ethnohistorical analysis concludes with a description of the emergence of four distinct identity types among Americans of Mexican descent, each a means to combat the normative discrimination they faced.


Abstract. A multilinear parametric regression analysis was performed to assess the seasonal and interannual variations of stratospheric ozone profiles from the GROMOS (GROund-based Millimeter-wave Ozone Spectrometer) microwave radiometer at Bern, Switzerland (46.95° N, 7.44° E; 577 m). GROMOS takes part in the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). The study covers the stratosphere from 50 to 0.5 hPa (from 21 to 53 km) and extends over the period from January 1997 to January 2015. The natural variability was fitted during the regression analysis through the annual and semi-annual oscillations (AO, SAO), the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the solar activity cycle. Seasonal ozone variations mainly appear as an annual cycle in the middle and upper stratosphere and a semi-annual cycle in the upper stratosphere. Regarding the interannual variations, they are primarily present in the lower and middle stratosphere. In the lower and middle stratosphere, ozone variations are controlled predominantly by transport processes, due to the long lifetime of ozone, whereas in the upper stratosphere its lifetime is relatively short and ozone is controlled mainly by photochemistry. The present study shows agreement in the observed naturally induced ozone signatures with other studies. Further, we present an overview of the possible causes of the effects observed in stratospheric ozone due to natural oscillations at a northern midlatitude station. For instance regarding the SAO, we find that polar winter stratopause warmings contribute to the strength of this oscillation since these temperature enhancements lead to a reduction in upper stratospheric ozone. We have detected a strong peak amplitude of about 5 % for the solar cycle in lower stratospheric ozone for our 1.5 cycles of solar activity. Though the 11-year ozone oscillation above Bern is in phase with the solar cycle, we suppose that the strong amplitude is partly due to meteorological disturbances and associated ozone anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere. Further, our observational study gave the result that ozone above Bern is anti-correlated with the ENSO phenomenon in the lower stratosphere and correlated in the middle stratosphere.


AIM
Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN or h-channel) channels mediate hyperpolarization-activating currents in the hippocampus and neocortex. The aim of this study is to present prenatal h-channel gene expressions (HCN1 and HCN2; HCN1-Entrez-Gene ID: 84390; HCN2- Entrez Gene ID: 114244) in dysplastic hippocampal pyramidal neurons induced by in utero irradiation in rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Time-pregnant Wistar albino rats were irradiated and the dysplastic hippocampus in their 2 month-old litters was studied. Gene expression was studied by RNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction methods.

RESULTS
None of the rats showed seizure activity. mRNA levels of HCN1 and HCN2 genes were decreased especially in the CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons in the hippocampi of experimental rats; however, the differences were not significant compared to controls. In CA2, mRNA levels of both genes were increased and this rise did not reach significant level. The CA4 sub-region showed a different pattern of expression: HCN1 increased but HCN2 decreased insignificantly compared to controls.

CONCLUSION
Our results demonstrated that dysplastic neurons showed decreased levels of mRNA expression of HCN1 and HCN2 genes, in particularly CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons. The rationale for how these changes contribute to epileptogenesis in dysplastic tissues still requires further studies.


Carbon geological storage (CGS) projects are designed to securely store carbon dioxide (CO2) for thousands of years. Because of this, there are several studies to evaluate the potential risks of long–term storage of CO2 in geological formations. This paper presents a new method for the qualitative risk assessment of CGS: the risk assessment of stored CO2 (RA–CO2) method. It consists of the systematic and structured identification of CO2 release risk scenarios arising from: seal, well, and fault and fracture zones. The uncertainties associated to each mapped risk scenario and the risks are qualitatively evaluated using the RA–CO2 method. The characteristics of the RA–CO2 method enable a comprehensive understanding of the underground evolution and future behaviour of the CO2 in various time scales and their influence on safety. For future studies, the validation of the proposed RA–CO2 method using a real case study is recommended.


We report a unique case of the total loss of the intermediate cuneiform by posttraumatic avascular necrosis resulting from a left foot open fracture and dislocation of the navicular bone and medial and intermediate cuneiforms at the Chopart and Lisfranc joints in a 64-year-old woman. The injury was managed with open reduction and internal fixation with Kirschner wires and cannulated screws. During postoperative follow-up, we observed avascular necrosis of the intermediate cuneiform and the total loss of the bone. An extensive English literature search revealed only one case report published on this topic. Thus, we provide this case study to help guide clinical decision making in the future.


This paper aims to measure the impact of broadband speed on the household income based on set of survey data conducted by Ericsson Consumer Lab in eight OECD and three BRIC countries in 2010 with the sample of study comprises a total of 20.000 respondents. The analysis is crucial as the broadband speed affects not only the end-users (increasing growth capacity, providing variety of services, and linking the users to other socio-economic variables, namely health and education) but also the supply-side, as the availability of speed also increases productivity and efficiency of firms. Moreover, the study is novel as most previous studies on broadband emphasize the penetration rate as the variable of interest.This study adopts the framework of the return to schooling models (as Mincer, 1974 and Card, 2001). In this discourse, variety of estimations has been employed to capture the difference of schooling quality, and gap between male–female. However, the impact is difficult to be measured as, for instance, people are different in their tacit ability (skills and motivation). This study introduces "additional skills and experiences" by presenting variables related to the access and use of ICT in addition to the standard return to schooling model where income is affected by education, skills (managerial competencies), and variety of socio-economic variables (e.g., age, gender, type of occupation, marital status, etc.). The access and use are believed to play important roles in increasing knowledge and skills as shown in many previous studies (James, 2011; van Deursen & van Dijk, 2011; Hargittai, 2010). In addition, the idea behind this approach is to eliminate the problem of endogeneity of speed variable and reverse causality that speeds subscribed by the users are in fact influenced by their income levels. To operationalize this approach, a treatment effect model is employed using the Propensity Score Matching (PSM). The basic idea behind the method is to estimate the counterfactual outcome of the income for people who have connected to the broadband would have achieved had they not connected to the device. Two aspects are investigated –the impact of the access to broadband on income and the impact of varying broadband speeds on income. On the access identification, the samples are one with the broadband access at a particular speed level against the other without the broadband access. On the speed upgrades, a comparison is conducted at various speed levels, e.g., users 2 Mbps, with users at 0.5 Mbps. On access to broadband, the results in OECD countries show that gaining access to 0.5 Mbps would not be expected to yield an increased income as the threshold is somewhere between 2 Mbps-4 Mbps. For BRIC countries, on the contrary, the impact is already visible at 0.5 Mbps. Around 800 USD additional annual household income is expected to be obtained by introducing 0.5 Mbps broadband connection which is equivalent to 70 USD per month per household. On speed upgrades, the speed level giving the highest benefit to income in BRIC and OECD are the same (4 to 8 Mbps), even though higher speed levels (8 to 24 Mbps) contributes more in OECD than in BRIC. Moving from 4-8 Mbps, the incremental income generated in OECD country is around 4% (with average income 37.000 USD) and around 1.5 % in BRIC countries (with the average income 10.000 and 12.000 USD for China and Brazil respectively). However, the BRIC countries can obtain higher impact by upgrading the speed only from 0.5 to 4 Mbps. At this scale, the countries will gain an additional household income of 2.2% for China and 4.7% for Brazil. Note that the survey was carried out in 2010 where the sample average speed level in OECD countries is only around 4-5 Mbps and 2 Mbps in BRIC countries.


