This thesis defines digestion kinetics for perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), which is the main component of diets fed to dairy cows in New Zealand. Chemical composition and digestion kinetics were measured in fresh minced ryegrass as it matured and leaf, stem and inflorescence of several grass species. In sacco and in vitro incubations were used to define rates of degradation and nutrient release. Two short-term grazing trials were used to evaluate contrasting silages as supplements for cows fed restricted amounts of summer pasture. The minced preparation of ryegrass resulted in a similar distribution of dry matter (DM) between particle size fraction and rumen digesta from cows fed pasture. Mincing released 0.46 – 0.80 of crude protein into the soluble fraction, with highest proportions for mature grasses which had low CP concentrations (about 8 g CP/100 g DM). In contrast, the majority of fibre remained in the insoluble fraction but rates of degradation (k) approximately halved as grass matured. In vitro yield of VFA was similar for immature and mature minced ryegrass (after 12 hours VFA was equivalent to about 30% of DM), even though ammonia concentration declined to very low values for stem and mature grass. This suggests the rapid initial microbial growth was able to sustain a high level of DM degradation to VFA with mature grass. The summer pasture used for silage supplementation was of uncharacteristically good quality so the expected contrasts between maize, pasture, sulla (Hedysarum coronarium), lotus (Lotus corniculatus) and sulla/maize silage mixtures were less than expected. Milk responses to lotus silage supplements were greater than other silages (e.g.: 290 g milksolids from 54 MJ ME by lotus versus 110 g milksolids from about 50 MJ ME supplied by other silages). Pasture substitution was low (0.06 – 0.33). The Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) was chosen for evaluation of cow trial data because it uses feed degradation parameters as input variables to estimate nutrient supply. Model prediction of milk yield matched observed values when cows maintained liveweight. Milk yield was underestimated at low intakes and overestimated at high intakes because no allowance is made for nutrient partitioning between milk production and liveweight change.


In this book Kaj GrA?nbA?k and Randall H. Trigg present a set of principles for the design of open hypermedia systems and provide concrete implications of these principles for issues ranging from data structures to architectures and system integration, and for settings as diverse as the World Wide Web and the workplace.The principles, which cover both hypermedia system processing and data structures, reflect results from decades of hypermedia research, including the popular Dexter hypertext reference model and the authors own extended object-oriented version of the Dexter model. One important principle is the notion of links as first-class objects outside the data. Emerging systems such as HyperWave, Microcosm, and Devise Hypermedia apply this principle to extend the capabilities of the Web. The authors also discuss the management of incomplete and dangling links, time-based media including video and sound, support for collaboration and shared hypermedia structures, worldwide distribution, and integration of third-party applications in open hypermedia systems.


The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative's Next Generation Learner researchers previously investigated whether five video game design features hypothesized to be contained within Portal 2 might increase cognitive adaptability (CA). Their results highlighted a lack of understanding of the cognitive elements of video games within the literature. Subsequently, a protocol for applying cognitive task analysis (CTA) to video games was developed and a CTA was performed on Portal 2 to understand the cognitive components, decisions, and knowledge needed for successful gameplay, as well as to gain a detailed understanding of its design. As a result of the CTA, a compendium of within-level tasks and puzzles the player must complete, referred to as "micro-puzzles," was compiled, and mapped to the five design features for CA. Results from the initial study showed that certain measures of CA were increased in those playing Portal 2; however, the design of Portal 2 was treated as a "black box." Through performing a CTA, the presence of the five design characteristics for adaptability was validated by location and by micro-puzzle. Although precisely identified and mapped by game location, there were no specific alignments identified between cognitive measures and micro-puzzle attributes, or between micro-puzzle typology and design feature support. For this reason, the researchers are cognitively codifying micro-puzzles in Portal 2 by type according to their measurable cognitive attributes. This involves defining the micro-puzzles and mapping them to cognitive skills, measurable by the CANTAB battery of tests for CA, followed by empirical testing in the game environment. This paper details this codification and mapping, as well as efforts to build levels in Portal 2 based upon this information in order to cultivate specific cognitive skills, empirically validate the correlation of puzzle type in-game to cognitive gains, and further validate hypothesized game design features to improve cognitive functioning.


ISP networks have become a critical infrastructure in our society. Traffic in these networks is growing and is increasingly dominated by a small number of large CDNs connecting at multiple locations. Simultaneously, the networks are becoming more flexible, in terms of routing, CDN user mapping, and also regarding the IP topology: emerging optical technologies allow to flexibly reconfigure the network. This paper studies the potential gains of these reconfiguration flexibilities. The idea is to make CDN-ISP infrastructure demand-aware, that is, to re-optimize it towards the changing end-user demands over time. We present an optimization framework and conduct an extensive evaluation using data from a large European ISP. We find that such a reconfigurable infrastructure has indeed a high potential: by leveraging spatial and diurnal traffic patterns, the efficiency of ISP networks and CDNs is improved significantly. Specifically, the required backbone capacity is reduced by 15% while reducing path lengths by 30%, on average and during the critical peak hour. Moreover, such infrastructures can leverage re-optimizations during specific events, like the COVID-19 pandemic, and under link failures. We optimistically assume a cooperative environment of ISPs and CDNs, and we conclude by discussing trends that foster the identified benefits in practice.


Loulo is a world-class orogenic gold district in SW Mali. The mininig district is comprised of two major operational mines at Yalea (6.5 Moz at 4.7 g/t) and Gara (3.7 Moz at 4.1 g/t), plus numerous satellite deposits and other prospective targets, which takes Loulo's overall resource to 14.4 Moz. Two distinct types of ore deposit are recognised. Gara-style deposits are Fe-rich and characterised by a Fe-Cu-REE-Au-Ni-W-As ± Co-Ag-Pd metal association. Yalea-style, As-rich, deposits exhibit more typical orogenic gold features with a metal signature consisting of Fe-As-Cu-W-Au-Pb-Sb-Ag.
Investigations into the source and composition of the auriferous fluids indicate two styles of ore fluid were responsible for mineralisation: (1) a 'Gara-style' oxidised (FM-buffered), high temperature (>400 °C), hypersaline (35-55 wt.% NaCl equiv.), Na-Fe-Cl-B-bearing magmatic fluid; and (2) a 'Yalea-style' reduced (QFM-buffered), lower temperature (300-350 °C), low-salinity (<10 wt.% NaCl equiv.) C0[sub]2-N[sub]2-H[sub]2S-rich metamorphic fluid. The identification of hypersaline Na-Fe chloride-rich fluid inclusions questions the metamorphic fluid paradigm for orogenic gold deposits. Field, petrographic and isotopic studies also provide convincing evidence that magmatic fluids played an integral role in gold mineralisation. These include: (1) the presence of a significant boron anomaly along the length of the Senegal-Mali Shear Zone (which hosts Loulo and other large gold deposits such as Sadiola), typified in Loulo by the presence of large volumes of replacive epigenetic tourmaline; (2) widespread pink sodic alteration; (3) the spatial association with iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits in the adjacent Faleme district in Senegal; (4) the presence of Ni-Co sulphides and abundant REE-W minerals in the ore paragenetic assemblage; and (5) carbon isotopes overlapping the magmatic field (e.g. Gara vein ankerites show [delta][sup]13C compositions from -14.4 to -4.5%).
Both metamorphic and magmatic fluids were capable of carrying gold as either bi-sulphide complexes or oxidised chloride complexes, respectively. In the Gara-style orebodies, mineralisation was controlled by the mixing of these two fluids, which resulted in changes in temperature, pH and f0[sub]2, and caused retrograde boiling ofthe CO[sub]2 component. This style of Loulo orebody contains distinct mineralogical and fluid inclusion characteristics, and it is therefore proposed that Gara-style orebodies represent a new sub-class of orogenic gold deposit, with evidence suggesting possible links with IOCG/skarn mineralisation. In the Yalea-style orebodies, mineralisation is confined to metamorphic fluids with the principal mineralisation trap linked to fluid immiscibility during fluctuations in pressure and/or temperature, and fluid-rock interactions with reduced host sediments. Chemisorption processes may also have played a role in gold deposition to account for the high levels of refractory gold in arsenopyrite.


