In this paper, we present a flexible and efficient approach for the integration of order‐independent transparency into a deferred shading pipeline. The intermediate buffers for storing fragments to be shaded are extended with a dynamic and memory‐efficient storage for transparent fragments. The transparency of an object is not fixed and remains programmable until fragment processing, which allows for the implementation of advanced materials effects, interaction techniques or adaptive fade‐outs. Traversing costs for shading the transparent fragments are greatly reduced by introducing a tile‐based light‐culling pass. During deferred shading, opaque and transparent fragments are shaded and composited in front‐to‐back order using the retrieved lighting information and a physically‐based shading model. In addition, we discuss various configurations of the system and further enhancements. Our results show that the system performs at interactive frame rates even for complex scenarios.


Multiple exercise options may be considered as generalizations of American-style options as they provide the holder more than one exercise right. Examples of financial derivatives and real options with these properties have become more prevalent over the past decade and appear in sectors ranging from insurance to energy industries. Throughout the thesis particular attention is paid to swing options although the methods described are equally applicable to other types of multiple exercise options. This thesis presents two novel methods for pricing multiple exercise option by simulation; the forest of stochastic trees and the forest of stochastic meshes. The proposed methods are of particular use in cases where there is potentially a large number (≥3) of assets underlying the contract and/or if a number of risk factors are desirable for modelling the underlying price process. These valuation methods result in positivelyand negatively-biased estimators for the true option value. We prove the sign of the estimator bias and show that these estimators are consistent for the true option value. A confidence interval for the true option value is easily constructed. Examples confirm that the implementation of these methods is correct and consistent with the theoretical properties of the estimators. This thesis also explores in detail a number of methods meant to enhance the effectiveness of the proposed simulation methods. These include using high performance computing techniques which include both parallel computing techniques on CPU-clusters and General purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) that take advantage of relatively inexpensive processors. Additionally we explore bias-corrected estimators for the option values which attempt to estimate the bias introduced at each time step by the estimator and then subtract this result. These improvements are desirable due to the computationally intensive nature of both methods.


Recent academic arguments in transnational and mobility studies have emphasised fluid and flexible understandings of concepts such as place and home. This paper, however, will argue that the desire to fix home with particular meaning by attaching it to place is still apparent even for highly mobile migrants, and seeks to explore why this is the case. Using data from qualitative research with a group of highly mobile Australian transnational professionals working in Asia, the paper elaborates on social, material, and imaginative home-making strategies utilised to re-place home, regarded as a space of comfort and cultural fit. These strategies were ultimately a means by which expatriates managed affective responses to difference that were generated in new cultural contexts that challenged subjective understandings of identity. The paper concludes that mobility does not necessarily equate with relinquishing connections between home and place, but complex belonging to 'bits' of multiple homes for particular participants was also evident.


My paper examines the transformation of sixteenth-century Geneva's only religious house for women, the Convent of the Poor Clares, into an institution dedicated to caring for the poor, the Hopital General (General Hospital) . Before the Reformation, the convent held a central place in Geneva both physically, in a central neighborhood, and spiritually, as Genevans considered the prayers of the Poor Clares to be especially efficacious. Although this spatial and spiritual centrality served the nuns well before the Reformation, it became problematic during the surge of Protestant sentiment and iconoclastic activity in the 1530s. This came to a head in August 1535, as iconoclasts entered the convent, intent on the destruction of images, icons, and the nuns' way of life. Convinced they could no longer live safely in Geneva, the Poor Clares abandoned their convent. But the building did not sit empty for long. Within a few weeks of their departure, the former home of the Poor Clares became the Hopital General , now home to the care of the poor. I argue that this incredibly fast transition -- despite immense damage to the building -- demonstrates the strength of a new understanding of poverty that cast the poor as lazy and impure rather than holy. The new hospital was intended to address the problems of poverty, rather than encourage the perceived impurity of the lifestyle and mendicancy of the Poor Clares and other impoverished Genevans. By examining the building's physical and spiritual transition from the (sacred, private) home of the Poor Clares into the (secular, public) home of the poor, my paper provides us with a nuanced picture of the use and transformation of space in the process of Reformation. Moreover, this case exemplifies a change in perceptions of the poor which led to changes in social welfare systems throughout early modern Europe.


Introduction: Hypertensive disorders complicate 5-10 percent of all pregnancies and contributes greatly to maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Women with gestational diabetes are at increased risk of preeclampsia and worsens the fetal prognosis. Thyroid hormones seem to be important in placentation and regulation of early pregnancy, partly explaining the association between hypothyroidism and preeclampsia. Incidence of both hypothyroidism and gestational diabetes was found significantly higher in women with Preeclampsia Induced Hypertension. There are few studies worldwide to establish the association between Preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus and hypothyroidism in pregnancy. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the association of dual endocrinopathy in pregnancy with severity of preeclampsia. Study Design: Prospective Observational Cross-sectional Study Material and Methods: 400 patients who met inclusion criteria and consented for the study were recruited in the study from November 2015 to October 2016 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology , SMGS Hospital, Govt Med College Jammu. All patients underwent relevant blood and urine tests. They were grouped into 2 groups – mild and severe preeclampsia. The association of two groups with dual endocrinopathy (hypothyroidism and gestational diabetes mellitus) was studied. Statistical analysis: Chi-square test was employed to determine association of dual endocrinopathy with severity of preeclampsia. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In this study, majority of patients i.e. 70.50% (282 out of 400) were in the mild preeclampsia group and only 29.50% (118 out of 400) were in the severe preeclampsia group. According to present study, 14.4 % of severe preeclampsia patients had dual endocrinopathy while only 7.8 % of mild preeclampsia patients had dual endocrinopathy. This association was calculated using Chi-Square Test and was statistically significant (P value = 0.042). Conclusion: We found that there exists European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 08, Issue 03, 2021 1868 significant association of dual endocrinopathy with severity of preeclampsia. Therefore the current study emphasise that early identification of dual endocrinopathy in patients of preeclampsia ,so timely treatment might decrease the morbidity associated with preeclampsia.


BACKGROUND
Experimental evidence suggests that blood cardioplegia (BCP) may be superior to cold crystalloid cardioplegia (CCP) for myocardial protection. However, robust clinical data are lacking. We compared postoperative outcome of patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) using cold anterograde-retrograde intermittent BCP versus anterograde (CCP).

METHODS
Adult consecutive isolated AVR performed between April 2006 and February 2011 at the Royal Infirmary Hospital of Edinburgh were retrospectively analyzed. The use of anterograde CCP was compared with that of intermittent anterograde-retrograde cold BCP. End points were intra-operative mortality, 30-day hospital re-admission, need for RBC or platelet transfusion, mechanical ventilation time and renal failure.

RESULTS
Of total 774 cases analyzed, 592 cases of BCP and 182 cases of CCP were identified. Demographics did not differ between groups (mean age: 67±12 years in CCP and 69±12 years in BCP). Groups (BCP vs. CCP) were indistinguishable (P>0.05, not significant) based on: average aortic cross clamp time 77.01±14.47 vs. 75.78±18.78 minutes, cardiopulmonary bypass time 104.07±43.70 vs. 100.34±25.90 minutes, surgery time 190.53±61.80 vs. 204.04±51.09 minutes and postoperative total blood consumption 1.38±2.11 vs. 1.61±2.4 units. The percentage of patients who required platelets' transfusion was similar: 12.8% BCP and 18.7% CCP (Fisher's exact test, P=0.053). Prevalence of respiratory failure was lower in BCP than in CCP: 2.6% vs. 6.3% (P=0.028). Admission time (days) at ICU was 3.63± 21.90 in BCP and 3.07±8.04 in CCP (not significant). Intra-hospital mortality, 30-day hospital re-admission, renal failure, sepsis, wound healing and stroke did not differ between groups.

CONCLUSIONS
BCP was strictly not superior to CCP in every aspect. In particular it was definitely not superior in terms of postoperative ventricular function. Our results question the absolute superiority of BCP over CCP in terms of hard outcomes. Likelihood of serious complications should be considered to improve risk profile of patients before choosing a cardioplegic solution.


Crisphead lettuce has much lower vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron contents than leaf or romaine lettuce. This experiment was conducted to determine whether the low nutritional value is associated with the head structure. Heads of a crisphead lettuce cultivar Salinas grown in the field were kept open by hand, while leaves of a romaine lettuce cultivar Lobjoits were closed by tying with wire. These plants as well as the normal controls were analyzed for their nutritional contents. The content of β-carotene (provitamin A), Ca, and Fe was higher in the outer leaves than in the inner leaves of a normal lettuce head, while there was little difference in vitamin C content between the two classes of leaves. Artificially opening the lettuce head greatly increased its nutrient content to a level comparable to leaf or romaine lettuce. After the romaine lettuce leaves were closed, the levels of β-carotene and vitamin C dropped to a minimum and the contents of Ca and Fe were also largely reduced. These results suggest that the lower nutritional value of crisphead lettuce is due to the enclosure of its leaves in the head structure. The physiological basis of these findings and their implications for genetic improvement of the nutritional value of lettuce are discussed.


In the most reliable and readable guide to effective writing for the Americans of today, Wilson answers questions of meaning, grammar, pronunciation, punctuation, and spelling in thousands of clear, concise entries. His guide is unique in presenting a systematic, comprehensive view of language as determined by context. Wilson provides a simple chart of contexts-from oratorical speech to intimate, from formal writing to informal-and explains in which contexts a particular usage is appropriate, and in which it is not. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English provides the answers to questions about American English the way no other guide can with: * an A-Z format for quick reference; * over five thousand entries, more than any other usage book; * sensible and useful advice based on the most current linguistic research; * a convenient chart of levels of speech and writing geared to context; * both descriptive and prescriptive entries for guidance; * guidelines for nonsexist usage; * individual entries for all language terms. A vibrant description of how our language is being spoken and written at the end of the twentieth century-and how we ourselves can use it most effectively-The Columbia Guide to Standard American English is the ideal handbook to language etiquette: friendly, sensible, and reliable.