Learners are a core component of educational activities. The era of competition among educational institutions so tight as it is today, the school must strive in earnest to get learners. There is even a chairman of the foundation of education that says that seek learners is much more difficult than looking for a new teacher. Mananjemen student not only shaped data recording learners, but covers broader aspects yange operationally to assist the efforts of growth and development of learners through the process of education in schools. As a special service of learners includes guidance and counseling services, library services, a cafeteria service / kafetarian, health services, transformation services schools, service hostel, and services extracurricular, laboratory services, and security. A special service was held in the school with a view to facilitate the implementation of teaching in order to accomplish the goals of education in schools. Special service management is a process of providing services to the needs of learners to support learning activities for educational purposes can be achieved effectively and efficiently.


The US has repeatedly criticized the lack of ?meaningful participation? of developing countries in the Kyoto Protocol. I discuss the course of negotiations on developing country participation between the conferences at Kyoto in 1997 and Marrakech in 2001. The reluctance of developing countries to enter into discussions on quantitative emissions targets can be explained by the principle of ?common, but differentiated responsibilities? enshrined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the fact that both per capita cumulative emissions and per capita income are still much lower in developing countries than in the industrialized world. Moreover, the Clean Development Mechanism that generates emissions credits for projects in developing countries clearly has led to a participation of developing countries in greenhouse gas mitigation. However, one major problem for the negotiation strategy of developing countries has been the internal diversity ranging from OPEC countries that actively fight climate policy to the small island states extremely vulnerable to sea level rise. Especially the rapidly industrializing countries China, India, Brazil and Indonesia played a key role, stressing their voluntary activities to reduce energy intensity and subsidies for fossil fuels. Least developed countries were unable to muster a common voice. Thus, it was not possible to leverage resources for adaptation to climate change impacts apart from some voluntary pledges.


Abstract: The question of whether shock therapy or gradualism is the best choice for an economy engaged in trade policy reform is hotly debated. A central proposition in the literature is the observation by Mussa (1978) that, absent other distortions, the optimal reform policy is always shock therapy. The starting point of this paper is the simple observation that, in a context in which lump sum redistribution is unavailable, the fact that shock therapy is the best policy in terms of aggregate efficiency is insufficient to establish its optimality; rather, its income distributional effects will be crucial in determining its political feasibility and hence 'political optimality'. I model this in a simple way by analyzing a two-sector economy with adjustment costs, augmented by a two-tiered political economy of agenda-setting policymaker and legislature representing constituency interests. I show that the feasibility of shock therapy depends on the magnitude of the adjustment costs faced in retraining workers displaced by the reform. Whenever adjustment costs are smaller than a critical amount, shock therapy is politically feasible (as well as being optimal in terms of aggregate efficiency) and will therefore be proposed by the agenda-setter and ratified by the legislature. However, when adjustment costs are larger than this critical amount, shock therapy is not politically feasible. In this case, there always exists a gradualist reform agenda which is politically feasible. The possibility of time-inconsistency of the legislature's adoption of a gradualist agenda turns out to strengthen the case for gradualism, since if the relevant time-consistency constraint is binding, the reform program will need to be even more gradual than in the perfect precommitment case. Gradualism is also generally a more efficacious solution to the political feasibility problem than other alternatives such as pre-announced shock therapy or subsidizing worker retraining. The former is proneto serious time-inconsistency problems, whereas the latter involves higher efficiency losses in numerical simulation.;


Title of dissertation: Mitochondrial outer membrane permeability to metabolites influences the onset of apoptosis Wenzhi Tan, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation directed by: Professor Marco Colombini, Department of Biology Apoptosis is a process in multicellular organisms to signal and induce death of specific cells, while avoiding inflammatory reactions. It is an important way to recycle the materials of unwanted cells and maintain cell balance. The execution phase of apoptosis can be initiated by proteins released from mitochondria (such as cytochrome c). Results reported here are consistent with this release being influenced by changes in the mitochondrial outer membrane permeability to metabolites. Phosphorothioate oligonucleotides induce cell death and block VDAC, a protein in the mitochondrial outer membrane that facilitates metabolite flow. These properties seem to be linked in that both require the phosphorothioate modification, both are enhanced by an increase in oligonucleotide length, and both are insensitive to nucleotide sequence. VDAC reconstituted into planar phospholipid membranes is blocked by phosphorothioate oligonucleotides with a 1:1 stoichiometry. They block the pore of the channel through interacting with the inner wall of the pore. The rate of binding occurs at a 100 μs scale but the binding is usually unstable. However, some conformational change stabilizes the complex resulting in long-term complete blockage of VDAC. In mitochondria, this blockage interferes with metabolite flow and inhibits the respiration of mitochondria. It is very specific for VDAC at sub-micromolar concentrations of phosphorothioate oligonucleotide and under these conditions there is minimal effect on enzymatic processes in the mitochondrial inner membrane. The ability of PorB from Neisseria meningitidis to inhibit apoptosis by moving to the mitochondrial outer membrane, was investigated in light of VDAC's role in apoptosis. PorB is unable to alter VDAC's gating properties but does allow ATP to cross membranes. Thus it may restore metabolite flux when VDAC channels close early in apoptosis. Attempts to test this in yeast were not successful. VDAC gating influences transmembrane Ca flux. The closed states favor calcium permeation and the open state limits calcium flux. In mitochondria this gating could influence the rate of Ca-dependent mitochondrial swelling and subsequent cytochrome c release. Thus, the mitochondrial outer membrane permeability regulated by VDAC gating may play an important role in mitochondrial function and control of apoptosis. MITOCHONDRIAL OUTER MEMBRANE PERMEABILITY TO METABOLITES INFLUENCES THE ONSET OF APOPTOSIS


A review of the theories of estuarine mixing which have been proposed indicates that the simplifications usually employed in the mixing theories based on the convective diffusion equation are not applicable to the mixing process in an estuary. The theory of tidal mixing proposed by Preddy forms the basis for the theory of maximum entropy mixing which is developed in terms of the theory of Markov chains. Three conservation laws which any physically reasonable mixing process must satisfy are related to the properties of a Markov chain. The estimate of the appropriate mixing matrix is then based on the maximum entropy principle of statistical mechanics and information theory. A numerical technique is employed for the solution of the resulting simultaneous transcendental equations. A comparison of the equilibrium salinity intrusion data from the Delaware River Model and the theoretical predictions based on the maximum entropy estimate of the mixing process indicate that the theory of maximum entropy mixing is a sound theoretical and practical solution to the problem of characterizing the mxing process in an estuary.


The morphogenesis of the nervous system requires coordinating the specification and differentiation of neural precursor cells, the establishment of neuroepithelial tissue architecture and the execution of specific cellular movements. How these aspects of neural development are linked is incompletely understood. Here we inactivate a major regulator of embryonic neurogenesis - the Delta/Notch pathway - and analyze the effect on zebrafish central nervous system morphogenesis. While some parts of the nervous system can establish neuroepithelial tissue architecture independently of Notch, Notch signaling is essential for spinal cord morphogenesis. In this tissue, Notch signaling is required to repress neuronal differentiation and promote neuroepithelial apico-basal polarity. Concomitant with a loss of their neuroepithelial properties, Notch signaling deficient cells also alter their morphogenetic behavior. In the wild-type zebrafish neural tube, cells divide at the organ midline to contribute one daughter cell to each organ half. Notch deficient animals fail to display this behavior and therefore form a misproportioned spinal cord. Taken together, our findings show that Notch signaling governs not only the cellular composition but also the morphogenetic shaping of the zebrafish spinal cord.