The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of beginning secondary school teachers in Ghana: their challenges, induction process, and the support available for them, and identify the need for a formal induction and mentoring policy for beginning teachers. Beginning secondary school teachers reported many challenges including delayed payment of salaries, problems with classroom management and assessment, and inadequate learning materials. The findings suggest that beginning teachers were not properly inducted into the teaching profession. Therefore, there is need for the government to create formal induction and mentoring policy for beginning teachers.


The present book gives an extensive overview of all relevant natural products extractable from woody plants. The chemical properties of these products, their biosynthesis within the cell and the evolution of the respective primary and secondary pathways in woody plants are described. Various carbohydrates, sugars or oligosaccharides, nitrogeneous extractives, such as proteins or alkaloids as well as terpenoids, waxes, lignans, steroids are treated in detail. The role of these exudates and extractives in protecting wood, their effects on the utilization of wood and especially the frequent utilization of extractives by man are discussed.


Introduction Successful post-operative telerehabilitation following total knee replacement (TKR) has been documented using synchronous (real-time) video. Bandwidth and the need for expensive hardware are cited as barriers to implementation. Web-based asynchronous visual platforms promise to address these problems but have not been evaluated. We performed a randomized control study comparing an asynchronous video-based software platform to in-person outpatient physical therapy visits following TKR. Materials and methods Fifty-one patients were randomized to either the intervention group, using an asynchronous video application on a mobile device, or the traditional group undergoing outpatient physical therapy. Outcome data were collected using validated instruments prior to surgery and at a minimum three-month follow-up. Results Twenty-nine patients completed the study. There were no statistically significant differences in any clinical outcome between groups. The satisfaction with care was equivalent between groups. Overall utilization of hospital-based resources was 60% less than for the traditional group. Discussion We report that clinical outcomes following asynchronous telerehabilitation administered over the web and through a hand-held device were not inferior to those achieved with traditional care. Outpatient resource utilization was lower. Patient satisfaction was high for both groups. The results suggest that asynchronous telerehabilitation may be a more practical alternative to real-time video visits and are clinically equivalent to the in-person care model.


Previously known as "Character Merchandising", this is the only book available that deals with the particular problems which arise in relation to merchandising in the UK. Examining important issues to be considered by the owners and the licensee, it offers information in a concise and readily accessible format and includes invaluable precedents such as licensing agreements, cross-border licences and a representation agreement. Covering the UK plus 5 key international jurisdictions: Australia; Canada; France; Germany; and USA, this new edition has been brought right up-to-date and includes updated coverage of trade marks law (including Arsenal v Reed), revised content to take account of the Act 1998, and changes to copyright law, in the US in particular.


Abstract. In the present research, we exploited a continuous hydrological simulation to investigate on key variables responsible of flood peak formation. With this purpose, a distributed hydrological model (DREAM) is used in cascade with a rainfall generator (IRP-Iterated Random Pulse) to simulate a large number of extreme events providing insight into the main controls of flood generation mechanisms. Investigated variables are those used in theoretically derived probability distribution of floods based on the concept of partial contributing area (e.g. Iacobellis and Fiorentino, 2000). The continuous simulation model is used to investigate on the hydrological losses occurring during extreme events, the variability of the source area contributing to the flood peak and its lag-time. Results suggest interesting simplification for the theoretical probability distribution of floods according to the different climatic and geomorfologic environments. The study is applied to two basins located in Southern Italy with different climatic characteristics.


Thromboembolic events represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and they may occur both at the gastrointestinal tract and at extraintestinal sites. This study aimed to examine the alterations in coagulation parameters involved at different steps of hemostasis in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, in comparison with healthy individuals. Fifty-one patients with inflammatory bowel disease and 26 healthy controls were included in this study. Plasma levels of PT, APTT, AT III, plasminogen, fibrinogen, D-dimer, factor V, factor VIII, protein C, protein S, and APCR were measured and factor V Leiden mutation was examined in both patients and controls. Two patients with ulcerative colitis had a history of previous thromboembolic event. Inflammatory bowel disease was associated with significantly higher levels of fibrinogen, PT, factor V, factor VIII, plasminogen and thrombocyte. Protein S, fibrinogen, plasminogen and thrombocyte levels were associated with disease activity, depending on the type of the disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis). The coagulation abnormalities detected in this study seems to be a secondary phenomena resulting from the disease process, which is more likely to be associated with a multitude of factors rather than a single abnormality.


Reaching an outcome that they admitted to appear unjust, the judges of the Supreme Court of Canada in Schreyer v Schreyer affirmed that the husband's discharge from bankruptcy released him from an unliquidated equalization claim owed to his wife under provincial family law. The Court's assertions that the outcome, though unavoidable, looked unfair and that Parliament should amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act invite further analysis. The Court might have been less prescriptive in its call for reform, given that its judgment did not attend to complexities arising from the provincial law respecting spousal entitlements and exemptions from seizure. The first part of this paper presents the facts and decision. The second part critically draws out the Court's attitude towards variation within family law across Canada, notably its objection to the ordinary effects of divided legislative competence in a federation and to doctrinal distinctions. The third part highlights the potential role of an application for lifting the bankruptcy stay. The Court approved that remedial route for spouses regarding assets that are exempt from seizure and this endorsement may be the judgment's most lasting contribution. The fourth part argues that the Court's focus on the federal statute and on exempt assets as a class led it to overlook the specificity of the asset at issue, a family farm. The source of injustice to women underscored by this judgment may lie not in federal law, but in provincial law and policy. That is, even absent a bankruptcy, gendered assumptions about the character of farm families and the overweening concern for preserving family farms may deprive a spouse of her equitable share of family property.


Intensive care and the intensive care techniques in use have considerably changed our attitude towards death and dying–a process that had already been medicalized and professionalized. This study of four intensive care units (ICUs) in France and Britain brings to light the reality of death-related practices and resituates that reality at the core of professional relations and personal experience. Study results strongly suggest that the end-of-life decision is a genuine social construction: far from being purely objective and medical, it is heavily conditioned by context and actors' commitment. The search for professional autonomy and self-regulation has increased the ambivalence of the dying process, already complex because governed by extremely heterogeneous types of logic. This study shows that patient's death in an ICU is more dependant on the organization and culture of the ICU than on patient's own wishes or those of close relatives.


The first evidence for the synthesis of a uniform, adhesive polyethylene–FeOx (PE–FeOx) surface leading efficiently to bacterial inactivation is addressed in this study. PE was loaded with 0.04–0.08% Fe wt/wt PE after RF-plasma pretreatment was required to increase the active sites/polarity and roughness to adhere FeOx on PE. The repetitive bacterial inactivation proceeded in a stable way for several cycles. The oxidative radicals leading to bacterial inactivation under aerobic/anaerobic conditions were investigated by the use of appropriate scavengers. By X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS) the changes on the PE–FeOx oxidation states and spectroscopic features during bacterial inactivation were monitored. The regeneration of the initial Fe-oxidation state and consequently of the initial Fe-oxidation state in the PE–FeOx was possible and followed by DRS. Inductive plasma coupled mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) indicated that only sub-ppb levels of Fe were released from the PE–FeOx surface within the reaction time.