This paper explores the concept of underlying inflation and the properties of various measures of underlying inflation in the Australian context. Underlying inflation measures are routinely calculated and monitored by central banks in many countries, including the Reserve Bank of Australia. Alternative measurement concepts are explored, and a range of measures that have been calculated for Australia are discussed and evaluated on the basis of statistical criteria. These criteria capture the intuition that a good measure of underlying inflation should be less volatile than CPI (or headline) inflation, be unbiased with respect to CPI inflation, and capture the 'trend' in CPI inflation so that, on average, CPI inflation will tend to adjust towards the measure of underlying inflation. In the Australian context, statistical measures of underlying inflation, such as the trimmed mean or weighted median, perform fairly satisfactorily against these criteria. The performance of these measures can be further improved by seasonally adjusting prices at the CPI component level. Although underlying inflation measures have become less necessary in the past decade as inflation itself has become less volatile, these findings suggest that underlying inflation measures can still add value to the analysis of inflationary trends.


Abstract In state-of-the-art phrase-based statistical machine translation systems, modelling phrase reorderings is an important need to enhance naturalness of the translated outputs, particularly when the grammatical structures of the language pairs differ significantly. Posing phrase movements as a classification problem, we exploit recent developments in solving large-scale multiclass support vector machines. Using dual coordinate descent methods for learning, we provide a mechanism to shrink the amount of training data required for each iteration. Hence, we produce significant computational saving while preserving the accuracy of the models. Our approach is a couple of times faster than maximum entropy approach and more memory-efficient (50% reduction). Experiments were carried out on an Arabic-English corpus with more than a quarter of a billion words. We achieve BLEU score improvements on top of a strong baseline system with sparse reordering features.


This paper examines two important issues regarding house prices and mortgage market activity. First given recent activity in the market regarding adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs), we study the determinants of such mortgages. Our second objective is with regards to a potential simultaneity between house prices and adjustable rate mortgages. If house prices are expected to appreciate, then lenders are less concerned about defaults and may make available more funds to a large extent in the form of ARMs and to lower quality borrowers, for financing the purchase of a house. We investigate this potential feedback relationship using a dynamic panel model for the 48 contiguous states over the years 1986-2010. Fixed effects estimates on the determinants of the share of adjustable rate mortgages are consistent with earlier findings on the importance of the spread, between fixed rate and adjustable rate mortgages. We also find evidence of a possible feedback relationship between house prices and adjustable rate mortgages.


The multihop ridesharing system generates a ridematching solution with an arbitrary number of transfers that respects personal preferences of the users and their time constraints with detour willingness. As it is considered to be NP-complete, an efficient metaheuristic is required in the application to solve the dynamic multihop ridematching problem. In this context, a novel approach, called Metaheuristics Approach Based on Controlled Genetic Operators (MACGeO), which is supported by an original dynamic coding, is developed to address the multihop ridematching problem. The performance of the proposed approach is measured via simulation scenarios, which feature various numbers of carpool drivers (vehicles) and riders (passengers). Experimental results show that the multihop ridematching could greatly increase the number of matched requests while minimizing the number of vehicles required.


In this note, we assess the predictive validity of stochastic dynamic causal modeling (sDCM) of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, in terms of its ability to explain changes in the frequency spectrum of concurrently acquired electroencephalography (EEG) signal. We first revisit the heuristic model proposed in Kilner et al. (2005), which suggests that fMRI activation is associated with a frequency modulation of the EEG signal (rather than an amplitude modulation within frequency bands). We propose a quantitative derivation of the underlying idea, based upon a neural field formulation of cortical activity. In brief, dense lateral connections induce a separation of time scales, whereby fast (and high spatial frequency) modes are enslaved by slow (low spatial frequency) modes. This slaving effect is such that the frequency spectrum of fast modes (which dominate EEG signals) is controlled by the amplitude of slow modes (which dominate fMRI signals). We then use conjoint empirical EEG-fMRI data—acquired in epilepsy patients—to demonstrate the electrophysiological underpinning of neural fluctuations inferred from sDCM for fMRI.


The five complete and unabridged works collected here are parts of a long and passionate testimony about American Indian culture as related by Indians themselves. Deep emotions and life-shaking crises converge in these pages concerning identity, family, community, caste, gender, nature, the future, the past, solitude, duty, trust, betrayal, leadership, war, and apocalypse. Each work is also regarded as a classic of Native literature and has much to teach. "The Life of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh" (1847) by George Copway, a Canadian Ojibwe writer and lecturer, describes his unique and difficult cultural journey from the tiny village of his youth to the legislatures of the world, speaking for the rights and sovereignty of Indians."The Soul of the Indian" (1911) by Charles Eastman, a physician and mixed-blood Sioux, depicts "the religious life of the typical American Indian as it was before he knew the white man." "American Indian Stories" (1921) by Zitkala-ea, one of the most famous Sioux writers and activists of the modern era, includes legends and tales from oral tradition, childhood stories, and allegorical fiction. "Coyote Stories" (1933) by Mourning Dove, an Okanagan writer, retells the popular trickster tales of Coyote, the most resilient character in all of American literature. "Black Elk Speaks" (1932) as told through John G. Neihardt, is the spacious religious vision and candid life story of a Lakota holy man. Neihardt and Black Elk collaborated to produce a unique and inspirational work. Willis G. Regier is the director of the University of Illinois Press and the author of "Book of the Sphinx".


Abstract. The spatial distributions of large-scale field-aligned Birkeland currents have been derived using magnetic field data obtained from the Iridium constellation of satellites from February 1999 to December 2007. From this database, we selected intervals that had at least 45% overlap in the large-scale currents between successive hours. The consistency in the current distributions is taken to indicate stability of the large-scale magnetosphere–ionosphere system to within the spatial and temporal resolution of the Iridium observations. The resulting data set of about 1500 two-hour intervals (4% of the data) was sorted first by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) GSM clock angle (arctan(By/Bz)) since this governs the spatial morphology of the currents. The Birkeland current densities were then corrected for variations in EUV-produced ionospheric conductance by normalizing the current densities to those occurring for 0° dipole tilt. To determine the dependence of the currents on other solar wind variables for a given IMF clock angle, the data were then sorted sequentially by the following parameters: the solar wind electric field in the plane normal to the Earth–Sun line, Eyz; the solar wind ram pressure; and the solar wind Alfven Mach number. The solar wind electric field is the dominant factor determining the Birkeland current intensities. The currents shift toward noon and expand equatorward with increasing solar wind electric field. The total current increases by 0.8 MA per mV m−1 increase in Eyz for southward IMF, while for northward IMF it is nearly independent of the electric field, increasing by only 0.1 MA per mV m−1 increase in Eyz. The dependence on solar wind pressure is comparatively modest. After correcting for the solar dynamo dependencies in intensity and distribution, the total current intensity increases with solar wind dynamic pressure by 0.4 MA/nPa for southward IMF. Normalizing the Birkeland current densities to both the median solar wind electric field and dynamic pressure effects, we find no significant dependence of the Birkeland currents on solar wind Alfven Mach number.


We describe the architecture and implementation of the Solid Earth Research Virtual Observatory (SERVO)'s Complexity Computational Environment. We base our design on a globally scalable distributed "cyber-infrastructure," or Grid, built around a Web Services-based approach consistent with the extended Web Service Interoperability (WS-I+) model. In order to investigate problems in earthquake modeling and forecasting, we need to programmatically couple numerical simulation codes and data assimilation and mining tools to online observational data sets, including GPS stations, fault data, and seismic activity catalogs. These observational data sets are now available on-line in internet-accessible forms, and the quantity of this data is expected to grow explosively over the next decade. As part of our efforts in building SERVO, we are extending these online data repository capabilities so that they are not just available directly for human users, but may also be searched, filtered, and streamed to simulation codes that are also managed by SERVO services.


BACKGROUND
Combination prevention, which includes pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is essential for achieving the zero HIV infections target in the UK by 2030. It is important to assess attitudes towards PrEP in at-risk populations. This study focuses on the effect of discrimination and HIV conspiracy theorising on attitudes towards PrEP in gay men in the UK.

METHODS
In total, 244 White British gay men completed a survey that included demographic questions and measures of sexual health screening, hypervigilance, sexual orientation discrimination, quality of contact with healthcare professionals, belief in conspiracy theories and attitudes towards PrEP. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression and mediation analysis.

RESULTS
Discrimination was positively correlated with HIV conspiracy beliefs and negatively correlated with PrEP acceptance. Mediation analyses demonstrated that the relationship between discrimination and attitudes towards PrEP was explained by HIV conspiracy theorising. Gay men who had attended a sexual health screening (vs never attended) reported higher belief in HIV conspiracy theories. A further mediation analysis showed that reported poor contact with a healthcare professional was associated with an increased belief in HIV conspiracy theories, which was associated with negative attitudes towards PrEP. Both perceived discrimination and poor contact with a healthcare professional were exacerbated by hypervigilance.

CONCLUSIONS
HIV conspiracy theorising is an important variable in understanding attitudes towards PrEP among gay men. Its roots are in adverse social experiences (e.g. discrimination, poor contact with healthcare professionals) and its consequences may be the rejection of PrEP. HIV prevention and PrEP campaigns must focus on prejudice reduction and on challenging conspiracy beliefs.