Background: 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is the most common microdeletion syndrome in humans, characterized by cardiovascular defects such as interrupted aortic arch, outflow tract defects, thymus and parathyroid hypo‐ or aplasia, and cleft palate. Heterozygosity of Tbx1, the mouse homolog of the candidate TBX1 gene, results in mild defects dependent on genetic background, whereas complete inactivation results in severe malformations in multiple tissues. Results: The loss of function of two Sprouty genes, which encode feedback antagonists of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling, phenocopy many defects associated with 22q11DS in the mouse. The stepwise reduction of Sprouty gene dosage resulted in different phenotypes emerging at specific steps, suggesting that the threshold up to which a given developmental process can tolerate increased RTK signaling is different. Tbx1 heterozygosity significantly exacerbated the severity of all these defects, which correlated with a substantial increase in RTK signaling. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that TBX1 functions as an essential component of a mechanism that protects the embryo against perturbations in RTK signaling that may lead to developmental defects characteristic of 22q11DS. We propose that genetic factors that enhance RTK signaling ought to be considered as potential genetic modifiers of this syndrome. Developmental Dynamics 241:1310–1324, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


In the face of the current crisis, there is growing demand for regulation, often invoked in terms of a 'return to Bretton Woods'. The Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 was indeed the last explicit attempt to define a rule for international settlements. In fact, post-World War II currency negotiations gave place to a confrontation between two alternative visions of the international monetary system. The two plans set forth by the U.S. and by the U.K. embody two alternative principles: the first aims at producing international liquidity on the basis of a reserve currency (White's plan for an International Stabilization Fund); the second aims at providing a pure means and measure for the multilateral clearing of current accounts in the form of a currency unit (Keynes's plan for an International Clearing Union). The former has undoubtedly prevailed. However, it is questionable whether it is the most appropriate way to manage global imbalances. Indeed, the principle eventually embodied in the Bretton Woods system, and persisting even after its demise, tends to identify money with a reserve asset, making possible, and even necessary, the accumulation of global imbalances, despite original intentions to reabsorb them. On the contrary, the principle that inspired the alternative plan was intended to deprive money of the character of a reserve asset, thus making it the rule for international exchanges, rather than an object of regulation among others. This paper outlines the two principles both in historical perspective and in the perspective of future reforms, particularly in relation to the recent proposal by the governor of the People's Bank of China to go back to the principles of the Keynes plan.


In the early years of the twenty-first century, Scottish Further Education Colleges experienced a decline in student intake as a result of demographic changes and competition within the tertiary education sector. As a result, one such college actively sought new students from outside its core student base, specifically targeting both international students and migrant workers, most of whom speak English as a second language. Subsequently, these students have often been perceived by the academic staff as not achieving their full academic potential because of issues around English language competence. This thesis takes a case study approach, drawing on sociocultural theory, to examine the experiences of five such students and their lecturers in the college, in order to explore factors contributing to this perceived lack of success. The research used semi-structured interviews, as well as learning centre observations, college marketing and policy documentation and an analysis of statistical data on student academic attainment. The interviews gave five students an opportunity to talk about their experiences of the college as well as allowing eight staff members to relate their perceptions of the students. Staff were also asked about the challenges they faced as professionals in meeting the required learning outcomes of the curriculum, while balancing the needs of students with those of the college. Both thematic and discourse analysis were applied to the data to explore structural themes suggested by the research questions around language competence, language support, educational expectations and both staff/student and student/student relationships. This analysis also exposed specific emergent themes for each group: for the students, conflicting identities as they try to balance the opportunity costs of their investment in their education against other aspects of their life: and, for the lecturers, perceptions of the 'ideal student' and their own professional identity.


Taking a resource-based view of the business, this study attempts to identify the non-technology resources driving the successful use of the Internet for marketing tourism services. If these complementary resources can be identified, they can be used to leverage the use of the Internet for marketing, which in turn will contribute to a sustainable competitive advantage for small tourism businesses. Hypotheses are developed and then tested by making use of a large-scale empirical study. The results indicate that a network of effective alliances, the existence of a product champion in the business, and appreciation by the owner-manager of the broader business implications surrounding the implementation of the Internet for marketing, are important to the successful use of the Internet for the marketing of tourism services. The study makes a contribution to the literature by identifying and measuring the drivers of Internet marketing success, as well as by establishing how resource-based theory provides a valuable approach to consideration of how these factors can be managed.


The main substantive finding of the recent structural vector autoregression literature with a differenced specification of hours (DSVAR) is that technology shocks lead to a fall in hours. Researchers have used these results to argue that business cycle models in which technology shocks lead to a rise in hours should be discarded. We evaluate the DSVAR approach by asking, is the specification derived from this approach misspecified when the data are generated by the very model the literature is trying to discard? We find that it is misspecified. Moreover, this misspecification is so great that it leads to mistaken inferences that are quantitatively large. We show that the other popular specification that uses the level of hours (LSVAR) is also misspecified. We argue that alternative state space approaches, including the business cycle accounting approach, are more fruitful techniques for guiding the development of business cycle theory.> > Replaced by Staff Report No. 364


Telkom was established in 1991 when the then Department of Post and Telecommunications was transformed into two companies: Telkom SA and the SA Post Office. Telkom inherited 67,667 employees. When the affirmative action policy was implemented on October'1, 1993, 46% of employees were did you mean that the 46% were white check this again (African 30%, Coloured 13% and Indians 3%). (this gives you a total of 92% The majority of African personnel were employed in unskilled or semi-skilled work functions, with less than 0.25% of first level management positions whilst none were employed within the ranks oftop management. Women comprised 19% of the total staff complement. In 1997 the Government sold 30% of Telkom's equity to Thintana, a consortium made up of SBC Communications and Telkom Malaysia. An important element of the agreement was a skills transfer and employee development programme. By this time management had realised the need for large-scale organisational changes to create a competitive, customer-focused and performance-driven employee culture. This went hand in hand with the streamlining of service benefits and conditions to achieve greater efficiency and reduce employee expenses. It has driven the people management focus over the last few years and, going forward, will continue to be a focus point. Due to ongoing organisational renewal over the past few years, voluntary early retirement packages offered to employees aged 50 years and older forced change in management structures at Telkom, the organisation's length of service profile is declining.


Many of the most commonly used generation planning models have been formulated in a way that neglects the chronological sequence of demand and the mixed-integer nature of generating units. The generator schedules assumed by these models are inaccurate and become increasingly divorced from real schedules with increasing variability. This paper seeks to characterize and quantify the limitations of these models over a broad set of input parameters. For an illustrative set of test systems, wind capacities and generator types, annual system costs are determined for all combinations of generating units using a unit-commitment model, which captures the chronological behavior of units and a dispatch model which does not. It is seen that the relative performance of the dispatch model is highly system specific but generally degrades with increasing variability. The difference in cost estimates between the models is decomposed into start costs, starts avoidance and average cost estimation error. The impact on least-cost portfolios is shown and finally sensitivities are performed with the addition of hydro and nuclear power to assess their impact.