In the sequel to his bestseller. Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen has crafted a critique of how history is being taught in public education that should be in the hands of every practicing and pre-service social studies teacher in the United States. Using a writing style aimed at practitioners, Loewen divides Teaching What Really Happened into two distinct sections. The introduction and first four chapters discuss the sociological power of history, the numerous limitations of textbooks and standardized tests in teaching and assessing history in public schools, the pedagogical value of historiography, and the rationale for having students "do" history rather than simply leam about it. In the final six chapters, Loewen puts these lessons into a practical context by offering detailed explanations of ways teachers can use these strategies to teach historical topics that are often depicted in the classroom as factually inaccurate and rooted within subliminally racist or paternalistic ideologies.


Tailings dams are massive structures designed to contain the waste slurry remaining after processing ore at open pit and underground mines. These structures fail far more regularly than normal water-storage dams. In recent years, catastrophic tailings dam failures have occurred, causing significant damage to the environment and even loss of life. To mitigate these catastrophic events in the future, there is an urgent need to develop cost-effective methods to monitor the structural stability of these constructions over time. The lack of current cost-effective monitoring methods prompted us to investigate whether ambient seismic noise can be used to detect internal changes in a tailings dam wall during a period of heavy rainfall. We recorded three weeks of continuous seismic data with 10 short-period geophones at a tailings dam in Tasmania, Australia. Seismic interferometry was used on ambient noise to create virtual seismic sources. With these virtual source signals, small changes in seismic velocity were ...


ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is one of the crucial subjects in the mental health sector, and it is a universal, rapidly-growing disorder. The aim of my study is to investigate and describe the experiences of the parents going through the process of diagnosing autism spectrum disorder in the West Bank. Briefly, my specific objectives are to describe: how an autism diagnosis affects families; the psychological impacts on parents; and the physical burden associated with it. I also investigated the consequences of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder on couples' lives, family dynamics and the effects of community stigma. In order to explore the aim, the Giorgi methodology was adopted, and the design that I used was a qualitative phenomenological descriptive design. I conducted the study on 12 parents of children with autism in the West Bank. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted to elicit parents' experiences. A thematic analysis of the data identified 4 core themes and 14 sub-themes representing the vital challenging elements of the parents' experiences: diagnosis, stigma, grief, and family challenges. This study is unique in being a pioneer in the field of ASD in the West Bank. It highlights the needs of children and their families throughout the process of diagnosis and afterwards. This study fills a gap in current research on ASD. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), diagnosis, parents' experiences


The performance of an employee is an integral part of a project's success. In order for companies
to realise their project objectives, it is essential that both internal and outsourced employees are
performing optimally. This study aims to identify the factors that affect internal and outsourced
employees, as well as to determine if there is a difference in employee performance in terms of
information technology project deliverables.
A sample of 74 employees was used from Derivco, which is based in La Lucia Ridge, Durban.
The sample included both outsourced and internal employees. The data was collected by means
of a questionnaire which included likert based questions. The data showed that outsourced
employees performed better than internal employees as they had a greater probability of meeting
the business requirements of a project. The literature review suggested that there were 20 possible
variables that could influence employee performance. The results of this study concluded that 17
of the 20 variables identified from the literature review were important.
The results of this study will benefit both employees and the organisation. Employees can gain a
better awareness of their performance as well as helping the organisation in developing a better
program to improve both internal and outsourced employees' performance.
The study extends the work of several models such as the Bennet and Franco et al. (2001)
performance model and Develin's (1989) organisational model. These models created a
foundation for understanding teams, employees and the employer characteristics, in order to
determine their performance patterns. However, particular attention is given to the Bennett and
Franco model (2001) as well as the Sharpley model (2002). The reason for selecting these
models is that the factors investigated in these frameworks are similar to those investigated in
this research. The research aims to investigate whether South African organisations face similar
impacts to the models described. The Bennett and Franco et al. (2001) and Sharpley (2002)
models are based on perception, motivation, performance and an individual or internal
motivation process. The findings of this research indicate that employees face similar factors to
those shown in the Bennett, Franco and Sharpley models.


Located at an intermediate position in the External Rif nappe pile, the Temsamane units (northern Morocco) are characterized by an abnormally intense metamorphism and a penetrative ductile deformation. We present new metamorphic data showing that, in spite of their external position in the Rif, part of the Temsamane units underwent medium-pressure low-temperature (MP-LT) metamorphism (at c. 7-9 kbar and 330-430 8C), possibly during the Oligocene. Structural data show that the exhumation of these units, during Middle to Late Miocene times, was characterized by an intense approximately east-west stretching and by top-to-the-west shear senses. We tentatively propose two possible origins for the MP-LT Temsamane units: (1) an internal origin related to the subduction and the HP-LT event recorded in the Internal Rif (Alboran Domain), or (2) an external origin, implying a second subduction system within the External Rif, parallel to and almost contemporaneous with that of the Alboran Domain. This tectonometamorphic evolution of the Temsamane units is set within the context of the External Rif evolution. At a larger scale, we show that the exhumation history of the Temsamane units, which strongly resembles that documented in the core of the internal Betics, is compatible with the westward slab retreat occurring during the Middle to Late Miocene in the Betic-Rif region.


I study the performance of single predictor bridge equation models as well as a wide range of model selection and pooling techniques, including Mallows model averaging and Cross-Validation model averaging, for short-term forecasting euro area GDP growth. I explore to what extend model selection and model pooling techniques are able to outperform a simple autoregressive benchmark model in the periods before, during and after the Great Recession. I find that single predictor bridge equation models suffer a great variation in the forecast performance relative to the benchmark model over the analysed sub-samples. Moreover, model selection techniques turn out to produce quite poor forecasts in some sub-samples. On the contrary, model pooling based on the Cross-Validation and the Mallows criterion provide a very stable and accurate forecast performance.


We propose a compact optical system made up of a thin collimator and a free-form lens array to provide the uniform illumination of various-shape regions. Analytical formulas to design the lens array are derived. The simulation results for the designed optical elements demonstrate the high-level illumination uniformity of various regions in the form of a rectangle, a cross, a flag-shaped region, a line segment, and a set of line segments.


The Java Native Interface (JNI) allows type-safe Java code to interact with unsafe C code. When a type-safe language interacts with an unsafe language in the same address space, the application becomes unsafe. We identify the loopholes specific to using JNI that would permit C code to bypass the type safety of the JVM. We have designed a solution based on an extension of CCured [9] that makes calling native methods in C as type-safe as pure Java code. We have implemented a significant part of our solution and measured its effect on performance. Porting a native C library (Zlib) into our system requires only minimal changes to the C source code. The performance of this library is faster than a pure Java reimplementation of the library but slower than the original unsafe C version. During our experiments on Zlib, our system identified one type unsafety in the interface code between Zlib and Java. This insecurity can be exploited to crash, or gain extra privileges in a large number of commercially deployed JVMs.


This thesis has two related goals: the first involves the concept of self-similarity of images. Image self-similarity is important because it forms the basis for many imaging techniques such as non-local means denoising and fractal image coding. Research so far has been focused largely on self-similarity in the pixel domain. That is, examining how well different regions in an image mimic each other. Also, most works so far concerning self-similarity have utilized only the mean squared error (MSE). In this thesis, self-similarity is examined in terms of the pixel and wavelet representations of images. In each of these domains, two ways of measuring similarity are considered: the MSE and a relatively new measurement of image fidelity called the Structural Similarity (SSIM) Index. We show that the MSE and SSIM Index give very different answers to the question of how self-similar images really are. The second goal of this thesis involves non-local image processing. First, a generalization of the well known non-local means denoising algorithm is proposed and examined. The groundwork for this generalization is set by the aforementioned results on image self-similarity with respect to the MSE. This new method is then extended to the wavelet representation of images. Experimental results are given to illustrate the applications of these new ideas.