Techniques and tools exist to allow children to create and share stories. However, challenges can arise when attempting to share stories across languages and cultures. In this paper we explore a novel approach to crosslanguage communication. Rather than work with natural language translation tools, we successfully explored the use of images in attempting to communicate a concept across the language barrier, and be able to confirm that the concept has been properly understood. Our initial exploration is framed within the context of a word guessing game, and shows that such an image-based exchange can allow cross-language communication. Author


Sustainable Society Index (SSI) is a composite indicator constructed to measure and describe societal progress along all three dimensions of sustainable development: human, environmental and economic. In this paper, we explore possibilities to evaluate and enhance SSI ranking calculation methodology based on the use of an iterative multivariate post hoc I-distance approach. Based on the assessment on how each indicator contributes to the final position of different countries and identification of the most influential indicators, we examine possibilities of reduction of a number of indicators. The goal is to improve the stability of the ranking results and overall quality of the model, focusing on the analysis of the relative contribution of the indicators in an iterative assessment process. By this, we provide in-depth analysis and more comprehensive understanding of specific factors that determines one country ranking position. Thus proposed approach can support policymakers to identify key indicators and focus the priority areas where investment in improvement measures and programs would have the most efficient impact on the overall positioning of the country.


The sector of biomethane production is receiving growing consideration in Europe, as an evolution of the conventional exploitation of biogas in combined heat and power (CHP) generators. From the technical point of view, a common need is to have available tools and calculations suitable for analysing the environmental advantages of this approach. The present paper compares the emissions of air pollutants related to three options for biogas valorisation from waste anaerobic digestion (AD) plants equipped with a post-composting stage: (1) CHP generation and electric energy supply to an electricity distribution network, and biomethane production through (2) pressurised water scrubbing and (3) chemical absorption. In the last two cases, biomethane is considered useful for natural-gas buses for the public. The results demonstrate that option (1) produces a lower amount of global pollutants but a higher amount of local contaminants compared to options (2) and (3). Therefore, decision makers should consider what impacts are more important for the specific context in which an AD and post-composting plant will be located. In addition, this paper estimates the benefits in terms of energy balance and surface occupancy when a conventional composting plant is converted into an AD and post-composting process.


The study was done to investigate the in-vivo antioxidant activities of the ethanol extract of the aerial part plant Oldenlandia corymbosa in diabetes induced rats with streptozotocin-nicotinamide (STZ with NA). Acute toxic study carried out OECD guideline 420 under this guide line followed the LD50 value fixed 2000mg/kg. This study was conducted for 21 days by treating the animals with plant extract and then induced oxidative stress by administering a single dose of streptozotocin 45mg/kg along with nicotinamide 110mg/kg (p.o). After administration of 100mg/kg and 200 mg/kg (p.o) of ethanol extract of Oldenlandia corymbosa (ETOC) to animals, the levels of hepatic and renal GSH, GST, GPx, SOD, CAT and nitric oxide, Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), hydroperoxides (HP), enzymes levels were estimated. The study proves Oldenlandia corymbosa (Linn.)'s significant in-vivo antioxidant activity helps protect tissues from oxidative stress and decreases a significant amount of hepatic and renal hydroperoxides and thiobarbituric acid substances. A considerable enhance in kidney and liver GSH, SOD, GPx, GST, CAT and NO when compared with diabetic control group was observed in the results. By administering ethanol extract of Oldenlandia corymbosa (Linn.) the dose level fixed 100mg, 200 mg/kg, (p.o) and glibenclamide (0.5 mg/kg) the GSH, GST, SOD, GPx, CAT levels considerably enhanced in comparison with diabetic control group. Hence this study concludes that ethanol extract of Oldenlandia corymbosa(Linn.) have considerable in-vivo antioxidant activity of aids in protecting tissue starting oxidative stress.


Summary
Generalized transduction is a form of genetic recombination in which a DNA fragment or a plasmid is carried from one bacterium and inserted into another by a bacteriophage called a transducing phage. Once inserted, the DNA fragment can subsequently be exchanged for a piece of the recipient's DNA by homologous recombination.
Introduction
During the replication of lytic bacteriophages and temperate bacteriophages, occasionally the bacteriophage capsid accidently assembles around a small fragment of bacterial DNA. When this bacteriophage, called a transducing particle, infects another bacterium, it injects the fragment of donor bacterial DNA it is carrying into the recipient where it can subsequently be exchanged for a piece of the recipient's DNA by homologous recombination (1,2). Generalized transduction occurs in a variety of bacteria, including Staphylococcus, Escherichia, Salmonella, and Pseudomonas (1). Transduction is one of the ways that bacteria can exchange genetic material in the environment, and serves as an important mechanism for horizontal gene transfer that results in increased bacterial genetic diversity.
Methods
Adobe Flash Professional CS5.5 was used in constructing this animation. Illustrations were drawn using Adobe Illustrator CS5.1 and imported into Adobe Flash Professional CS5.5.
Discussion
Slides 1 and 2
Generalized transduction begins when a bacteriophage adsorbs (binds to a receptor) on a susceptible bacterium.
Slides 3 and 4
The genome of the bacteriophage is "injected" into the host bacterium when the phage capsid proteins force the genome through the cell wall of the bacterium.
Slides 5 and 7
The bacteriophage uses the bacterium's metabolic machinery to replicate.  A bacteriophage-coded enzyme degrades the bacterial DNA into fragments in the process of "stealing" nucleotides for phage genome production. Occasionally a bacteriophage capsid will assemble around a fragment of the donor bacterium's DNA if the fragment is of a similar size to the bacteriophage's genome.  This is possible because bacteriophages do not use packaging signals, and hence can package any piece of DNA that is roughly the correct size.
Slides 8 and 9
Eventually the bacterium is lysed and bacteriophages are released and are now able to infect new susceptible bacteria. Note that the one bacteriophage in this example is carrying a fragment of double-stranded DNA for the donor bacterium (arrow). Typically between 50 and 200 bacteriophages are produced within a single infected bacterium. Only four are shown here.
Slides 10 and 11
The bacteriophage carrying the donor bacterium's DNA, now called a transducing phage, adsorbs (binds to a receptor) on a susceptible recipient bacterium.
Slides 12 and 13
The transducing phage inserts the donor bacterium's DNA it is carrying into the recipient bacterium when the phage capsid proteins force the genome through the cell wall of the recipient bacterium.
Slides 14 and 15
Homologous recombination occurs and the donor bacterium's DNA is exchanged for some of the recipient's DNA.  As the bacterium replicates, each daughter cell will now carry this new genetic material. (Note:  Bacterial plasmids can also be carried from one bacterium to another by generalized transduction if they are of a similar size to the bacteriophage's genome.)
References
1. Thierauf AI, Perez G, Maloy AS. 2009. Generalized transduction.  Method  Mol Biol 501:267-86.
2. Mann BA, Slauch JM. 1997. Transduction of Low-Copy Number Plasmids by Bacteriophage P22. Genetics 146: 447-456.


Effective application of lean theory in construction generally requires tools and/or processes to facilitate implementation. Last Planner System®, A 3 problem solving, plus/delta and pull scheduling sessions are a few examples. These kinds of tools assist construction participants in making the shift from abstract theories to project application. As innovation in this area is constantly occurring in the lean community, methodologies for developing new tools warrant consideration and testing. Design Science Research (DSR) is a methodology that was strongly recommended by facilitators during the 2012 International Group for Lean Construction Summer School program in San Diego, CA. This paper uses a project that attempted to develop a trust-building tool as a case study to analyze the effectiveness of DSR as a methodology. The results of the project show support for the continued application of DSR methodology in the development of tools and processes supporting lean construction efforts. It was determined that the flexibility and iterative evaluation loop inherent to DSR were effective at providing a framework for the tool created in the case study project. However, the comparative need for time associated with iteration may limit interested researchers' ability to apply DSR to future projects.


Given a tree and a set P of non-trivial simple paths on it, VPT(P) is the VPT graph (i.e. the vertex intersection graph) of the paths P, and EPT(P) is the EPT graph (i.e. the edge intersection graph) of P. These graphs have been extensively studied in the literature. Given two (edge) intersecting paths in a graph, their split vertices is the set of vertices having degree at least 3 in their union. A pair of (edge) intersecting paths is termed non-splitting if they do not have split vertices (namely if their union is a path). We define the graph ENPT(P) of edge intersecting non-splitting paths of a tree, termed the ENPT graph, as the graph having a vertex for each path in P, and an edge between every pair of vertices representing two paths that are both edge-intersecting and non-splitting. A graph G is an ENPT graph if there is a tree T and a set of paths P of T such that G=ENPT(P), and we say that is a representation of G.
Our goal is to characterize the representation of chordless ENPT cycles (holes). To achieve this goal, we first assume that the EPT graph induced by the vertices of an ENPT hole is given. In [2] we introduce three assumptions (P1), (P2), (P3) defined on EPT, ENPT pairs of graphs. In the same study, we define two problems HamiltonianPairRec, P3-HamiltonianPairRec and characterize the representations of ENPT holes that satisfy (P1), (P2), (P3).
In this work, we continue our work by relaxing these three assumptions one by one. We characterize the representations of ENPT holes satisfying (P3) by providing a polynomial-time algorithm to solve P3-HamiltonianPairRec. We also show that there does not exist a polynomial-time algorithm to solve HamiltonianPairRec, unless P=NP.