Objective: To observe the tocolytic efficacy of Glyceryl trinitrate transdermal patches in preterm labour between 28 – 36 weeks of pregnancy.Study duration: Study duration was 6 months January 2014 to June 2014.Methodology: This descriptive cases series study was conducted at the obstetrics & Gynaecology Department at Peoples Medical University of Medical and Health Sciences for women Nawabshah. A 10 mg of transdermal GTN patch was applied on the anterior abdominal wall and replaced by the second patch of the same dose after 24 hours(if contraction does not cease the second patch can be repeated after 12 hours if required). The effectiveness of GTN patch was considered successful if the cessation of uterine contraction occurred within 24 hours of the application of GTN patch & persisted for 48 hrs to achieve the effect of steroids. All the data was entered in the proforma.Results: Total 186 pregnant women with preterm labour were selected.  The average age of the women was 30.46±5.24 years. According to the parity of the women, 75.8% women were multipara. Average gestational age was 33.15±2.28 weeks. Tocolytic efficacy of Glyceryl trinitrate transdermal patch in preterm labour was 88.71%. No significant difference was observed in the efficacy of Glyceryl trinitrate according to age groups, parity, gestational age, number of uterine contraction and cervical dilatation.Conclusion: There is no better incubator than a mother's womb. The Glyceryl trinitrate patch appears to be a safe, non-invasive method of suppressing uterine contractions in pre-term labour.


Despite the large efforts made during the development phase to produce fault free system, most of the software implementations still require the testing of entire system. The main problem in the software testing is the automation that could verify the system without manual intervention. Recent work in software testing is related to the automated fault injection by using fault models from repository. This requires a lot of efforts, which adds to the complexity of the system. To solve this issue, this thesis suggests DefectoFix framework. DefectoFix is an interactive defect fix logging tools that contains five components namely Version Control Sysem (VCS), source code files, differencing algorithm, Defect Fix Model (DFM) creation and additional information (project name, class name, file name, revision number, diff model). The proposed differencing algorithm extracts detailed information by detecting differences in source code files. This algorithm performs comparison at sub-tree levels of source code files. The extracted differences with additional information are stored as DFM in repository. DFM(s) can later be used for the automated fault injection process. The validation of DefectoFix framework is performed by a tool developed using Ruby programming language. Our case study confirms that the proposed framework generates a correct DFM and is useful in automated fault injection and software validation activities.


Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are emerging contaminants that have been found ubiquitously in wastewater and surface waters around the world. A major source of these compounds is incomplete metabolism in humans and subsequent excretion in human waste, resulting in discharge into surface waters by wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. One pharmaceutical found in particularly high abundance in recent WWTP effluent and surface water studies is metformin, one of the world's most widely prescribed antidiabetic drugs. Interactions between insulin signaling and steroidogenesis suggest potential endocrine‐disrupting effects of metformin found in the aquatic environment. Adult fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were chronically exposed to metformin for 4 wk, at 40 µg/L, a level similar to the average found in WWTP effluent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Genetic endpoints related to metabolism and endocrine function as well as reproduction‐related endpoints were examined. Metformin treatment induced significant up‐regulation of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) encoding the egg‐protein vitellogenin in male fish, an indication of endocrine disruption. The present study, the first to study the effects of environmentally relevant metformin exposure in fathead minnows, demonstrates the need for further study of the endocrine‐disrupting effects of metformin in aquatic organisms. Environ Toxicol Chem 2014;9999:1–6. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.


This essay is an attempt to outline the ideology of nationalism, its
types and impact on the well-being of societies from the viewpoints of two
Muslim intellectuals, Said Nursi and Musa Jārullāh. Based on the predictions
of these two scholars and the current political developments, it identifies the
ideas of negative nationalism and racism to be one of the main reasons behind
moral corruption, social, political and economic injustice prevalent in the
modern world; and it offers some solutions to bring compassion, security, peace
and harmony to humankind. The essay suggests that the universal principles
of peace, fairness and virtue derived from the revealed religions can produce
true civilisations, and offer true happiness and harmony to all members of the
society regardless of their ethnic or ideological backgrounds. It also suggests
that modern methods of studying political and social developments in the
Muslim world should be urgently revised.


The Delaware General Assembly has recently adopted an amendment to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) which provides that where shareholders have adopted a majority voting bylaw for corporate elections over the traditional plurality scheme, a corporation may not subsequently amend its bylaws to return to plurality voting without shareholder approval. This article compares this provision to other approaches and attempts to explain the reasons underlying its adoption. The article also briefly summarizes the evolving shareholder empowerment debate and analyzes the majority voting provision in the context of that discussion. This article also describes some unique and unanticipated interactions between majority voting bylaws and various other working parts of corporation and securities laws affecting the shareholder franchise, a carefully protected right in Delaware jurisprudence. The most prevalent corporate strategies responding to this movement are explored and the difficulties of implementing majority voting are described. Finally, voting schemes from the political sphere are analyzed in an attempt to find analogous lessons for the corporate arena. The article ends with some predictions about future developments which will hinge on the outcome of SEC rules proposals, further DGCL revisions, and the responses of Delaware incorporated entities.This article blends three distinct groups of thought: (i) theoretical corporate law scholarship and financial regulatory theory; (ii) interpretation of Delaware Court of Chancery cases; and (iii) practical analysis on the future of the majority voting movement and the strategic choices facing boards of directors in the aftermath of the Delaware amendments and corollary Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Stock Exchange regulatory initiatives. The result is a developed framework for how majority voting could serve to alter significantly the balance of power between shareholders and board members, with the magnitude of that effect contingent on the result of pending governance changes at forums, board responses, and the continuing evolution of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The presence of activist shareholders will be an especially important phenomenon affecting this analysis. The article also briefly explores one alternative to majority voting, the runoff election proposal, to allow that concept to enter into the debate. As a secondary thesis to the ideas summarized above, this article will also respond to Martin Lipton's latest article, The Many Myths of Lucian Bebchuk, which summarizes Lipton's views as the leading voice against the shareholder empowerment movement. This article will argue that, though there are many valid criticisms of the shareholder empowerment movement, Lipton's latest invective diatribe is bereft of them.


Activation of muscle beta(2)-adrenergic receptors successfully counteracted sarcolemma inexcitability in patients suffering from hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HPP), a hereditary disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding the skeletal muscle sodium channel. Looking for potential modulation of these channels by beta(2)-adrenergic pathway using patch-clamp technique, we found that clenbuterol blocked sodium currents (I(Na)) in rat skeletal muscle fibers and in tsA201 cells transfected with the human channel isoform, whereas salbutamol did not. The effects of clenbuterol were independent of beta-adrenoceptor stimulation. Instead, clenbuterol structure and physicochemical characteristics as well as I(Na) blocking properties resembled those of local anesthetics, suggesting direct binding to the channels. Similar experiments with the chemically similar beta-antagonists propranolol and nadolol, suggested the presence of two hydroxyl groups on the aromatic moiety of the drugs as a molecular requisite for impeding sodium channel block. Importantly, clenbuterol use-dependently inhibited action potential firing in rat skeletal muscle fibers, owing to beta-adrenoceptor-independent I(Na) block. From a clinical point of view, our study defines the rationale for the safe use of salbutamol in HPP patients, whereas clenbuterol may be more indicated in patients suffering from myotonic syndromes, a condition characterized by sarcolemmal overexcitability, because use-dependent I(Na) block can inhibit abnormal runs of action potentials.