Title of dissertation: WHEN NATIONAL MINORITIES BECOME LOCAL MAJORITIES: FEDERALISM, ETHNIC POLITICS AND VIOLENT CONFLICT Molly Inman, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation directed by: Johanna K. Birnir Department of Government and Politics What explains the variation in ethnic conflict in federal systems? Existing theory and empirical evidence are mixed, with some saying it decreases violence, and some saying increases it. This puzzle also leads to a number of research questions: why does federalism fail to resolve the problem of violent ethnic conflict? Why does local ethnic politics in federal units frequently lead to violence within the ethnic group? What effect does federalism have on violence between ethnic groups? Why do central governments intervene with force into local interethnic conflicts rather than simply allowing the local government of the federal unit to resolve the issue? Conversely, why does federalism sometimes work in preventing violent conflict and session in countries where ethnic politics is salient? The theory presented here asserts that the level of intraethnic political competition within the national minority/local majority and the political incentives created by devolving power to the local level determine the answers. I develop a new theory of local ethnic outbidding by minority groups in federal systems which explains how local ethnic politics turns violent when intraethnic political competition is high. Previous theories have focused almost exclusively on national level politics and violence and have largely ignored the subnational level. I also explain how central governments become involved in local ethnic conflicts in federal systems, because local minorities being targeted call upon them for assistance. Existing theories do not explain why the central government would expend resources and political capital to intervene in a local conflict. Finally, I theorize that the presence and active competition of ethnic political parties in federal units does not increase the likelihood of rebellion or secession. Only when interethnic conflict results from ethnic outbidding and the central government intervenes with force does the politically mobilized ethnic group in the federal unit respond with force in-kind. Existing theories try to link ethnic and regional parties in federal units with secession by theorizing that they reinforce local identities which makes an ethnic group want its own country. My theory asserts and the empirical analysis shows that the path to anti-regime violence by the local majority is much less direct and is contingent on central government actions. To test this theory using statistical analysis, I collected original data on intraethnic political competition for 112 ethnic groups in 21 federal countries from 1990-2006 and assembled a new dataset to test this theory about subnational violent ethnic conflict in federal systems. Additionally, I use process tracing to test the theory using case studies of three ethnic groups in Indonesia. The analysis of both the quantitative and qualitative results lends substantial support to the theory. WHEN NATIONAL MINORITIES BECOME LOCAL MAJORITIES: FEDERALISM, ETHNIC POLITICS AND VIOLENT CONFLICT


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the survival of exclusive breastfeeding and the factors associated with its cessation in the first month among pairs seen by a lactation consulting team.

METHOD
This is a prospective cohort conducted with mother-infant pairs treated at the Hospital de Clínicas of Porto Alegre.

RESULTS
The sample consisted of 150 pairs. The survival curve indicates that 52.9% of the children remained on exclusive breastfeeding. The hierarchical model was constructed in four levels, and the factors associated with the cessation of exclusive breastfeeding were the milk supplementation during hospitalization, breast problems after hospital discharge and use of pacifiers.

CONCLUSION
Awareness of these factors favors the early detection of pairs that may be predisposed to cessation of exclusive breastfeeding, who require greater support, dedication and care.


An exciting lineage of women singers-originating with Ma Rainey and her protegee Bessie Smith-shaped the blues, launching it as a powerful, expressive vehicle of emotional liberation. Along with their successors Billie Holiday, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, and Janis Joplin, they injected a dose of reality into the often trivial world of popular song, bringing their message of higher expectations and broader horizons to their audiences. These women passed their image, their rhythms, and their toughness on to the next generation of blues women, which has its contemporary incarnation in singers like Bonnie Raitt and Lucinda Williams (with whom the author has done an in-depth interview). Buzzy Jackson combines biography, an appreciation of music, and a sweeping view of American history to illuminate the pivotal role of blues women in a powerful musical tradition. Musician Thomas Dorsey said, "The blues is a good woman feeling bad." But these women show by their style that he had it backward: The blues is a bad woman feeling good.


Digital Evidence and Computer Crime, Third Edition provides the knowledge necessary to uncover and use digital evidence effectively in any kind of investigation. The widely-adopted first and second editions introduced thousands of students to this field and helped them deal with digital evidence. This completely updated edition provides the introductory materials that new students require, and also expands on the material presented in previous editions to help students develop these skills. The textbook teaches how computer networks function, how they can be involved in crimes, and how they can be used as a source of evidence. Additionally, this third edition includes updated chapters dedicated to networked Windows, Unix, and Macintosh computers, and Personal Digital Assistants. Ancillary materials include an Instructor's Manual and PowerPoint slides. * Provides a thorough explanation of how computers & networks function, how they can be involved in crimes, and how they can be used as evidence * Features coverage of the abuse of computer networks and privacy and security issues on computer networks


A requirement of the UK Government's strategy for sustainable development, published in 1999, was that all English regions would produce a sustainability framework by the end of 2000. In the Northwest, the framework has been produced under the title Action for Sustainability. The framework is addressed at a wide audience of strategists and key decision-makers, including elected members and those in the public, private and voluntary sectors. One of the framework's main uses is to be a tool for regional sustainability appraisal. The work undertaken to produce the framework is described by one of those involved in the process. The published framework is evaluated using current concepts of sustainable development. The way in which the framework is already beginning to influence development in the Northwest is illustrated by two case studies involving appraisals of the Regional Planning Guidance and applications for funding from the Single Regeneration Budget.


By definition, foreign languages are learned with intercultural communication in mind. Therefore, it is curious, to say the least, that textbooks in use in foreign language teaching almost exclusively offer idealised native-speaker - native-speaker (NS) interaction. In the rare cases where alleged non-native speakers are involved, they appear to be indistinguishable, linguistically as well as pragmatically, from the NS.On the basis of an anthropological definition of culture and a recent model relating the components of communicative competence (Willems, 1993), a task group of a Europe-wide LINGUA project devised an analytical tool to test how realistic and intercultural input materials in recent textbooks used in the Netherlands are. An example is given of how disastrous a naive, mainly linguistically based, competence works out in intercultural contacts. Subsequently, an analysis is attempted of a contrived dialogue in German written as an illustration of how negotiatory skills and a willingness to create a safe intercultural common ground may lead to more satisfactory results. It is suggested that the introduction of this type of input not only brings a much needed integrated cultural component to foreign language teaching, but also enhances the social competence of the learner which is useful in any type of communication, including the mono-cultural interaction, if such a thing exists.Willems, G.M., (ed.) Attainment targets for foreign language teacher education in Europe, a European view. Brussels: ATEE Cahiers No. 5, 1993.


Background: The use of HER2 targeting therapy has revolutionized the treatment of HER2 positive breast cancers. Here, we investigate whether a sequential approach to dual HER2 blockade of lapatinib followed by trastuzumab will result in improved clinical outcomes. Methods: This was a single institution, open label, single arm, phase II trial in women with HER2 positive breast cancer. Volunteers were treated with sequential neoadjuvant doxorubicin (60 mg/m2) and cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m2) (AC) for 4 cycles followed by docetaxel (100 mg/m2) concurrent with lapatinib (1,250 mg) (TL) daily for 21 days for four cycles before definitive surgery. The primary end point was pathologic complete response (pCR). Results: The study accrued only 21 of the 71 planned patients from 2/28/2007 to 5/25/2010. All patients (100%) experienced down staging. The pCR rate was 41% (7/18). 11 patients had tumor size of T3 or greater, 3 of which experienced pCR and only 1 underwent breast conservation (lumpectomy). The most common hematologic AE (all grades) was anemia 17/21 (81%). There were no incidences of grade 3 or 4 anemia. 10 of 21 (48%) patients experience a non-hematologic grade 3 AE. The most common non-hematologic AEs (all grades) were irregular menses 20/21 (95%) and hand-foot-skin reactions 20/21 (95%). No increase cardiac abnormalities were noted. The DFS at data cut off was 87.5%. Conclusion: The provocative pCR and DFS results in this high risk locally advanced patient population should be viewed with  caution given results of the Adjuvant Lapatinib And/Or Trastuzumab Treatment Optimisation study (ALTTO) clinical trial.