ABSTRACT While power asymmetry typically defines security relationships between allies, there exist other forms of asymmetry that influence alliance politics. In order to illustrate how they can shape policy outcomes that cannot be explained solely through the lens of power capabilities, the authors examine the role of relative attention that each side pays to the alliance. It is their central argument that since the client state has a greater vested interest in the alliance and given that attention depends on interest/need, the client state can leverage attention to get its way. By analysing two specific cases, the 2002 South Korean schoolgirls tragedy and the 2008 beef protests—instances where the South Koreans succeeded in compelling US concessions—the authors show that because the alliance was more central to the client state's agendas, there existed an asymmetry of attention that offered leveraging opportunities for the weaker ally. In this study, the authors emphasise the role of media attention as a key variable, and seek to contribute to debates on weaker party leverage in asymmetrical alliances.


We study theoretically how an interaction between assemblies of neuronal oscillators can be modulated by the pattern of external stimuli. It is shown that spatial variations in the stimuli can control the magnitude and phase of the synchronization between the output of neurons with different receptive fields. This modulation emerges from cooperative dynamics in the network, without the need for specialized, activity-dependent synapses. Our results further suggest that the modulation of neuronal interactions by extended features of a stimulus may give rise to complex spatiotemporal fluctuations in the phases of neuronal oscillations.


Tobacco use is in decline in most high-income countries (HICs); however, the number of tobacco users are rising in many low/middle-income countries (LMICs).1 Consequently, by 2030 tobacco-attributable deaths are projected to rise to 8.3 million per year with more than 80% occurring in LMICs.1 Furthermore, the tobacco-attributable burden is not evenly distributed within these nations; being highest in socioeconomically disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society.2 The urban poor—the participants of the trial published by Sarkar et al 3 in Thorax —are particularly vulnerable. For example, 55% of the poorest 20th centile of urban male residents in South Asia use tobacco in contrast to 40% of the richest.4 Quitting tobacco leads to immediate benefits and if stopped before the age of 40, the associated risk of death is reduced by 90%.5 However, tobacco being an addictive substance, most users struggle to quit and many only do so with behavioural and/or pharmacological support.6 According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey, more than 30% of smokers in LMICs attempted to quit in the previous year (15% in China).7 However, in most countries in particular LMICs, cessation advice or services are not available.8 Even where they are, the urban poor are least likely to receive cessation advice …


We address the problem of spectrum sharing where competitive operators coexist in the same frequency band. First, we model this problem as a strategic non-cooperative game where operators simultaneously share the spectrum according to the Nash Equilibrium (NE). Given a set of channel realizations, several Nash equilibria exist which renders the outcome of the game unpredictable. Then, in a cognitive context with the presence of primary and secondary operators, the inter-operator spectrum sharing problem is reformulated as a Stackelberg game using hierarchy where the primary operator is the leader. The Stackelberg Equilibrium (SE) is reached where the best response of the secondary operator is taken into account upon maximizing the primary operator's utility function. Moreover, an extension to the multiple operators spectrum sharing problem is given. It is shown that the Stackelberg approach yields better payoffs for operators compared to the classical water-filling approach. Finally, we assess the goodness of the proposed distributed approach by comparing its performance to the centralized approach.


Swimmers undertake dry-land resistance training as part of their overall training regime in order to increase lower body force output, impulse and swim turn performance. We investigated whether short-term ballistic training or maximal strength training is more effective in enhancing leg extensor force characteristics during the swim turn. Twelve elite swimmers (10 males and 2 females 19.4 ± 1.0 y) were assigned to either strength (n = 6) or ballistic leg extensor (n = 6) training based on their coaching group for a six-week period. All testing was conducted during the final training cycle towards the World Championships selection trials. Swimmers undertook dry-land testing of a squat jump on a portable force platform with bodyweight only and an additional 30 kg load for males and 20 kg load for females. On the same day, all swimmers performed a turn analysis using a fixed force platform within the pool wall. There were no substantial differences between the strength and ballistic groups after the six-week intervention. Only squat jump peak velocity (loaded) showed a moderately large standardized difference (–0.71, ± 0.42 m/s) after six weeks in the strength-trained group. Relative peak power (4.0 ± 2.1 W/kg), squat jump peak force (loaded and unloaded) (195.0, ± 122.8 N; 155.0, ± 152.3 N), and squat jump impulse (unloaded) (2.9, ± 2.1 N) all showed small and clear improvements with ballistic training over the six-week intervention. Both strength and ballistic dry-land training can improve aspects of the push-off stage of the swim turn providing programming options for swimming and strength and conditioning coaches.


The visible universe

Measuring distances to supernovae (or more precisely to the "type Ia" subclass) has allowed us to measure the distance-redshift relation beyond linear order for the first time in 1998. These first results already showed strong evidence for an accelerated cosmological expansion at the present epoch. This has been confirmed by several other cosmological probes, but what causes this accelerated expansion remains elusive. Our ignorance is commonly parametrized using the "equation of state of dark energy", where dark energy refers to the fluid one can postulate to source the acceleration. I will present how supernova measurements have evolved since the discovery, review the latest dark energy constraints, and discuss the future of the probe.


The disruptive nature of digital innovation has led incumbent organizations to face enormous challenges and pressure. To address the fundamentally new nature of digital innovations, incumbents have established new managerial roles, such as Chief Digital Officers (CDOs), to champion innovation. We explore the role these innovation champions play for digital innovation success and argue that internal reorganization and the sourcing of external knowledge constitute important mechanisms through which CDOs might contribute to organizations' digital innovation success. We will empirically test our proposed research model using longitudinal data on the world's largest companies. Our study is expected to contribute to literature on knowledge recombination and innovation management by examining how innovation champions at the C-level use internal reorganization and sourcing of external knowledge to enhance digital innovation success.


With more than one-quarter of Canadian children considered overweight or obese (Active Healthy Kids Canada, 2013), there is little debate that reducing childhood obesity should be prioritized.  A commonly accepted lifestyle change is increasing physical activity levels.  As children spend the majority of their waking hours in school (Hills et al., 2007), a frequently utilized method for increasing physical activity is daily, structured programs during classroom instructional times.  Though these programs have had some success, there is resistance to their implementation as the programs are perceived to detract from regular teaching time and academic achievement (Vazou et al., 2012), despite the fact that improvements in children's aerobic fitness appears to result in higher academic achievement and cognitive control (Chaddock et al., 2011).  Our purpose was to understand the benefits and challenges of one such daily physical activity program (20 minutes per day) in Ontario schools from a third-party perspective.  Participants (N = 9) were university students who completed internships at elementary schools.  These university students entered their assigned schools and taught daily physical activity to the students.  Participants were interviewed before and after their internships, and asked about their perspectives on the benefits and challenges of daily physical activity in schools.  Through inductive coding, several main themes emerged from the interviews related to daily physical activity benefits (e.g., increased activity, academic improvement, developing social skills), barriers (e.g., space, time, weather), and facilitators/recommendations (e.g., teacher education, formal structure, prioritization).   Herein, we present these main themes, and discuss their potential implications.


We define big data as large amounts of information, collected about many people, over multiple devices. We define critical big data research as efforts to demonstrate how flaws — ethical or methodological — in the collection and use and of big have implications for social inequality. There are many critical and creative big data research endeavors around the world. Here we present an annotated catalog of projects that: are both critical and creative in their analysis of big data; have a distinct Principal Investigator (PI) or clear team; and, are producing an identifiable body of public essays, original research, or civic engagement projects. We have catalogued these endeavors with as much descriptive information as possible, and organized projects by the domains of big data critique and creativity in which they are having an impact. We identify some 35 distinct projects, and several dozen individual researchers, artists and civic leaders, operating in 16 domains of inquiry. We recommend expanding critical and creative work in several domains: expanding work in China; supporting policy initiatives in Latin America's young democracies; expanding work on algorithmic manipulation originating in authoritarian countries; identifying best practices for how public agencies in the United States should develop big data initiatives. We recommend that the next stage of support for these lines of inquiry is to help publicize the output of these projects, many of which are of interest to a handful of specialists but should be made accessible to policy makers, journalists, and the interested public.