1. Pollutants as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are of worldwide concern, due to their detrimental effects on the physiology and behaviour of wildlife. One major source of EDCs is sewage treatment works which serve as foraging grounds for many bird species. However, the risks of consuming EDCs to wild birds at these sites have been largely overlooked.
2. We have previously quantified contamination levels of invertebrates fromwithin filter beds of sewage treatment works and the intake rates of these invertebrates by wild European starlings feeding at these sites. Our work to date has shown that environmentally-relevant EDC exposure results in reduced immunocompetence, increased song behaviour and neural development in adult starlings.
3. In the present study, we hypothesized that nestling starlings exposed to similar EDC levels from contaminated prey, from parental feeding at sewage treatment works, would show altered growth and physiology.
4. Our findings show that EDC exposure results in reduced growth and immunocompetence in nestling birds. However, there was no effect on corticosterone or haematocrit levels. As growth rates and immunocompetence are likely to be related to survival rates, we suggest that these exposure levels are likely to adversely affect recruitment into the adult population.
5. Synthesis and applications. These results highlight the potential transfer of EDCs between semiaquatic or aquatic organisms and terrestrial organisms up the food chain at sites of sewage treatment works, broadening the scope of potential routes of exposure. Our findings suggest that birds foraging in these sites are at risk of physiological manipulation from EDCs and reduced body condition as a result. We advocate further work to evaluate the potential for EDCs from sewage treatment works to bioaccumulate and modulate the condition of wild organisms feeding on
contaminated prey. Our results suggest that changes in management practices of sewage treatment works are required. We support measures to reduce EDC levels in sewage treatment works and that these sites should be designed to exclude or deter wildlife from foraging on contaminated prey. The management implications of such policy – oriented steps will ensure the health of wildlife foraging at sewage treatment works.


Reflection seismic data continuation is the computation of data at source and receiver locations that differ from those in the original data, using whatever data are available. We develop a general theory of data continuation in the presence of caustics and illustrate it with three examples: dip moveout (DMO), azimuth moveout (AMO), and offset continuation. This theory does not require knowledge of the reflector positions. We construct the output data set from the input through the composition of three operators: an imaging operator, a modeling operator, and a restriction operator. This results in a single operator that maps directly from the input data to the desired output data. We use the calculus of Fourier integral operators to develop this theory in the presence of caustics. For both DMO and AMO, we compute impulse responses in a constant-velocity model and in a more complicated model in which caustics arise. This analysis reveals errors that can be introduced by assuming, for example, a model with a constant vertical velocity gradient when the true model is laterally heterogeneous. Data continuation uses as input a subset (common offset, common angle) of the available data, which may introduce artifacts in the continued data. One could suppress these artifacts by stacking over a neighborhood of input data (using a small range of offsets or angles, for example). We test data continuation on synthetic data from a model known to generate imaging artifacts. We show that stacking over input scattering angles suppresses artifacts in the continued data.


While the occurrence of wrongful convictions is not contested today, the extent of the problem is debated and unknown. Over the last two decades, international scholars in the area, primarily from the United States and the United Kingdom, have focused efforts on identifying the causes of wrongful conviction and estimating a prevalence rate for the phenomenon through varied means. Less is known about the prevalence and causes of wrongful conviction in Australia. This article reviews the literature on estimating the prevalence of wrongful conviction in international contexts and identifies the challenges of extrapolating numbers from particular populations to determine this estimate. A complete listing of 71 identified and known wrongful convictions in Australia from 1922 to 2015 is provided and discussed in terms of potential causes of and contributing factors to wrongful conviction to serve as a basis for future studies and international comparisons. All causal and contributing factors to wrongful conviction that are established in the international literature are present in Australian cases, though the distributions vary from their international counterparts. Additional issues including erroneous judicial directions and the Indigenous ethnicity of the accused featured highly in the sample as causal or contributing factors of wrongful conviction in Australia.


. As a brief revision, the origin of heavy elements and the role of abundances in extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars are presented. Heavy element abundances in the EMP uranium-rich star CS 31082-001 based mainly on near-UV spectra from STIS/HST are presented. These results should be useful for a better characterisation of the neutron exposure(s) that produced the r-process elements in this star, as well as a guide for improving nuclear data and astrophysical site modelling, given that the new element abundances not available in previous works (Ge, Mo, Lu, Ta, W, Re, Pt, Au, and Bi) make CS 31082-001 the most completely well studied r-II object, with a total of 37 detections of n-capture elements.


The agouti-related protein (AgRP) plays a central role in energy balance by reducing signaling through the hypothalamic melanocortin receptors (McRs) 3 and 4, in turn stimulating feeding and decreasing energy expenditure. Mature AgRP(83-132), produced by endoproteolytic processing, contains a central region that folds as an inhibitor cystine knot (ICK) stabilized by a network of disulfide bonds; this domain alone carries the molecular features for high affinity McR binding and inverse agonism. Outside of the ICK domain are two polypeptide segments, an N-terminal extension and a C-terminal loop, both completely conserved but of unknown function. Here we examine the physiological roles of these non-ICK segments by developing a panel of modified AgRPs that were administered to rats through intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection. Analysis of food consumption demonstrates that basic (positively charged) residues are essential for potent short- and long-term AgRP stimulated feeding. Moreover, we demonstrate an approximate linear relationship between protein charge density and 24 h food intake. Next, we developed artificial AgRP(83-132) analogues with increased positive charge and found that these species were substantially more potent than wild type. A single dose of one protein, designated AgRP-4K, results in enhanced feeding for well over a week and weight gain that is nearly double that of AgRP(83-132). These studies suggest new strategies for the development of potent orexigenic species and may serve as leads for the development of therapeutics for treating wasting conditions such as cachexia.


The Adoption Pathways project was part of a portfolio of projects that has contributed to the broader theme of sustainable intensification research led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and made possible by the contribution of several teams from national and international research groups brought together by funding from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The project was undertaken in the five Eastern and Southern African countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. 1. Gender disaggregated three wave panel data set (2010/11, 2013), building on a legacy dataset collected under a related ACIAR funded project (SIMLESA) is now being developed covering close to 3500 households in each data wave across the five project countries. The 2015/16 data will be available in due course. 2. Several empirical evaluations of the gender gaps in technology adoption, food security and market access have been completed and published. 3. These results have been shared in various policy forums including but not limited to annual project meetings. In order to achieve its full impact in the coming years; we propose that new projects and initiatives based on the work of the Adoption Pathways project be established. These should focus on capacity building for the analysis of panel datasets, continued work on studying intrahousehold input allocation and sharing of agricultural output and scaling up the findings from this project to influence next generation of sustainable agriculture policies.