The purpose of the study is to analyze changes in the French public and private school sectors' social recruitment of pupils. From 2000 to 2009 in the school district studied, the two school sectors became socially differentiated: private school sector pupils are now increasingly from well-to-do backgrounds while the public sector has become relatively – and in some cases entirely – proletarianized. Analysis of the educational specificities of the two sectors (types of electives and study concentration areas reserved for the best pupils relative to those for pupils having scholastic difficulty) provides material that helps to explain this phenomenon. Social specialization by sector underwent a particularly sharp increase between 2006 and 2009, as did interschool social segregation, stable prior to 2006 but rising from 2006 to 2009, in direct contrast to the stated goal – greater social mix – of the French policy to loosen school zoning restrictions, in effect since 2007. The model of change in public and private school sector pupil recruitment presented here shows the extent of the socio-scholastic changes currently under way.


Introduction. Midline orofacial defects bear a high degree of morbidity for the affected individual, often associated with retardation in neonatal development and the need for surgical intervention. The etiology of the deformities, despite their high prevalence, remains, however, largely unknown. We report on the evaluation and quantification of proliferative and inflammatory markers in the cleft affected soft palate.
Material and methods. This study included soft palate samples of eight cleft lip and palate affected individuals and a control group of six soft tissue specimens obtained during correctional surgery of hyperdentia. All samples were processed via immunohistochemistry for marker EGFR, NF-κB, Ki-67, Ma-1. The results were evaluated semi-quantitatively and statistically analysed by IBM SPSS 25.0.
Results. Histopathological signs of inflammatory changes were continuous in cleft affected specimen. The quantitative distribution of the markers in the cleft affected group displayed a significant correlation between EGFR, Ki-67 and NF-κB (p< 0.05), along with a correlation among Ki-67 and NF-κB (p< 0.05). Immunoreactive structures in control group showed lower numbers in all evaluated specimen. A statistical significance between cleft affected and non-cleft tissue was observed in EGFR and Ma-1 (p< 0.05).
Conclusion. Results are suggestive of a tissue phenotype modification in cleft affected palate. Observation of distribution and statistical correlation hint towards the involvement of epithelial growth inducer EGFR and inflammatory/ proliferative marker in epithelial changes.


In order to cope with night-time darkness, plants during the day allocate part of their photosynthate for storage, often as starch. This stored reserve is then degraded at night to sustain metabolism and growth. However, night-time starch degradation must be tightly controlled, as over-rapid turnover results in premature depletion of starch before dawn, leading to starvation. Recent experiments in Arabidopsis have shown that starch degradation proceeds at a constant rate during the night and is set such that starch reserves are exhausted almost precisely at dawn. Intriguingly, this pattern is robust with the degradation rate being adjusted to compensate for unexpected changes in the time of darkness onset. While a fundamental role for the circadian clock is well-established, the underlying mechanisms controlling starch degradation remain poorly characterized. Here, we discuss recent quantitative models that have been proposed to explain how plants can compute the appropriate starch degradation rate, a process that requires an effective arithmetic division calculation. We review experimental confirmation of the models, and describe aspects that require further investigation. Overall, the process of night-time starch degradation necessitates a fundamental metabolic role for the circadian clock and, more generally, highlights how cells process information in order to optimally manage their resources.


The purpose of this paper is to determine the changes in the concentration of different fractions in the cell wall of Dactylis glomerata and Festuca pratensis growing on both mineral and organic soil with different harvesting times. This paper has drawn on two field experiments set up and carried out between 2010 and 2013 by the Research Centre for Cultivar Testing in Slupia Wielka. The experimental plots were sown with varieties of Dactylis glomerata : Niva, Tukan, Amila, Crown Royale and with varieties of Festuca pratensis : Limosa, Pasja, Anturka, Amelka (d. AND 1009). The experiment in Krzyzewo was set up on mineral soil. In Uhnin the experimental plots were located on peat meadow. The full exploitation of Dactylis glomerata varieties was due between 2012 and 2013, whereas for Festuca pratensis it was due between 2011 and 2012. In the experimental plots with the varieties of Dactylis glomerata the grass was harvested six times a year and chemical analysis of the biomass was done taking dry matter only from five cuts. The varieties of Festuca pratensis were harvested four times. Each year in the course of the experiment fresh and dry matter of each cut were weighed. The obtained results showed that the time of the harvest or cut for both of the grass species showed significantly different concentrations of the neutral detergent fiber fraction (NDF), acid detergent fiber fraction (ADF) and different concentrations of lignin and cellulose. For both of the grass species, plants harvested in the fourth cut had the highest content of different cell wall fractions. The location, that is the type of soil, affected the concentration of lignin (ADL), but only in the case of Festuca pratensis . A higher concentration of this polysaccharide was in the grass growing on organic soil.


In this study, stochastic models were determined for annual mean streamflows of gauging stations operated by EIE and numbered as 1611, 1612 and 1622 in Central Anatolia Closed Basin.For these stations, mathematical expressions were obtained by using the methods of analyses of autoregressive (AR) models and autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models for annual streamflow data. A preliminary study about possible AR and ARMA model types was made after examining the correlograms and partial correlograms. In conclusion, the AR(1) model was found to be suitable for annual mean streamflow series of the selected gauging stations. The best ARMA(p,q) model was also found as ARMA(1,1) model for stations 1611, 1612 and ARMA(2,1) model for station 1622. Then 50 synthetic series having the same N length period were generated for each gauging station by using the developed models. Statistical characteristics (mean, standard deviation, skewness coefficient, correlogram) of these synthetic series were calculated and compared with the statistical charasteristics of the historical (original) series. Consequently, it was observed that stochastic models established for the gauging stations of 1611, 1612 and 1622, preserved the statistical characteristics of the historical series.


This paper provides a formal characterization of the process of rational learning in social networks. Agents receive initial private information and select an action out of a choice set under uncertainty in each of infinitely many periods, observing the history of choices of their neighbors. Choices are made based on a common behavioral rule. Conditions under which rational learning leads to global consensus, local indifference and local disagreement are characterized. In the general setting considered, rational learning can lead to pairs of neighbors selecting different actions once learning ends, while not being indifferent among their choices. The effect of the network structure on the degree of information aggregation and speed of convergence is also considered and an answer to the question of optimal information aggregation in networks provided. The results highlight distinguishing features between properties of Bayesian and non-Bayesian learning in social networks.


OBJECTIVE
The present study evaluated the prevalence of anaemia and its determinants in one- and three-year-old children from the Capricorn District of Limpopo Province, South Africa.

METHODS
A prospective cohort study conducted in rural villages in the Capricorn District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. At birth, a cohort of 219 children was followed until they were one and three years of age. Data collected included the children's anthropometric measurements, blood for biochemical analysis (full blood count, ferritin, folate and vitamin B12) and socio-demographic status.

RESULTS
At one year, anaemia (Hb < 11 g/dL) was present in 52% of the children, decreasing to 22% by the third year. Iron deficiency (ferritin < 12 µg/mL) was common in these children (39% and 33% at one year and three years, respectively) particularly in the presence of anaemia. Folate and vitamin B12 deficiencies (< 5 ng/mL and < 145 pg/mL, respectively) were common at one year, with the children accumulating enough vitamin B12 by three years; however, folate deficiency levels remained fairly constant between the two time points.

CONCLUSION
There was a high prevalence of anaemia in the study participants at one year and three years of age. Factors that increased the risk of anaemia at three years were: a mother with only a primary school education, anaemia at one year, male gender, overweight, and combined overweight and stunting. Protective factors against anaemia were having a younger mother who served as the main caregiver.