To investigate the process of habit formation in everyday life, 96 volunteers chose an eating, drinking or activity behaviour to carry out daily in the same context (for example 'after breakfast') for 12 weeks. They completed the self-report habit index (SRHI) each day and recorded whether they carried out the behaviour. The majority (82) of participants provided sufficient data for analysis, and increases in automaticity (calculated with a sub-set of SRHI items) were examined over the study period. Nonlinear regressions fitted an asymptotic curve to each individual's automaticity scores over the 84 days. The model fitted for 62 individuals, of whom 39 showed a good fit. Performing the behaviour more consistently was associated with better model fit. The time it took participants to reach 95% of their asymptote of automaticity ranged from 18 to 254 days; indicating considerable variation in how long it takes people to reach their limit of automaticity and highlighting that it can take a very long time. Missing one opportunity to perform the behaviour did not materially affect the habit formation process. With repetition of a behaviour in a consistent context, automaticity increases following an asymptotic curve which can be modelled at the individual level. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We examined event-related brain potentials (ERPs) during comprehension of the English Causative. The main goal was to examine ERP responses to grammatical violations that reflect a mismatch between the verb and the sentence structure. The second goal was to compare effects among native English speakers (NES) and native Spanish speakers learning English as a second language (ESL). We expected group differences to reflect different neurolinguistic processes, particularly for sentences that are well-formed in English, but not in Spanish. The English Causative is a grammatical construction that is syntactically ditransitive ('SubjNP–V–ObjNP–PP') and means '[someone]–[CAUSED-by-doing-X]–[something]–[changeof-state]'. An example is the sentence, Jack sent his sister to the store, which implies that Jack (SubjNP) caused his sister (ObjNP) to undergo a change of location (PP) by sending her (V). Importantly, only certain verbs are permitted within this construction: In English, ditransitive verbs (e.g., send), are allowed, as are alternating unaccusatives, such as walk (Jack walked his sister to the store). Non-alternating unaccusatives, such as arrive, are disallowed, even when the sentence has a meaningful interpretation (*Jack arrived his sister to the store). To comprehend these structures as they unfold in time, a language-user must therefore reconcile wordand clause-level constraints and dynamically update his or her understanding throughout the sentence. In the present study we asked nine NES and eight ESL participants to view a series of sentences, presented one phrase at a time, while we recorded their EEG. Each sentence was intransitive ('SubjNP–V' ), transitive ('SubjNP–V–ObjNP'), or ditransitive ('SubjNP–V–PP'), and was followed by a response probe. The task was to say whether each sentence was acceptable. Brain activity was measured using electroencephalography (EEG) and processed to create ERPs. INTERACTIONS BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE TYPES IN ESL 3 We had four predictions. First, we predicted that the ObjNP following an intransitive verb would elicit a P600 effect, reflecting a syntactic violation (e.g., *Jack walked/arrived his sister). Second, for non-alternating (arrive-type) verbs, we predicted that a subsequent PP (e.g., *Jack arrived his sister to the store) would elicit a P600 effect, whereas Alternating (walk-type) verbs would elicit a minimal or no P600. Third, we expected that ESL partiticpants, like NES participants, would show an P600 effect to the ObjNP for sentences containing intransitives. However, in contrast with English, we predicted that the final PP would elicit an error-related response among ESL participants for walk-type verbs, as well as for arrive-type verbs. Study results partly confirmed our predictions. The two groups showed similar patterns of acceptability, although ESL participants were slower overall. As predicted, the ObjNP elicited a P600 effect for arrive-type verbs for NES participants. Interestingly, ESL participants exhibited N400 rather than P600 effects to the ObjNP. Further, in response to the PP, both groups exhibited N400 effects to arrive-type verbs, without a subsequent P600 effect. In summary, although their behavioral patterns did not differ, ERPs revealed group differences in verb–construction mismatches at different points in the sentence. The pattern of N400 and P600 responses was partly unexpected. We consider implications for syntax-semantic interactions, integration of wordand clause-level information, second-language learning, and functional correlates of N400 and P600 effects.


A heat transfer model with water coolant in flow boiling conditions for swirl tube elements is simulated customizing a programmable routine and relinking the ANSYS code. The standard ANSYS features calculate the film coefficient for forced convection conditions in the singlephase flow without possibility of take into account flow boiling conditions. The heat transfer coefficient is redefined in a general way customizing ANSYS by a user programmable routine to simulate the actual heat transfer in forced convection and flow boiling conditions. The modified routine is called for each iteration, once per element, and during each sub-step of each load-step. The heat transfer coefficient is calculated as a function of heat flux, surface and coolant temperatures, water saturation curve, fluid dynamic properties of coolant, twist tape pitch, and location. A special function is implemented in the customized routine to reduce significantly the number of solution iterations. This function mitigates the heat flux instabilities due to nucleate boiling in the near-wall surface elements. The customized ANSYS code is used to carry out thermo-hydraulic and thermo-structural analyses for the design of high heat flux components of the neutral beam injector for the international thermonuclear experimental reactor ITER.


We present measurements of the nanoscale elastic and viscoelastic properties of samples of poly(methylmetacrylate) (PMMA)/rubber nanocomposites. For these studies we have used a new technique based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) with ultrasonic excitation, heterodyne force microscopy (HFM), which provides a means of testing the viscoelastic response of polymeric materials locally (in tip-probed regions) at MHz frequencies. Phase-HFM contrast distinguishes local differences in the dynamic response of PMMA/rubber composites. Comparison of HFM with other AFM-based techniques (ultrasonic force microscopy, friction force microscopy and force modulation microscopy), while imaging the same surface region, emphasizes the unique capabilities of HFM for these kinds of studies, and reveals key nanostructural characteristics of the composites. Some of the toughening particles appear to be broken down, with areas of PMMA detached from the surrounding matrix.


The application of point of view (POV) in electronic games has been vastly applied and fast becoming a favorite among electronic games (EG) players particularly in games of action genre like warfare games. While allowing the users to experience the character first-hand, POV has its limitations for users. One example of the problems is the difficulty to anticipate the direction an attack by the enemy from a POV blindspot. Another problem is the difficulty to prepare a strategy. Some players become "somewhat dizzy" and eventually give up the game. This paper elaborates on the development of a framework for interactive montage on EG software interface using ArTerma tools and how the ArTerma tool works in the POV interface. Therefore, to accomplish the development of ArTerma tools, (A1(DDI)2E3) model is used. In (A1(DDI)2E3) model usage, ADDIE model is combined with other model concept such as "DiegesisSpatiality" concept Model, Frame concept model, and Mental concept model has been employed along side an elaboration on case studies. The study hopes that the developed a new model as well as support tool can help improve future EGs.


Indoor mobile robots are widely used in industrial environments such as large logistic warehouses. They are often in charge of collecting or sorting products. For such robots, computation-intensive operations account for a significant percentage of the total energy consumption and consequently affect battery life. Besides, in order to keep both the power consumption and hardware complexity low, simple micro-controllers or single-board computers are used as onboard local control units. This limits the computational capabilities of robots and consequently their performance. Offloading heavy computation to Cloud servers has been a widely used approach to solve this problem for cases where large amounts of sensor data such as real-time video feeds need to be analyzed. More recently, Fog and Edge computing are being leveraged for offloading tasks such as image processing and complex navigation algorithms involving non-linear mathematical operations. In this paper, we present a system architecture for offloading computationally expensive localization and mapping tasks to smart Edge gateways which use Fog services. We show how Edge computing brings computational capabilities of the Cloud to the robot environment without compromising operational reliability due to connection issues. Furthermore, we analyze the power consumption of a prototype robot vehicle in different modes and show how battery life can be significantly improved by moving the processing of data to the Edge layer.


A Code of One's Own is an essay exploring the idea that we can learn about professionalism by reflecting on the humanities. The paper is modeled on Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own which is a series of lectures in six chapters. The essay uses those chapters to develop the idea that lawyers, through self-reflection and observation, can develop a professional code of their own. The paper was developed through co-teaching a course entitled, Law in Literature and Philosophy as well as by attending the Aspen Institute and the Glenmoor Institute of Justice for the Legal Profession, which are both Great Books seminars that examine different aspects of law and society.


The practice of integrative medicine has regained popularity in recent years. As a theoretical framework, integrative medicine is a viable option to consider in place of a traditional medicine model from a patient satisfaction and cost savings viewpoint. The purpose of this paper was to explore the experiences and viewpoints of healthcare professionals in regards to practicing integrative medicine. The Health Belief Model was used as a conceptual framework. Using a quantitative design, health care professionals across a variety of disciplines were recruited from three agencies within the Midwest who currently provide services to patients with an integrative medicine model. A bivariate analysis of the findings was completed utilizing data gathered about health care professionals' length in practice, professional education experiences and beliefs about factors that contribute to patient's adherence to treatment plans. The findings reinforced existing research that in vivo educational experiences have great potential for providing health care professionals opportunities to practice integrative medicine across disciplines. The findings also confirmed that there is a further need for education about the integrative medicine model across all health care disciplines. These findings demonstrate the potential impact social workers can have in the field of integrative medicine through their holistic views of patients and their abilities to lead other health care professionals through promotion of patient health and satisfaction.


Abstract. Ground-based microwave radiometers (MWR) are becoming more and more common for remotely sensing the atmospheric temperature and humidity profile as well as path-integrated cloud liquid water content. The calibration accuracy of the state-of-the-art MWR HATPRO-G2 (Humidity And Temperature Profiler – Generation 2) was investigated during the second phase of the Radiative Heating in Underexplored Bands Campaign (RHUBC-II) in northern Chile (5320 m above mean sea level, 530 hPa) conducted by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program conducted between August and October 2009. This study assesses the quality of the two frequently used liquid nitrogen and tipping curve calibrations by performing a detailed error propagation study, which exploits the unique atmospheric conditions of RHUBC-II. Both methods are known to have open issues concerning systematic offsets and calibration repeatability. For the tipping curve calibration an uncertainty of ±0.1 to ±0.2 K (K-band) and ±0.6 to ±0.7 K (V-band) is found. The uncertainty in the tipping curve calibration is mainly due to atmospheric inhomogeneities and the assumed air mass correction for the Earth curvature. For the liquid nitrogen calibration the estimated uncertainty of ±0.3 to ±1.6 K is dominated by the uncertainty of the reflectivity of the liquid nitrogen target. A direct comparison between the two calibration techniques shows that for six of the nine channels that can be calibrated with both methods, they agree within the assessed uncertainties. For the other three channels the unexplained discrepancy is below 0.5 K. Systematic offsets, which may cause the disagreement of both methods within their estimated uncertainties, are discussed.