While the pursuit of hedonism is legitimated by neoliberal governmentality, its disciplining and isolating forces prevent individuals from being fulfilled by their pursuit of pleasure. Concomitantly, this hedonism (pursuing pleasure to avoid pain) causes individuals to withdraw from public political life. In this article we argue that, instead of attempting to pursue pleasure through the experience of material comfort, individuals ought to orient themselves towards membership in substantive political associations. Further, we argue that it is through such membership that one can attain genuine fulfilment, while simultaneously reclaiming agency, both on individual and collective terms. Though individuals must be willing to take on the risk of pain, their membership in substantive political associations provides genuine fulfilment, while also allowing for the construction of new worlds through political action.


This document analyzes differences in the academic achievement of Latin American students based on the socioeconomic status of their families. Using the database from the Second Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (SERCE) conducted in 2006, a significant positive relationship was confirmed between the socioeconomic status of students and SERCE results, both region-wide and for each participating country. If this relationship is broken down into two different levels (within the schools and between the schools), variations in socioeconomic status explain a significant part of the variability in test scores between the schools and, to a lesser degree, the variability within the schools. The result is a high level of socioeconomic segregation between the schools, which, in turn, accentuates the relationship between student socioeconomic status and test results. The poorest students are punished first by their socioeconomic status and then again by studying in schools attended chiefly by children of poor families, thus deepening the inequity in school achievement. Findings suggest several courses of action for public policy, tailored to each country?s profiles of educational equity.


This work presents a scoping model to predict ground-borne railway vibration levels within buildings considering soil-structure interaction (SSI). It can predict the response of arbitrarily complex buildings in a fraction of the time typically required to analyse a complex SSI problem, and thus provides a practical tool to rapidly analyse the vibration response of numerous structures near railway lines. The tool is designed for use in cases where the ground-borne vibration is known, and thus can be used as model input. Therefore in practice, for the case of a new line, the ground motion can be computed numerically, or alternatively, for the case of new buildings to be constructed near an existing line, it can be recorded directly (e.g. using accelerometers) and used as model input. To achieve these large reductions in computational time, the model discretises the ground-borne vibration in the free field into a frequency range corresponding to the modes that characterize the dynamic building response. After the ground-borne response spectra that corresponds with the incident wave field is estimated, structural vibration levels are computed using modal superposition, thus avoiding intensive soil-structure interaction computations. The model is validated using a SSI problem and by comparing results against a more complex finite element-boundary element model. Finally, the new scoping model is then used to analyse structural-borne vibration. The results show that the scoping model provides a powerful tool for use during the early design stages of a railway system when a large number of structures require analysis. c © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EURODYN 2017.


The mixture/interaction of anti-sunward-propagating Alfvénic fluctuations (AFs) and sunward-propagating Alfvénic fluctuations (SAFs) is believed to result in the decrease of the Alfvénicity of solar wind fluctuations with increasing heliocentric distance. However, SAFs are rarely observed at 1 au and solar wind AFs are found to be generally outward. Using the measurements from Voyager 2 and Wind, we perform a statistical survey of SAFs in the heliosphere inside 6 au. We first report two SAF events observed by Voyager 2. One is in the anti-sunward magnetic sector with a strong positive correlation between the fluctuations of magnetic field and solar wind velocity. The other one is in the sunward magnetic sector with a strong negative magnetic field—velocity correlation. Statistically, the percentage of SAFs increases gradually with heliocentric distance, from about 2.7% at 1.0 au to about 8.7% at 5.5 au. These results provide new clues for understanding the generation mechanism of SAFs.


This Article considers the significant state court reform developments in the year following the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., as well as ancillary federal developments, including renewed congressional interest in judicial disqualification. Picking up on the author's view that "paradoxically for a decision overturning a state justice's non-recusal, the majority's approach is a model of cooperative federalism," the Article focuses primarily on the initial developments pertaining to money in the courts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and West Virginia in the short period since the decision. The Article notes that while recusal practices have certainly been one focal point of developments in the states, Caperton has also provided a significant boost to judicial public financing. After considering tangible developments in the three identified states, the Article briefly points to more nascent judicial independence efforts in other states, in which Caperton connections are less direct, but where the case is nonetheless figuring prominently in rejuvenated efforts to modify judicial selection practices. The Article asserts that, while not all of the post-Caperton developments have improved the judicial impartiality landscape, on balance, the decision is already producing meaningful improvements in protecting the courts from the influence of money.


"This is an important book. In the latter nineteenth century, diverse and influential elements in white America combined forces to settle the 'Indian question' through assimilation...The results were the essentially treaty-breaking Dawes Act of 1887, related legislation, and dubious court decisions. Schoolteachers and missionaries were dispatched to the reservations en masse. Eventual 'citizenship' without functional rights was given Native Americans; the Indians lost two-thirds of reservation land as it had existed before the assimilationist campaign...With insight and skill that go well beyond craft, Hoxie has admirably defined issues and motives, placed economic/political/social interaction into cogent perspective, brought numerous Anglo and Indian individuals and organizations to life, and set forth important lessons."-Choice. "This significant study of Indian-white relations during a complex time in national politics deserves close attention."-American Indian Quarterly. "Important and intellectually challenging ...This volume goes far to fill a large gap in the history of United States Indian policy."-Journal of American History. Frederick E.Hoxie is director of the D'Arcy McNickle Center for the History of the American Indian at the Newberry Library. He coedited (with Joan Mark) E. Jane Gay's With the Nez Perces: Alice Fletcher in the Field, 1889-92 (Nebraska 1981).


Abstract Two samples from the enigmatic Ni-oxide body of Bon Accord (Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa) have been investigated with the hydroseparation technique to obtain heavy mineral concentrates. The concentrates contain abundant Pt, Pd, and gold minerals never reported before from the Bon Accord Ni-oxide body. The grains occur as: (1) minute inclusions (<3 μm) in trevorite (ideally NiFe3+O4) and (2) larger (5-70 μm) free aggregates liberated from the host phase. The first group comprises several PGM compounds of Pd-Sb, Pd-Sb-As, Pd-Cu-Sb, Pt-Sb, Pt-As-S, Ru-As-S, Ru-S, along with free grains of Ni-Fe-As. The second consists of sperrylite (PtAs2), members of the sobolevskite-kotulskite series, and electrum. These results are in good agreement with previous analyses of PGE-Au in bulk rock. Paragenetic relationships indicate that the PGM and electrum are of secondary origin, probably generated during low-temperature metamorphism of the Ni-rich mineralization. They have a terrestrial origin and are related with a low-sulfidation regime that usually accompanies hydrothermally driven serpentinization of mafic-ultramafic bodies. The ligands in the newly formed PGM (As, Sb, Bi, Te, and O) probably proceed from the same source of the hydrothermal solutions. In this model, the metals Ni-PGE-Au were original components of the primary mineral assemblage of the Bon Accord precursor, whereas As, Sb, Bi, Te, and O might have been contributed by the metasomatizing fluids, during nearsurface evolution of the ore body. The data on the high-grade heavy mineral concentrates, obtained by hydroseparation, have provided new knowledge about the mineral deportment of Pd, Pt, and Au.


This thesis aims to investigate the influence of five factors (business environment, knowledge of ECT, organisation &capital, e-commerce technology, and customer behaviour (purchasing, information, ecommerce confidence, and e-commerce perceived) towards the adoption of Electronic Commerce Technology (ECT) by Thai small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The scope of the study was restricted to the retailing SMEs located in Bangkok and the surrounding areas. The study also included online customers who were studying at Rangsit University at the time of the survey was conducted. 400 SMEs and 400 online customers were involved in the survey conducted in 2007.