1200 18th Street, NW ♦ Suite 301 ♦ Washington, DC 20036 ♦ (202) 785-5100 ♦ www.iwpr.org Occupational gender segregation is a strong feature of the US labor market. While some occupations have become increasingly integrated over time, others remain highly dominated by either men or women. Our analysis of trends in overall gender segregation shows that, after a considerable move towards more integrated occupations in the 1970s and 1980s, progress has completely stalled since the mid 1990s. Occupational segregation is a concern to policy makers for two reasons: it is inefficient economically, preventing able people from moving into occupations where they could perform well and that would satisfy them more than the ones open to them. And occupational segregation is a major cause for the persistent wage gap. Our analysis confirms that average earnings tend to be lower the higher the percentage of female workers in an occupation, and that this relationship is strongest for the most highly skilled occupations, such as medicine or law. Yet this is also a strong feature of jobs requiring little formal education and experience, increasing the likelihood of very low earnings for women working in female-dominated, low-skilled occupations such as childcare. Separate and Not Equal? Gender Segregation in the Labor Market and the Gender Wage Gap


Immune system responses are under the control of extracellular biomolecules, which express functions in receptors present on the surface of cells of the immune system, and thus are amenable to be functionally modulated by monoclonal antibodies. Some of these mechanisms are activating and dictate whether the response ensues, while others play the role of powerful repressors. Antagonist antibodies acting on such repressors result in enhanced immune responses, a goal that is also achieved with agonist antibodies acting on the activating receptors. With these simple logics, a series of therapeutic agents are under clinical development and one of them directed at the CTL-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitory receptor (ipilimumab) has been approved for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. The list of antagonist agents acting on repressors under development includes anti–CTLA-4, anti–PD-1, anti–PD-L1 (B7-H1), anti-KIR, and anti–TGF-β. Agonist antibodies currently being investigated in clinical trials target CD40, CD137 (4-1BB), CD134 (OX40), and glucocorticoid-induced TNF receptor (GITR). A blossoming preclinical pipeline suggests that other active targets will also be tested in patients in the near future. All of these antibodies are being developed as conventional monoclonal immunoglobulins, but other engineered antibody formats or RNA aptamers are under preclinical scrutiny. The "dark side" of these immune interventions is that they elicit autoimmune/inflammatory reactions that can be severe in some patients. A critical and, largely, pending subject is to identify reliable predictive biomarkers both for efficacy and immune toxicity. Preclinical and early clinical studies indicate a tremendous potential to further improve efficacy, using combinations from among these new agents that frequently act in a synergistic fashion. Combinations with other more conventional means of treatment such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or cancer vaccines also hold much promise. Clin Cancer Res; 19(5); 997–1008. ©2013 AACR.


OBJECTIVES
To provide actionable recommendations for improving care coordination programs for children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN) in Medicaid managed care.

STUDY DESIGN
Literature review and interviews with stakeholders and policy experts to adapt lessons learned from Medicare care coordination programs for CSHCN in Medicaid managed care.

METHODS
We reviewed syntheses of research on Medicare care coordination programs to identify lessons learned from successful programs. We adapted findings from Medicare to CSHCN in Medicaid based on an environmental scan and discussions with experts. The scan focused on Medicaid financing and eligibility for care coordination and how these intersect with Medicaid managed care. The expert discussions included pediatricians, Medicaid policy experts, Medicaid medical directors, and a former managed care executive, all experienced in care coordination for CSHCN.

RESULTS
We found 6 elements that are consistently associated with improved outcomes from Medicare care coordination programs and relevant to CSHCN in Medicaid: 1) identifying and targeting high-risk patients, 2) clearly articulating what outcomes programs are likely to improve, 3) encouraging active engagement between care coordinators and primary care providers, 4) requiring some in-person contact between care coordinators and patients, 5) facilitating information sharing among providers, and 6) supplementing care coordinators' expertise with that of other clinical experts.

CONCLUSIONS
States and Medicaid managed care organizations have many options for designing effective care coordination programs for CSHCN. Their choices should account for the diversity of conditions among CSHCN, families' capacity to coordinate care, and social determinants of health.


Not since the publication of Paul Auster's The Random House Book of 20th Century French Poetry (1984) has there been a significant and widely read anthology of modern French poetry in the English-speaking world. Here for the first time is a comprehensive bilingual representation of French poetic achievement in the twentieth century, from the turn-of-the-century poetry of Guillaume Apollinaire to the high modernist art of Samuel Beckett to the contemporary verse of scourge Michel Houellebecq. Many of the English translations (on facing pages) are justly celebrated, composed by eminent figures such as T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, and John Ashbery; many others are new and have been commissioned for this book. Distinguished scholar and editor Mary Ann Caws has chosen work by more than 100 poets. Her deliberately extensive, international selection includes work by Francophone poets, by writers better known for accomplishments in other genres (novelists, songwriters, performance artists), and by many more female poets than have typically been represented in past anthologies of modern French poetry. The editor has opted for a chronological organisation that highlights six crucial "pressure points" in modern French poetry. Accompanying the selections are a general introduction, informative essays on each period, and short biographical notes, all prepared by the editor.


Adipose tissue is increasingly recognized as a dynamic, endocrine organ responsible for regulating metabolic homeostasis via the collective action of its two principal subtypes: white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). Recently, the discovery of metabolically active brown fat reserves and brown in white fat (also known as "brite" or "beige" fat) in adult humans has prompted fundamental research to understand the development and function of brown adipocytes. The functional property of brown adipocytes is executed by the mitochondrial protein, Un- coupling Protein 1 (UCP1). UCP1 is responsible for uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation from ATP production thereby dissipating heat. The gene expression of Ucp1 is orchestrated by a multitude of transcriptional regulators and co-regulators that are distinct from those governing white adipocyte differentiation and function. However, in contrast to its counter- part, the white adipocyte, the gene regulatory mechanisms and transcriptional drivers of the brown adipocyte differentiation program remain elusive. Thus the focus of this thesis is to elucidate the gene regulatory network underlying brown fat cell differentiation and to decou- ple differentiation from the thermogenesis program using an integrative genomics approach. The main contributions of this work are as follows (1) construction of a comprehensive map integrating signaling, transcriptional and metabolic modules necessary for the activation of a brown adipocyte, (2) systematic, comprehensive analysis of transcriptional and chromatin state dynamics during brown fat cell differentiation leading to the identification of novel transcriptional regulators, (3) genomic characterization of the TF BCL6 during brown fat cell differentiation and (4) phenotypic characterization of a novel conditional BCL6 knockout mouse model.


Çiğdem Nas* Turkey's negotiations for accession to the European Union are going through a difficult period while Turkish foreign policy is in the midst of a rapid change with active involvement in adjacent regions such as the Middle East. As long as Turkey defends norms such as peace and democracy, which are compatible with EU values, the active policy of engagement may contribute to an expansion of the zone of stability and security outside of the EU. Turkey may become a competent carrier and transmitter of such norms and values. However, Turkey needs also to clearly define its priorities in its foreign policy, and achieve a credible balance between its commitments and capabilities.


Background: The Gail model has been widely used for estimation of absolute risk of breast cancer development. The original model and most of the validation studies have been performed among western populations and controversial results have been reported regarding the applicability of this model in Asian populations. Our aim was to investigate the performance of this model in Iranian women.Methods: In a cross-sectional study, a total of 280 patients with breast cancer and 280 participants with normal screening results were enrolled as case and control groups, respectively. Risk factors used in the latest version of the Gail model were compared between the two study groups. Gail score was calculated by using Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool and based on the cut-off point of 1.67, patients were categorized in order to assess model performance.Results: In total, 560 patients with a mean age of 43.07±8.60 years were enrolled. Comparison of different risk factors between the two groups revealed significant associations of patients' age (P < 0.001), age at first pregnancy (P = 0.022), previous history of breast biopsy (P < 0.001) and atypical hyperplasia (P = 0.002) with risk of breast cancer. No association was found between age at menarche (P = 0.115) or first-degree family history (P = 0.117) and increased risk. Considering the Gail score for 5-year risk of breast cancer development, the difference between the two groups failed to reach significance (P = 0.052). The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 13.9% and 94%, respectively.Conclusions: Based on the current findings, it can be suggested that employing the current version of the Gail model for breast cancer risk assessment will underestimate the risk of cancer development in Iranian women.