The electronic signature is the electronic equivalent of the handwritten signature. In other words, is an electronic system, with the same legal validity, which allows us to print our signature on a digital document. The electronic signature is based on asymmetric cryptography or public key cryptography. In this type of cryptography each user has a pair of mathematically-related keys: one public and one private. The public key is publicly distributed, but the private key is kept secret. The system asymmetry relies on the fact that if a message is encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted with the associated private key, and the other way round. Moreover, one key cannot be derived from the other without additional data. Simplifying a lot, the use of the private key to encrypt a message is a signature since only the owner of the private key can perform the encryption and everyone can decrypt or verify it with the owner's public key. In the last years, the Isigma company is trying to take profit of the great business opportunities that the digital signature offers. Isigma is devoted to build and distribute software related to digital signatures. It's in this company where I have worked and carried out final grade project, which is targeted to implement different improvements and evolutions on an existing Isigma application called ISMe (Identity and Signature Management Enterprise). The ISMe software originally only signed PDF documents and Isigma wanted it to offer more possibilities to the user in order to make it more attractive and effective. For that matter, two main objectives were initially proposed: the extension of ISMe to also allow XML signatures, and the creation of a subapplication that allows clients to directly sign from a company's server. This subapplication would also contain a certificate management system that may allow users to upload or erase their own certificates and private keys. To carry out this project, it has been necessary the study of many technologies, as well as mastering the use of these. This has allowed to implement the desired improvements of the application. The final result of this TFG has satisfactorily achieved all initially planned objectives.


Abstract Electronically conductive adhesives are being considered as an alternative to solder for interconnection in microelectronics. In order to gain insight regarding electrical and mechanical performance properties of this class of adhesive interconnections, overlap joints were made. Joint resistance and mechanical bond strength were measured before and after environmental stressing.


Ian Kershaw's "The End" is a gripping, revelatory account of the final months of the Nazi war machine, from the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in July 1944 to the German surrender in May 1945. In almost every major war there comes a point where defeat looms for one side and its rulers cut a deal with the victors, if only in an attempt to save their own skins. In Hitler's Germany, nothing of this kind happened: in the end the regime had to be stamped out town by town with an almost unprecedented level of brutality. Just what made Germany keep on fighting? Why did its rulers not cut a deal to save their own skins? And why did ordinary people continue to obey the Fuhrer's suicidal orders, with countless Germans executing their own countrymen for desertion or defeatism? Named Book of the Year by the "Sunday Times", "TLS", "Spectator", "Sunday Telegraph", "Daily Mail" and "Scotland on Sunday", Ian Kershaw's "The End" is a searing account that takes us into the heart of the Third Reich's final months, laying bare the fear and fanaticism that drove a nation to destruction. "Nuanced and sophisticated ...undoubtedly a masterpiece". ("Mail on Sunday"). "Gripping yet scholarly ...the best attempt by far to answer the complex question of why Nazi Germany carried on fighting to total self-destruction". (Antony Beevor, "Telegraph"). "Masterly...Kershaw's gripping and boldly intelligent work of scholarship ...will surely become the standard account of the Nazi system's terrible final phase". ("Financial Times"). "Brilliant ...utterly terrifying". ("Sunday Times", Books of the Year). Ian Kershaw (b. 1943) was Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield from 1989-2008, and is one of the world's leading authorities on Hitler. His books include "The 'Hitler Myth'", his two volume biography "Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris" and "Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis", and "Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940-1941". He was knighted in 2002.


Formulated and sporulated cultures of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been widely used against insect pests, but after the advent of genetically modified plants expressing δ-endotoxins, the bioavailability of Cry proteins has been increased. For biosafety reasons their adverse effects should be studied, mainly for non-target organisms. Thus, we evaluated, in Swiss albino mice, the hematotoxicity and genotoxicity of four Bt spore-crystals genetically modified to express individually Cry1Aa, Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac or Cry2A, administered alone by gavage with a single dose of 27 mg/ Kg, 136 mg/Kg or 270 mg/Kg, 24 h, 72 h or 7 days before euthanasia. Binary combinations of these four spore-crystal proteins were also assayed at 270 mg/Kg with a single administration 24 h before euthanasia. Control mice received filtered water or cyclophosphamide at 27 mg/kg. For hematotoxicity evaluations, blood samples were drawn by cardiac puncture and processed in a multiple automated hematology analyzer; for genotoxicity analyses, micronucleus test was carried out in mice bone marrow cells. Spore-crystal administrations provoked selective hematotoxicity for the 3 exposure times, particularly for erythroid lineage. A significant reduction in bone marrow cell proliferation demonstrated cytotoxic but not genotoxic effects. These effects persisted for all exposure times, becoming more evident at 7 days. Similar results were observed for binary combinations at 24 h, suggesting that further studies are required to clarify the mechanism involved in the hematotoxicity found in mice, and to establish the toxicological risks to non-target organisms, especially mammals, before concluding that these microbiological control agents are safe for mammals.


In this thesis we look at 'the solution to the German code machine, the Enigma machine. This solution was originally found by Polish cryptologists. We look at the solution from a historical perspective, but most importantly, from a mathematical point of view. Although there are no complete records of the Polish solution, we try to reconstruct what was done, sometimes filling in blanks, and sometimes finding a more mathematical way than was originally found. We also look at whether the solution would have been possible without the help of information obtained from a German spy.


Plasmonic Ag@ZnO core–shell hybrids, including hetero-nanowires and hetero-nanoparticles, have been synthesized at room temperature for application in photocatalysis. The morphology, size, crystal structure, and composition of the products were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. It was found the concentration of Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and the amount of water play crucial roles in the formation of Ag@ZnO core–shell hybrids. The resultant Ag@ZnO core–shell hybrids exhibit much higher photocatalytic activity and stability towards degradation of organic contaminants than pure ZnO nanocrystals under solar light irradiation. The one-dimensional (1D) core–shell hetero-nanowires prepared under optimal conditions (i.e. 0.6 M Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and 14.5 mL water) exhibit the best photocatalytic performance. The drastic enhancement in photocatalytic activity over the Ag@ZnO core–shell hybrids, especially the 1D core–shell hetero-nanowires, could be attributed to the synergistic effects of the surface ZnO and Ag nanowire cores with the surface plasmon resonance and the electron sink effect, as well as the unique 1D core–shell nanostructure for efficient mass transfer. The possible mechanism for degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under solar light irradiation was discussed. This work provides a very convenient chemical route to prepare stable and highly efficient solar light driven plasmonic core–shell Ag@ZnO photocatalysts for cost-effective water purification.


Large-scale bird monitoring can provide valuable insights about drivers of population change across different spatial and temporal scales. Yet, challenging terrain and survey costs hinder the collection of data needed to estimate absolute abundance or population densities for New Zealand's forest birds. Acoustic sampling is being used more frequently to increase efficiency in avian monitoring and paired sampling facilitates robust density estimation from acoustic data. In paired sampling, point counts are conducted simultaneously by human observers and autonomous recording units (ARUs) to allow estimation of statistical offsets that correct biases in ARU data relative to human observers. These offsets can then be used to calibrate count data collected only by ARUs in a larger sampling scheme. However, the effectiveness of paired sampling has not yet been evaluated in New Zealand. We assessed bias in bird counts from ARUs relative to traditional point counts and evaluated whether paired sampling reduced ARU bias, when present, at 280 count stations in six indigenous forest patches on the North Island from January to April 2017. For 13 forest bird species, we estimated δ, a statistical offset that represents the ratio of the effective detection radius (EDR) of the ARU data to human count data and compared bias in density estimates from ARUs relative to human observers between models with and without δ offsets. We found that δ estimates of EDR ratios were near 1.0 and 95% confidence intervals around δ overlapped 1.0 for nine of 13 species. Furthermore, densities produced by ARU counts were unbiased relative to human point counts for nine of 13 species. When models included δ offsets, ARU density estimate bias was removed for all species. Thus, paired acoustic sampling offers a promising strategy for increasing the efficiency, and spatial and temporal coverage of bird population monitoring across New Zealand.


Phytophthora ramorum is an invasive pathogen in some mixed-hardwood forests in California and southwestern Oregon, where it causes sudden oak death (SOD) on some members of Fagaceae, ramorum shoot dieback on some members of Ericaceae and conifers, and ramorum leaf blight on diverse hosts. We compared symptoms of P. ramorum infection resulting from four different artificial inoculation techniques with the symptoms of natural infection on 49 western forest trees and shrubs; 80% proved susceptible to one degree or another. No single inoculation method predicted the full range of symptoms observed in the field, but whole plant dip came closest. Detached-leaf-dip inoculation provided a rapid assay and permitted a reasonable assessment of susceptibility to leaf blight. Both leaf age and inoculum dose affected detached-leaf assays. SOD and dieback hosts often developed limited leaf symptoms, although the pattern of midrib and petiole necrosis was distinctive. Stem-wound inoculation of seedlings correlated with field symptoms for several hosts. The results suggested that additional conifer species may be damaged in the field. Log inoculation provided a realistic test of susceptibility to SOD, but was cumbersome and subject to seasonal variability. Pacific rhododendron, salmonberry, cascara, and poison oak were confirmed as hosts by completing Koch's postulates. Douglas-fir was most susceptible to shoot dieback shortly after budburst, with infection occurring at the bud.


Our science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce is crucial to America's innovative capacity and global competitiveness. Yet women are vastly underrepresented in STEM jobs and among STEM degree holders despite making up nearly half of the U.S. workforce and half of the college-educated workforce. That leaves an untapped opportunity to expand STEM employment in the United States, even as there is wide agreement that the nation must do more to improve its competitiveness.Although women fill close to half of all jobs in the U.S. economy, they hold less than 25 percent of STEM jobs. This has been the case throughout the past decade, even as college-educated women have increased their share of the overall workforce.Women with STEM jobs earned 33 percent more than comparable women in non-STEM jobs – considerably higher than the STEM premium for men. As a result, the gender wage gap is smaller in STEM jobs than in non-STEM jobs.Women hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduate degrees, particularly in engineering.Women with a STEM degree are less likely than their male counterparts to work in a STEM occupation; they are more likely to work in education or healthcare.There are many possible factors contributing to the discrepancy of women and men in STEM jobs, including: a lack of female role models, gender stereotyping, and less family-friendly flexibility in the STEM fields. Regardless of the causes, the findings of this report provide evidence of a need to encourage and support women in STEM.