Two sets of questionnaires were developed for gathering data from the samples: one for the SMEs and another one for the customers. 52.25% of the SMEs and 71.25% of the customers have responded to the questionnaires. Twenty hypotheses were tested for predicting influence of the factors to the ECT adoption. Ten hypotheses were developed predicting influence of the behaviour to the adoption. The predictors in SMEs side were size, business years, gender of the SMEs' owners, ECT implementation, website ownership, domain name ownership, and planning to implement ECT. The predictors in the customer side were age, gender, e-commerce or Internet experience of the customers, and planning to do online shopping.

The research findings show that most SMEs' size was less than fifteen employees (53.77%), business years were over two years (54.27%), and gender of the SMEs' owners were male (59.51%); most of the ev commerce customers were young female students (59.3%). The first four factors--business environment, knowledge of ECT, organisation &capital, and e-commerce technology influence the ECT adoption. The discriminant analysis produced 62 equations for proving the influence (D1-D62) The fifth factor, customer behaviour, influences the ECT adoption by the SMEs. The discriminant analysis produced 33 equations for proving the influence (D63 – D95).

More significant findings: a) from the perspectives of SMEs— findings such as the availability of capital, and the readiness of suppliers to SMEs to accept ECT, and b) from the customer side—findings such as the importance of prior online brand development of SMEs, the importance of web design with respect to virtual product presentation, and confidence in the security of online transaction. These strongly influence the ECT adoption.


Background and Purpose: A Comprehensive Stroke Center provides many opportunities for interactions with smaller facilities. Needs identified by our community facility partners was a standardized and effective neurological assessment of the stroke patient that could be performed by all staff and staff stroke education. Investigation into the Advanced Stroke Life Support (ASLS) course provided information that would serve as a blueprint to resolve both education needs.

Method: Six staff members were certified as ASLS Instructors. ASLS course has been provided using didactic and hands on participation for scoring of patients with the Miami Emergency Neurologic Deficit (MEND) exam and stroke education. Participants were given a pre-test at the beginning of the educational experience, followed by a post test at the conclusion of class. Lectures included overview of five major stroke syndromes, basic MEND exam knowledge and scoring requirements, followed by review of treatment options and care provided once hospitalized. The learning opportunity was enhanced by interactive hands on session by each participant through performing the MEND exam on fellow participants and scoring of the MEND exam on scenario based test patients. Use of the interactive practice session with immediate feedback from instructors was key elements of student satisfaction and perceived learning during the educational experience.

Results: Initial class evaluations and changes in pre and post test scores indicate an increase in participant stroke knowledge. 47 of 50 failed the pre-test with scores ranging from 35 to 85. Upon posttest all participants passed with scores ranging from 80 to 100. There was an increase in proficiency using the MEND exam from the initial practice session to use during the test patient scenarios. Additional survey results will be obtained using post class value analysis survey at least three months after class completion to demonstrate participants' ability to apply knowledge to practice setting.

Conclusion: Completion of ASLS course provides an increase of stroke knowledge that promotes application of information learned to care of stroke patients in practice settings.


In this article, the significance and consequences of enhancing authentic learning processes within undergraduate teacher education are discussed, inspired by American (liberal arts) contemporary practices. Liberal education can be defined as a higher education that is a cultivation of the whole human being for the functions of citizenship and life in general. In essence, a successful liberal arts programme will be characterized by close student-faculty relationships, small classes, excellent teaching, individual instruction, empathetic advising and personal attention. Nineteen faculty members at a liberal arts college were interviewed about their understanding and experiences of what a liberal arts education entails, how they perceive of the relationship between teaching and research and what in their daily work motivates them. Sentiments expressed included over-commitment and a heavy workload, as well as professional autonomy, meaningful engagement and profound caring and concern for students. Results emphasize the need to reflect on how undergraduate programmes should or need to be constructed and implemented - taking into account the importance of dialogue, feedback and reflection - if the aim is to create competent democratic citizens to be scholars and leaders of the future. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.17.1.4


This thesis explores the influence of us Asian policy on the evolution of Taiwanese nationalism and the role of Taiwanese nationalism in America's Asian policy. The study consists of five parts. The first part (1895-1950) introduces the source of Taiwanese nationalism and America's strategic scheme on Taiwan before 1945, and explores American options after the germination of Taiwanese nationalism. America's intention to separate Taiwan from the mainland so as to deny the island to Chinese Communists late 1948 helped preserve inchoate Taiwanese nationalism. The second part (1950-1970) examines how America simultaneously exploited the Chinese Nationalist regime's anti-communism and facilitated the growth of Taiwanese nationalism in the bipolarized Cold-War era. The Truman administration's separatist intention after the Korean War, US aid and American scholars' Taiwan independence theories had significant implications for the evolution of Taiwanese nationalism. The third part (1970-1989) examines how America reconciled US-PRC rapprochement with its promotion of Taiwanese nationalism. Taiwan's democratisation evolved in the context of US political, economic and military intervention. During the transition to democratisation, secessionists turned political opposition movement into nation-building revolution. The fourth part (1989-2000) examines how US conservatives and Taiwanese nationalists jointly promoted Taiwanization. The dynamics of democratisation, native president Lee Teng-hui's domination of political agenda, the ambience of US-Taiwan strategic realignment and the maturity of political nationalism together facilitated Taiwanization. The fifth part (2000֊present) explores how America and Taiwan establish a strategic symbiosis for US-China strategic competition. The 9/11 Incident has little influence on the course of strategic symbiosis. The consolidation of Taiwan identity obliged thepan-blue camp to identify with Taiwan, promote political nationalism and deviate from their pro-unification ideology. The increased antagonism between Taiwanese nationalism and Chinese nationalism ossifies the symbiotic partnership between USAsian policy and Taiwanese nationalism and hinders China's rise to regional hegemonyand global superpower.


Today, the exponential growth of technology usage in education, via such applications of distance education, Internet access, simulations, and educational games, has raised substantially the focus and importance of educational technology research. In this paper, we examine the past and present research trends, with emphasis on the role and contribution of research evidence for informing instructional practices and policies to improve learning in schools. Specific topics addressed include: (a) varied conceptions of "effective" technology uses in classroom instruction as topics for research, (b) historical trends in research approaches and topics of inquiry; (c) alternative research designs for balancing internal (rigor) and external (relevance) validity; and (d) suggested directions for future research. Attention is devoted to describing varied experimental designs as options for achieving appropriate rigor and relevance of research evidence, and using mixed-methods research for investigating and understanding technology applications in complex real-life settings.