Colorectal cancer is a major cause of mortality and treatment costs are considerable. Advocating lifestyle modification, faecal occult blood testing and surveillance colonoscopy in appropriate populations are already in practice. A developing concept is chemoprevention. Several models of carcinogenesis in colorectal cancer have been developed and there is an increasing database on the major molecular mechanisms involved in carcinogenesis mainly from preclinical experiments and phase I trials. There have been several large epidemiological and observational studies to evaluate possible protective effects of >200 agents. More recently, case-control and cohort studies and well-conceived, phase II/III clinical trials have been done or are under way to evaluate putative chemopreventive agents including established drugs like aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), 5-aminosalicylates and statins; more controversial drugs like cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, ursodeoxycholic acid; various vitamins and micronutrients including calcium, selenium, folic acid, and dietary fibre, fat and protein content. Despite promising outcome in preclinical studies, there is currently very limited data from well-controlled and appropriately powered clinical studies. The most promising agents currently are aspirin, traditional NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors. The recent reports of cardiovascular risks of the COX-2 inhibitors and some traditional NSAIDs have resulted in stagnation of the field. Pending the expected release of results from several phase III trials in the near future, chemoprevention for colorectal cancer can only be practically considered in the very-high-risk population like those with familial adenomatous polyposis and ulcerative colitis, in conjunction with surveillance colonoscopy. This article reviews the major models of colorectal carcinogenesis, the concept of chemoprevention with special reference to colorectal cancer and the current state of clinical literature and the future direction of colorectal cancer chemoprevention for both researcher and clinician alike.


Computer proof assistants vary along many dimensions. Among the mature implementations, the Coq system is distinguished by two key features. First, we have support for programming with dependent types in the tradition of type theory, based on dependent function types and inductive type families. Second, we have a domain-specific language for coding correct-by-construction proof automation. Though the Coq user community has grown quite large, neither of the aspects I highlight is widely used. In this tutorial, I aim to provide a pragmatic introduction to both, showing how they can bring significant improvements in productivity.


Ever since Commodore Perry sailed into Uraga Channel, relations between the United States and Japan have been characterized by culture shock. Now a distinguished Japanese historian critically analyzes contemporary thought, public opinion, and behavior in the two countries over the course of the twentieth century, offering a binational perspective on culture shock as it has affected their relations. In these essays, Sadao Asada examines historical episodes in the interactions between these two countries from 1890 to 2006, focusing on naval strategy, trans-Pacific racism, and the atomic bomb controversy. For each topic, he offers a rigorous analysis of both American and Japanese perceptions, showing how cultural relations and the interchange of ideas have been complex - and occasionally destructive. "Culture Shock and Japanese-American Relations" contains insightful essays on the influence of Alfred Mahan on the Japanese navy and on American images of Japan during the 1920s. Other essays consider the progressive breakdown of relations between the two countries and the origins of the Pacific War from the viewpoint of the Japanese navy, then tackle the ultimate shock of the atomic bomb and Japan's surrender, tracing changing perceptions of the decision to use the bomb on both sides of the Pacific over the course of sixty years. In discussing these subjects, Asada draws on Japanese sources largely inaccessible to English speakers to provide a host of eye-opening insights for non-Japanese readers. After studying in America for nine years and receiving degrees from both Carleton College and Yale University, Asada returned to Japan to face his own reverse culture shock. His insights raise important questions of why people on opposite sides of the Pacific see things differently and adapt their perceptions to different purposes. This book marks a major effort toward reconstructing and understanding the conflicted course of Japanese-American relations during the first half of the twentieth century.


The purpose of this research is to examine the mediation role of environmental training in the relationship between perceived stakeholder pressure and implementation of the environmental supply chain management practices. A survey was administered to manufacturing firms and hypothesis was tested using structural equation modeling analysis. This research suggests that environmental training is mediates the relationship between stakeholder pressure and implementation of environmental supply chain management practices. The results suggest that managers perceive that stakeholder pressure and environmental training are important to themselves. In this study overall, market stakeholders had a stronger relationship with the implementation of the environmental supply chain practices than the regulatory stakeholders. The findings also indicate that stakeholder pressure is an essential driver for implementation of environmental supply chain management practices. This study is one of the first to investigate the relationship between the stakeholders' pressure and environmental supply chain management practices in manufacturing firms. The study also offers important implications for managers and partitions. Future research direction and limitation are also discussed.


Despite more than a decade of experimental work in multi-robot systems, important theoretical aspects of multi-robot coordination mechanisms have, to date, been largely untreated. To address this issue, we focus on the problem of multi-robot task allocation (MRTA). Most work on MRTA has been ad hoc and empirical, with many coordination architectures having been proposed and validated in a proof-of-concept fashion, but infrequently analyzed. With the goal of bringing objective grounding to this important area of research, we present a formal study of MRTA problems. A domain-independent taxonomy of MRTA problems is given, and it is shown how many such problems can be viewed as instances of other, well-studied, optimization problems. We demonstrate how relevant theory from operations research and combinatorial optimization can be used for analysis and greater understanding of existing approaches to task allocation, and to show how the same theory can be used in the synthesis of new approaches.


This paper aims at exploring the prospects of opening the Aviation Ground Handling Market vis-a-vis the GATS provision. The study is focused on the developments in terms of review and open market access to aviation ground handling services and in the GATS Air Transport Review. Air transport auxiliary services are emerging as important services, especially the Ground Handling Services. Expenditure on Ground handling services forms a substantial part of the operating expense of the airlines. As a response to the changes in the aviation environment, many policy changes and new initiative have been made by the governments. The study focuses on the constraints and implications of further liberalization of these services to boost competitiveness and facilitate efficient movement of goods and passengers. The study revealed that the gradual liberalization of Ground Handling market in India though widely criticized for its slow pace by the airlines, the major user of the services, has been successful so far, considering the response from the stakeholders, especially the regulatory bodies, is concerned. While naturally the airlines but not so much the national carrier, are clamouring for the full liberalization of the market with self-handling rights, the airport operators are concerned about the loss of business, monopoly status, and space constraints. Another dimension to liberalization is the safety and security concerns of the State where the regulators have been advising cautious approach to ensure the safety and security. This paper is divided into four sections: Section 1 giving the GATS and the position of Air transport, specifically the Ground Handling services, Section 2- traces the regulatory developments in the Air Transport with specific reference to Ground Handling market, as also addresses the implications for liberalization of these services through existing bilateral, to increasing pluri-lateral /multi-lateral and regional agreements. Section 3 discusses the Regulatory concerns vis-a-vis suggested course of liberalization. Conclusions are based on the findings. Section 4 enumerates the recommendations regarding areas for further research in.


Evidence suggests that a diet with high fruit and vegetable consumption may decrease the risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and phytochemicals including phenolics, flavonoids and carotenoids from fruits and vegetables may play a key role in reducing chronic disease risk. Recent research has proved that sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) is a valuable natural source of some bioactive compounds important in human health preservation. According to the published data, the most important biological effects of sour cherry are connected — directly or indirectly — to their endogenous antioxidant behaviour as well as to their specific pattern of anthocyanin components. In the present work, we measured the total antioxidant capacity of some Hungarian sour cherry varieties in combination with their anthocyanin-, and vitamin-C content. In 2003, twelve clones were selected and grafted from a local sour cherry population called "Bosnyak" sour cherry grown in small home gardens and farms of the village Csengod (Great-Plain Region, South Hungary). Other Hungarian sour cherry varieties, i.e. cv. Ujfehertoi furtos, cv. Erdi bőterrnő, cv. Debreceni bőterrnő, cv. Csengődi and cv. Kantorjanosi served as a control.