We use active and passive traffic measurements to identify the issues involved in the deployment of a voice service over a tier-1 IP backbone network. Our findings indicate that no specific handling of voice packets (i.e. QoS differentiation) is needed in the current backbone but new protocols and mechanisms need to be introduced to provide a better protection against link failures. We discover that link failures may be followed by long periods of routing instability, during which packets can be dropped because forwarded along invalid paths. We also identify the need for a new family of quality of service mechanisms based on fast protection of traffic and high availability of the service rather than performance in terms of delay and loss.


Title of Dissertation: LOCKED UP: EXPLORING THE COMPLEX NATURE OF CONFLICTING VALUES SYSTEMS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON WORK ATTITUDES Katherine A. DeCelles, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Directed By: Professor Paul E. Tesluk, Management and Organization Department Values are individuals' enduring perspectives on what is fundamentally right or wrong (Rokeach, 1973). These perspectives affect how people interpret their surroundings and interactions with others; individuals act in accordance with, and judge others' behavior by, what they believe is right (Bandura, 1991). Values have been studied extensively in the organizational literature, focusing on how individuals' values (such as honesty or achievement) affect their job attitudes (such as organizational commitment and job satisfaction; Ravlin & Meglino, 1987). While values and their effects on employees have been widely studied (Braithwaite, 1994; Cable & Edwards, 2004; Judge & Bretz, 1992; Rokeach, 1973; Ravlin & Meglino, 1987; Schwartz, 1992, 1994; Tsui & O'Reilly, 1989), they are often categorized into competing or conflicting frameworks (e.g., Cameron & Quinn, 1999; Schwartz, 1994). However, emerging evidence suggests that some competing values might actually be held simultaneously by individuals (Braithwaite, 1994; El-Sawad, Arnold, & Cohen, 2004; Kerlinger, 1983; Tetlock, 1986). If this paradoxical scenario is true, these values may actually interact, rather than displace one another. While cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) and balance theory (Heider, 1946) --central in psychology and organizational literature --predict that individuals cannot hold conflicting values simultaneously without suffering from negative consequences like stress, I argue otherwise. This dissertation examines the extent to which individuals can hold conflicting values simultaneously rather than dichotomously, explores the mechanisms through which they do so, and also examines the effects of such value composition on employee attitudes. This is accomplished through two studies: first, a survey-based examination, and second, an in-depth inductive study. Both of these studies investigate these questions about conflicting values in a sample of correctional officers, and their values towards crime (punitive and rehabilitative ideals). Results indicate support that conflicting values can be simultaneously held by individuals, and that they interact to produce positive, rather than negative, job attitudes. More specifically, I find that correctional officers who hold both of these values have higher levels of perceived fit with their organization, higher levels of organizational commitment, and lower levels of burnout than officers of other value combinations. Inductive results of the qualitative portion also add explanatory value to the question of why and how this can happen; qualitative results show that correctional officers often draw from both value-perspectives in order to complete their difficult job duties in effective and balanced ways. LOCKED UP: EXPLORING THE COMPLEX NATURE OF CONFLICTING VALUES SYSTEMS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON WORK ATTITUDES


The results of research performed in computational robot dynamics to achieve real-time simulation of a manipulator on a general-purpose vector/parallel computer are presented. After effective vectorization of the complex dynamics equations required in simulation, a coarse-grain parallel block predictor-corrector (BPC) method for performing the motion integration was realized on multiple processors to exploit a form of temporal parallelism. Results on a CRAY Y-MP8/864 show that effective use of vectorization and parallelization yields an order of magnitude speedup resulting in a computational rate 50 times faster than real-time for end-effector position errors on the order of a micron. This translates to real-time performance on a less powerful parallel computing system. >


Online monitoring of aluminium primary production raw gas is challenging due to the high concentration of HF in the presence of water. Tunable Diode Laser (TDL) analyzers retrofitted with sapphire optical windows allow for online monitoring of raw gas composistion. These systems are however limited to one or two gas constituents. In order to make use of multi-component analyzers like Fourier-Transform InfraRed Spectrometers (FTIR), HF must be selectively removed by filtration. This work presents some results from complete mapping of raw gas composition by comparing results from HF filtrated as well as non-filtrated measurements. The multivariate calibration models established for mapping of the raw gas is discussed. Open-path FTIR spectroscopy was applied in order to quantify fugitive emissions of HF and SO2. Quantitation showed good correlation with reported emissions. Monitoring of fugitive PFC emissions was also evaluated.


B cells are a heterogeneous population in immune defense system with multidirectional functions. In cancer patients, B cell infiltrates are associated with a significant increase of overall survival. We have recently developed a GM-CSF and IL-4 derived fusion cytokine named GIFT4, which has the capability to prime naive B cells into anti-tumor immune effector cells. Herein, we overview current research findings on B cell anti-tumor functions and B cell-based approaches for cancer immunotherapy. We predict that GIFT4- augmented B cells as a potent cellular therapeutic could provide a new approach for cancer immunotherapy.


To mobilize America's intellectual resources to meet the security challenges of the post-9/11 world, US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates observed that "we must again embrace eggheads and ideas." But the gap between national security policymakers and international relations scholars has become a chasm. This book traces the history of the relationship between the Beltway and the Ivory Tower from World War I to the present day. Recounting key Golden Age academic strategists such as Thomas Schelling and Walt Rostow, the book shows that social science research became most oriented toward practical problem-solving during times of war and that scholars returned to less relevant work during peacetime. Social science disciplines like political science rewarded work that was methodologically sophisticated over scholarship that engaged with the messy realities of national security policy, and academic culture increasingly turned away from the job of solving real-world problems. In the name of scientific objectivity, academics today frequently engage only in basic research that they hope will somehow trickle down to policymakers. Drawing on the lessons of this history as well as a unique survey of current and former national security policymakers, the book offers concrete recommendations for scholars who want to shape government work. The result is a rich intellectual history and an essential wake-up call to a field that has lost its way.


The contact free conductivity measurement is a noninvasive method to find electrical characteristics of tissue that can be used e.g. for monitoring. The system consists of an excitation coil and two sensing coils coupled together as a gradiometer. The excitation coil is driven by an alternating current. Due to this alternating magnetic field eddy currents are generated in the tissue that create a secondary magnetic field. Because of the geometrical arrangement, the induced voltage of the secondary field in the upper and the lower coil is different. The presented sensor can be used e.g. for detection of ischemic areas, monitoring wound healing or detection of hematoma beneath the skull. To demonstrate this sensor, two measurements are carried out to detect post mortem changes in a pig liver. The known characteristics from literature can be reproduced using a noncontact method. For this purpose frequencies between 50 kHz and 400 kHz are used. At a frequency of 350 kHz a phase shift of 0.3 degrees is observed post mortem after 2 to 4 hours corresponding to a conductivity change of approximately 0.4 S/m.


Corporate equity market values, profitability, and intangible investment have reached high proportions of income. Are these investments and their outcomes evidence of a wellfunctioning society? We do not see the rapid growth in aggregate measures of output that would justify these investments and rewards. And why did the yield curve invert as the U.S. federal funds rate reached 2⅜ percent in early 2019, if the inflation rate was near 2 percent? We present the broad case that mismeasurement of growth and prices accelerated in the U.S. during the 21st century and may be responsible for the appearance of secular stagnation in the U.S. We argue that it is possible that productivity growth has accelerated and that prices have been deflating during much of the 21st century. The evidence is very incomplete; large uncertainties surround these estimates. Indeed, the main message of this paper is that uncertainty in economic measurement has risen substantially.


This thesis presents the micro-fabrication process of a Long Range Surface Plasmon Polariton (LRSPP) biosensor device. The fabrication process was modified in two aspects which include adding a channel etch stop layer to improve the accuracy and uniformity of channels in the device and replacing the photoresist etching mask by an Al etching mask to avoid the thermal cracking. The optical performance of the fabricated chips shows that the biosensor has a 5.03dB/mm attenuation loss and has a 0.10dB response for a monolayer of BSA on Au waveguides. CYTOP bonding process was introduced in the fabrication of the device that incorporates a glass cover. A glass wafer was successfully bonded to a silicon wafer by CYTOP bonding process to seal the channels, which ensured an isolated testing environment for the biochemical fluid.


The sensitivity of a regional climate model (RCM) to lateral boundary forcing (by different numerical weather prediction analysis products and by various temperature perturbations) and to the initial conditions is evaluated for a pan-Arctic domain. The Study focuses on seasonal simulations over the period of the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean project from October 1997 to September 1998. Small perturbations in the initial and/or lateral boundary conditions can make the model diverge from driving large-scale fields, and the extent to which this Occurs depends on the control of the model by the lateral boundary forcing, not on the origin of the perturbation. The model response to a perturbation does not depend on the type of perturbation, and it is largely independent of the magnitude as well as of the source of the perturbation. Both small and large temperature perturbations have similar consequences for the monthly mean atmospheric patterns and the root mean square difference, but the model response depends on the season. Two regimes in the internal variability were found: (1) large variability in autumn/winter and (2) smaller variability in summer The pronounced magnitude of internal variability must be taken into account in discussing the significance of climate change and climate sensitivity signals in Arctic RCMs.


Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is one of the most important artificial intelligent algorithms used for classification problems. The structure of ANN depends on the learning algorithm used for adjusting the weights between neurons of the layers according to the calculated error between model value and the real value. Recently the weights between layers in ANN has been optimized by using metaheuristic optimization algorithms. One of the recent high performance nonlinear optimization algorithms is Artificial Algae Algorithm (AAA) which is a bioinspired, successful, competitive and robust optimization algorithm. In this study, AAA was used as a tool for optimization of the weights in ANN algorithm. ANN and AAA was combined such that the training step of the ANN modeling to be performed by AAA. After training, ANN continues testing with the optimized weights. The established model combination (AAANN) was tested on three benchmarked datasets (Iris, Thyroid and Dermatology) of the UCI Machine Learning Repository to indicate the performance of this hybrid structure. The results were compared with MLP algorithm in terms of Mean Absolute Error (MAE). Accordingly, up to 96% reduction in mean MSE levels could be achieved by AAANN for all models.


James M. Mellard. Using Lacan, Reading Fiction. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1991. xviii + 244 pp. $14.95 paper.Despite the lead given by Shoshana Felman's ground-breaking psychoanalytic-Lacanian analysis of Henry James's novella, The Turn of the Screw, the practical application on a large scale of the theories of Jacques Lacan to literary texts has not really happened. There has not been the appearance of Lacanian literary analysis as a major field in the manner of, say, the co-optation of Michel Foucault by New Historicism. This relative neglect of Lacan does nothing to suggest his importance outside the discipline of psychoanalysis as a key thinker within what is called poststructuralism.Of course, significant post-Lacanian interpretations of particular authors have appeared, particularly those whose writings and lives have seemed to lend themselves to psychoanalytic interpretation: studies of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf spring most readily to mind. In film studies, a certain model of Lacanian thinking proved for a while to be a significant force or fashion, depending on one's perspective. However, with the exception of the occasional inclusion of Lacan in a general poststructuralist mode of interpretation and, excluding those theoretical texts that talk about theory rather than demonstrating the use of "theory" in the interpretation of literature (not that this should necessarily be perceived as a fault), there is a significant lack of a Lacanian scene, to borrow some of Lacan's own language.This state of things may have not a little to do with the well-known obscurity, whether in French or English, of Lacan's own prose. The early suggestive leads for interpretation provided by Lacan himself, most notably in Ecrits, have not been taken very far. Worrying at how best to make Lacan's theory of the mirror stage generally. applicable to the forms and functions of a literary text soon runs out of mileage; and if this result is all that we are going to lay claim to in Lacan's discourse, we can hardly contend that he should be taken seriously in relation to literary criticism.James M. Mellard usefully addresses all of these issues along with other significant points relating to the reading and use of Lacan in his preface and introduction to Using Lacan, Reading Fiction, as well as offering lucid, cogently reasoned performances of "applied Lacan" with carefully and clearly laid-out, systematic readings of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Henry James's "The Beast in the Jungle," and Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse.The book is constructed in five main sections, each of which is divided into principal areas of concern. In addition to a general bibliography a specific bibliography complements each chapter. This careful breakdown with differently emphasized areas of attention is helpful for the reader, for it allows a gradual understanding of the numerous issues "in" Lacan by drawing the issues into focus in a manner most appropriate to the subject. The central three chapters deal with the literary texts and offer readings of the literary texts already mentioned. These are each arranged economically, not only so that one witnesses Mellard's understanding and mastery of Lacanian discourse, but also so that each literary text comes to shed light for the reader on key elements of Lacanian textuality; elements such as the mirror state, L'Objet Petit A, desire, jouissance, the decentering of the Subject through entry into language, the Gaze, and other important Lacanian tropes. The concluding chapter offers a reading of Woolf's To the Lighthouse, while underlabouring--to borrow a suitable term from John Locke--the theoretical ground around the notoriously difficult Lacanian concept of the Real.This process of double reading has important pedagogical ramifications especially with regard to the teaching of undergraduates from theoretical perspectives. We comprehend Lacan through Woolf, through Hawthorne, through James. …


Administration of pimobendan to dogs with preclinical myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) with cardiomegaly (stage B2 mitral valve disease, Atkins et al., 2009) has been shown to extend the asymptomatic period by an average of 15 months, and dogs receiving the drug live significantly longer than those receiving a placebo (Boswood et al., 2016).

The identification in general veterinary practice of patients with MMVD who could benefit from this medication relies heavily on the accurate identification of a heart murmur on a physical examination and identification of cardiomegaly, including left atriomegaly, on thoracic radiographs.

Little is known about the ability of general practitioners to identify these patients accurately. To investigate this in more detail, practitioner record keeping in relation to cardiovascular parameters, practitioner accuracy in interpretation of cardiac murmurs (Chapter 1) and practitioner accuracy in identification of cardiomegaly and left atriomegaly on thoracic radiographs (Chapter 2) was assessed. To identify methods that might aid the detection of cardiovascular disease in general practice, the value of focused echocardiography was assessed.

Record keeping by general veterinary practitioners for important cardiovascular parameters was markedly limited in standard. General practitioners, compared with a referral clinician consensus opinion, agreed substantially on murmur grade (K = 0.7), agreed perfectly on murmur timing (K = 1.0) and moderately on the site of maximum intensity of murmurs (K = 0.5).

These findings would suggest that practitioners are able to accurately grade a heart murmur and therefore could potentially correctly select patients who would benefit from further investigation, confirming the cause of the murmur as MMVD and therefore potentially benefit from medication. However due to poor record keeping, the loss of information may prevent the identification of patients in early stages of heart disease or patients who might benefit from further cardiovascular investigation.

When assessing thoracic radiographs for changes associated with MMVD (Chapter II), general practitioners were found to have a high level of accuracy in the detection of patients with marked generalised cardiomegaly (median number of images correctly identified was 100%) and patients with no left atrial enlargement (median number of images correctly identified was 80%) using subjective methods of assessment. However, their accuracy was lower in detection of those with mild changes (median number of images correctly identified with mild cardiomegaly and mild left atrial enlargement was 66.67%). Whilst practitioners were accurate in their ability to measure a vertebral heart score (VHS), the lack of a clear upper limit for VHS meant that VHS added no significant value in aiding correct diagnosis.

Patients in stage B2 MMVD (Atkins et al., 2009) have mild changes on thoracic radiographs, therefore this research suggests that in general practice patients in the early stages of cardiac remodelling, and those who might benefit greatly from medication, may go undiagnosed. This highlights that radiographic examination may not be sufficiently reliable in the evaluation of mild cardiomegaly and emphasizes the need for echocardiography to assist in the detection of patients with B2 MMVD.

The introduction of the novel tool of focused echocardiography (Chapter 3) significantly improved general practitioner's ability to correctly identify cardiac anatomy on echocardiography, detect left atrial enlargement, detect reduced systolic function and detect pericardial effusion (p<0.0001), practically obtain the views required to make these assessments, and improved their confidence in both image interpretation and practical acquisition.
In relation to detection of MMVD, following the training course in focussed echocardiography, the mean accuracy of identification of normal left atrial size, a mildly enlarged left atrium and severely enlarged left atrium was 88%. Post training, 95% of practitioners were able to correctly identify a severely enlarged left atrium.

These results suggest that the addition of the focused echocardiogram to general practice could aid earlier detection of patients in stage B2 MMVD or greater by detection of left atrial enlargement. These patients could then benefit from an echocardiogram and potentially benefit from the positive effects of pimobendan.


OBJECTIVES
Children and youth have been shown to be vulnerable to negative mental and behavioral health consequences following mass disasters and terrorist attacks. The purpose of this article was to identify the primary roles and responsibilities of public health agencies and systems that both promote resiliency and reduce the mental health risks to children and their families following disastrous events.

METHODS
The authors conducted a review and synthesis of public and mental health research literatures, resources, and policies focused on mental and behavioral health outcomes in children and families in the aftermath of disasters.

RESULTS
The available research evidence supported the contention that children experience heightened psychosocial vulnerabilities and lasting psychosocial burdens following disasters. The major roles that public health organizations and systems can play to both prevent and deter such harmful mental and behavioral health impacts of disasters during all phases of the disaster cycle were identified.

CONCLUSIONS
The roles identified that public health organizations and systems can undertake included coordination and collaboration with various local and federal agencies, advocacy and promotion of community resilience, deterring harmful effects of disastrous events by assessment, screening, case finding and education, training of personnel, guiding interventions, formulating policy, and conducting research investigations.


INTRODUCTION
The patterns and reasons for antiretroviral therapy (ART) drug substitutions are poorly described in resource-limited settings.

METHODS
Time to and reason for drug substitution were recorded in treatment-naive adults receiving ART in two primary care treatment programmes in Cape Town. The cumulative proportion of patients having therapy changed because of toxicity was described for each drug, and associations with these changes were explored in multivariate models.

RESULTS
Analysis included 2,679 individuals followed for a median of 11 months. Median CD4+ T-cell count at baseline was 85 cells/microl. Mean weight was 59 kg, mean age was 32 years and 71% were women. All started non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based ART (60% on efavrienz) and 75% started on stavudine (d4T). After 3 years, 75% remained in care on-site, of whom 72% remained on their initial regimen. Substitutions due to toxicity of nevirapine (8% by 3 years), efavirenz (2%) and zidovudine (8%) occurred early. Substitutions on d4T occurred in 21% of patients by 3 years, due to symptomatic hyperlactataemia (5%), lipodystrophy (9%) or peripheral neuropathy (6%), and continued to accumulate over time. Those at greatest risk of hyperlactataemia or lipodystrophy were women on ART > or =6 months, weighing > or =75 kg at baseline.

DISCUSSION
A high proportion of adult patients are able to tolerate their initial ART regimen for up to 3 years. In most instances treatment-limiting toxicities occur early, but continue to accumulate over time in patients on d4T. Whilst awaiting other treatment options, the risks of known toxicities could be minimized through early identification of patients at the highest risk.