The expert guidance you need to get the most out of Access 2010 Get the Access 2010 information you need to succeed with this comprehensive reference. If this is your first encounter with Access, you'll appreciate the thorough attention to database fundamentals and terminology. If you're familiar with earlier versions, you can jump right into Access2010 enhancements such as the new Access user interface and wider use of XML and Web services. Takes you under the hood of Microsoft Access 2010, the database application included with Microsoft Office 2010 Explores the latest enhancements, such as a new user interface and wider use of XML and Web services; also, how to exchange data with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office apps Covers how to create tables, manipulate datasheets, and work with multiple tables Explains the seven database objects and how to use a seven-step design method to build a database tailored to your needs Shows you how to build forms, use Visual Basic and the VBA Editor, automate query parameters, create functions and subroutines, use XML to create data access pages, and more Includes a CD with all source code from the book and working examples, plus bonus shareware, freeware, trial, demo and evaluation programs that work with or enhance Microsoft Office Youll want to keep this soup-to-nuts Access reference close at hand! Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.


We present a study of immigrant self-employment in Sweden using the recent matched employer-employee data from 2014. We find large variations in self-employment rates among immigrant groups as well as between immigrants with different points for their time immigration to Sweden. High self-employment rates are found for male immigrants from the Middle East. Immigrants are less likely than natives to have employees in their firms but after controlling for firm characteristics we find that self-employed immigrants are more likely than self-employed natives to have employees. Especially non-European immigrants are more likely than natives to employ other immigrants, and even non-European and recently arrived immigrants, in their firms. Immigrants are more likely than natives to hire their spouses as employees. We conclude that self-employed immigrants play a role in the labour market integration of other immigrants. We also conclude that that the family plays a central role for self-employment activities among immigrants and that more knowledge regarding the explanations behind the results is needed.


Watts, Irene N., and Robert Munsch. Munsch at Play Act Two: Eight More Stage Adaptations. Illus. Michael Marchenko. Toronto: Annick, 2011. Print. Which child should inhabit the role of the protagonist Andrew ("No, no, no, no, no") in "I Have to Go"? What could be used to make the "sound" in "Jonathan Cleaned Up — Then He Heard a Sound"? How could you dress the titular character of "David's Father" so that everyone can tell he's a giant? Munsch at Play Act Two will have your imagination firing with questions such as these. As with the original Munsch at Play, this volume gives readers/thespians eight of Robert Munsch's tales transformed into stage plays for young performers. Readers familiar with Munsch's live performances will recognize his distinct rhythmic and participatory elements within Watts' adaptations. Readers will also enjoy Michael Martchenko's kinetic illustrations, in his style so well-known from so many Munsch storybooks. Having said this, plays are to be performed on the stage, not just admired on the page. Irene N. Watts' adaptations succeed for a variety of reasons. The stories have been thoughtfully selected and adapted to provide the variety that makes this sort of book worthwhile. There are stories that can be performed with a finite handful of players, such as "I Have to Go," and there are stories whose castings can expand as much as you like, including "Pigs," in which you may include "any number that the pigpen can accommodate." Watts also includes detailed, approachable notes about staging. She tells readers about suitable spaces for staging each play, such as "works well as a theatre in the round" ("Show and Tell"). She also provides exhaustive lists of sets, costumes, and props for each play. Most stories require quite a few props, but these are often indicated as optional, and could be scavenged, made into a craft project, or conjured via imagination. Watts' supporting documentation (lists, guidance, and recommendations) lessens the effort involved with getting each play "up on its feet." This enables everyone involved to focus on the excitement of stories and vocal participation. It's not likely that anybody will say "No, no, no, no, no" to Munsch at Play Act Two. Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Sarah Polkinghorne Sarah is a Public Services Librarian at the University of Alberta. She enjoys all sorts of books.


Using a large Australian social survey, combined with precise data on neighbourhood characteristics, I explore the factors that affect trust at a local level ('localised trust') and at a national level ('generalised trust'). Trust is positively associated with the respondent's education, and negatively associated with the amount of time spent commuting. At a neighbourhood level, trust is higher in affluent areas, and lower in ethnically and linguistically heterogeneous communities, with the effect being stronger for linguistic heterogeneity than ethnic heterogeneity. Linguistic heterogeneity reduces localised trust for both natives and immigrants, and reduces generalised trust only for immigrants. Instrumental variables specifications show similar results. By contrast with the United States, there is no apparent relationship between trust and inequality across neighbourhoods in Australia. JEL Classification: D31, D71, J15, Z13


The heterocyclic compounds are very much importance due to their biological activities. The formyl gro up attached to pyrrole molecules make them promising precursors for further synthetic transformation. Thioether co mpounds possess broad spectrum biological activities such a s fungicidal[8], insecticidal, herbicidal & plant g rowth regulating activities. Some heterocyclic thioether derivatives have been also reported to exhibit goo d antiviral activities[7]. Due to these uses many workers are interested in the synthesis of thioether compounds with heterocycles[1-3]. To achieve our aim we diformylat ed succinimides using Vilsmeier- Haack reagent to g et 2,5 dicloro – 3,4 diformyl ( N- substituted phenyl) pyr roles. The succinimides in turn were obtained from succinic acid and substituted anilines. The diformylated compoun ds were then converted into thioether derivatives b y treating with sodium sulphide, ethyl bromide in dry DMF as s olvent[12-13]. All the compounds were characterized and screened for antimicrobial activities.


A robust design for a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based on pure silica with
 small normal dispersion and high nonlinear coefficient for its dual concentric core
 structure is presented. This design is suitable for flat broadband supercontinuum
 (SC) generation in the 1.55-µm region. The numerical results show that the nonlinear
 coefficient of the proposed eight-ring PCF is 33.8 W-1.km-1 at 1550 nm. Ultraflat
 dispersion with a value between -1.65 and -0.335 ps/(nm.km) is obtained ranging from
 1375 to 1625 nm. The 3-dB bandwidth of the SC is 125 nm (1496-1621 nm), with a fiber
 length of 80 m and a corresponding input peak power of 43.8 W. The amplitude noise
 is considered to be related to SC generation. For practical fabrication, the
 influence of the random imperfections of airhole diameters on dispersion and
 nonlinearity is discussed to verify the robustness of our design.


Systematic reviews, particularly those published in the Cochrane Library, now form a substantial part of the content of ACP Journal Club , Evidence-Based Medicine , Evidence-Based Nursing , and Evidence-Based Mental Health . This contribution has grown steadily since the first publication of the Cochrane Library. What makes the systematic reviews published in the Cochrane Library so amenable to the evidence-based journals?

Up to the end of 2002, 4 evidence-based abstract journals were produced by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU) at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The first was ACP J Club , begun in 1991. Published bimonthly by the American College of Physicians (ACP), each issue contains 25 research abstracts with clinical commentaries on internal medicine topics. Evidence-Based Medicine , published bimonthly by the BMJ …


Recently, there has been a surge of interest in using deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression (TRD). While DBS has been regarded as an efficient and safe treatment for many conditions over the last 20 years, and although DBS research trials involving TRD patients show encouraging evidence of remission, recent DBS TRD follow-up studies have reported significant rates of postoperative suicidal ideation, as well as suicide attempts and deaths. Given the vulnerable nature of TRD patients with respect to suicide, if the postoperative DBS adjustment process contributes to an increased risk of suicidality among them, then there is a pressing need to investigate this problem. Based on current clinical trial follow-up data, does the suicidality risk-versus-remission benefit ratio favor the use of DBS in TRD patients? The purpose of this article is to examine whether adjusting enrollment criteria, such as excluding TRD patients with a history of suicide attempts or anger/impulsivity, could diminish DBS trial research suicidality, given the absence of uniformity in DBS trial eligibility protocols.