The purpose of the study is to explore how chronically ill patients and their specialized care network have viewed their personal medical information privacy and how it has impacted their perspectives of sharing their records with their network of healthcare providers and secondary use organizations. Diabetes patients and specialized diabetes medical care providers in Eastern England were interviewed about their sharing of medical information and their privacy concerns to inform a descriptive qualitative and exploratory thematic analysis. From the interview data, we see that diabetes patients shift their perceived privacy concerns and needs throughout their lifetime due to persistence of health data, changes in health, technology advances, and experience with technology that affect one's consent decisions. From these findings, we begin to take a translational research approach in critically examining current privacy enhancing technologies for secondary use consent management and motivate the further exploration of both temporally-sensitive privacy perspectives and new options in consent management that support shifting privacy concerns over one's lifetime.


This thesis presents a literature review and results of experimental studies related to the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in plant water relations in sweet cherry and tomato (as a fast-grown model system). As AMF can assist host plants to increase water relations during drought stress, they may also help plants to moderate negative impacts of excess water, such as the splitting of soft fruit. The experimental chapters focus on two main areas. Firstly, the diversity and abundance of AMF in a conventional and organic sweet cherry orchard were investigated with a preliminary study. Secondly, the impact of AMF on cutting survival in sweet cherry, and growth and physiological functioning in both sweet cherry and tomato were assessed in several experiments. In all studies the level of phosphorous supplied to plants was low to encourage AMF colonisation and the amount of root colonisation was determined to ensure a substantial difference from the controls.
To determine abundance and diversity of AMF in an organic and conventionally managed cherry orchard in two seasons, spores were extracted from soil samples, counted and spore morphology was examined by microscopy. Spore characteristics included three categorical variables (shape, colour, and pattern) and two continuous variables (spore diameter and the number of spore wall layers). The average number of spores in the conventional orchard soil was significantly higher than the organic site in both seasons. Canonical discriminant analysis of spore characteristics revealed that there was substantial overlap in the characteristics between each site and season, most likely reflecting a high similarity of species diversity.
An objective of this study was to determine if the presence of AMF 'Rhizophagous irregularis' and local AMF species on sweet cherry rootstocks results in greater survival and establish more rapidly from cuttings inoculated with AMF than those not inoculated, and to have better regulation of water balance under conditions of water stress than for plants without mycorrhizae. It was found that inoculation with Rhizophagus irregularis (syn. Glomus intraradices) significantly increased the survival rates of cherry cuttings; however the effects on growth (height, stem diameter, leaf number and biomass) and on physiological variables (photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance and leaf water potential) were limited. Treatments of low water exposure (50% of water holding capacity) followed by high water (150% of water holding capacity) were applied to established cherry plants. Local soil inoculum was used in an additional experiment and field soil was filtered to remove spores so that a complementary control treatment could be applied. Surprisingly, plants grown in the filtered soil had significantly higher AMF colonisation than unfiltered soil, and unfiltered soil had higher bulk density than filtered soil. The results showed that sweet cherry grown in filtered soil had significantly higher growth, photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance than those grown in unfiltered. Due to the confounded effects of colonisation and bulk density, the role of AMF in these physiological responses is difficult to elucidate.
Similar studies with tomato plants aimed to determine if the presence of mycorrhiza tomato plants would lead to better regulation of water balance under conditions of water stress than for plants without mycorrhizae. Tomato seedlings inoculated with R. irregularis showed enhanced growth in terms of height, number of leaves and biomass, compared with controls. Further, AMF tomato plants generally showed higher photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and an increased rate of transpiration which indicates better regulation of water balance under conditions of water stress than for plants without AMF. Therefore, the response of plants to AMF was more apparent for tomato than sweet cherry.
In conclusion, several hypotheses were tested with experiments in this thesis to explore the role of AMF in sweet cherry and tomato growth and physiological functioning, particularly in relation to water fluctuations. While there were some experimental limitations, results reflected that AMF can assist plant establishment and potentially provide benefits to soft fruit crops to assist mediation of water stress.


This experiential exercise presents the concept of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and applies it in a university setting. The Balanced Scorecard was developed 12 years ago and has grown in popularity and is used by more than 50% of the Fortune 500 companies as a performance measurement and strategic management tool. The BSC expands the traditional financial measures into three other dimensions to capture a balanced approach to measure performance in an organization. These additional dimensions are as follows: Customer Focus, Competence/Employee Learning and Growth, and Operational Efficiency. The exercise uses an analogy of a race car driver who relies on one aspect of measurement to gauge the race versus relying on multiple dimensions of performance.


The topic of spirituality stands out in recent years as being heavily addressed in the field of psychological counseling and guidance. A similar picture also stands out when looked at from the angle of family therapies. When looking at studies made in the field of family therapy, studies addressing the aspect of family spirituality are seen to continue increasing. Bowen's Family Systems Theory is one of these approaches. Bowen Family Theory handles the family as a system and attempts to solve the individuals' problems by considering the environment within which they are found. The individual's surroundings contain many situations, from family to culture, siblings to religious beliefs, from traditions to customs, and from relationships to spirituality. According to Bowen, spirituality is the reflection of the topic of God in relationships, and located foremost within the theory, a spiritual aspect is found in all important concepts, including ego differentiation and triangulations. Encountering religious and spiritual elements is possible in many of the concepts of Bowen Family Systems. This study handles the perspective of spirituality in the Bowen Family Systems Theory as one of the theories of family systems and the place of spirituality within Bowen Family Systems. In this context, first the Bowen Family Systems Theory is briefly introduced, then the study attempts to explain the spiritual dimension of the theory in light of some of its basic concepts. In addition, the Bowen approach is addressed from the Islamic perspective, and a case sample has been presented related to the intervention methods that can be used in this situation.


Aims Dronedarone is a new multichannel blocking antiarrhythmic drug for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). In patients with recently decompensated congestive heart failure (CHF) and depressed LV function, the drug was associated with excess mortality compared with a placebo group. The present study aimed to analyse in detail the effects of dronedarone on mortality and morbidity in AF patients CHF. Methods and results We performed a post hoc analysis of ATHENA, a large placebo-controlled outcome trial in 4628 patients with paroxysmal or persistent AF, to evaluate the relationship between clinical outcomes and dronedarone therapy in patients with stable CHF. The primary outcome was time to first cardiovascular (CV) hospitalization or death. There were 209 patients with NYHA class II/III CHF and a left ventricular ejection fraction ≤0.40 at baseline (114 placebo, 95 dronedarone patients). A primary outcome event occurred in 59/114 placebo patients compared with 42/95 dronedarone patients [hazard ratio (HR) 0.78, 95% CI = 0.52–1.16]. Twenty of 114 placebo patients and 12/95 dronedarone patients died during the study (HR 0.71, 95% CI = 0.34–1.44). Fifty-four placebo and 42 dronedarone patients were hospitalized for an intermittent episode of NYHA class IV CHF (HR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.52–1.17). Conclusion In this post-hoc analysis of ATHENA patients with AF and stable CHF, dronedarone did not increase mortality and showed a reduction of CV hospitalization or death similar to the overall population. However, in the light of the ANtiarrhythmic trial with DROnedarone in Moderate to severe CHF Evaluating morbidity DecreAse study, dronedarone should be contraindicated in patients with NYHA class IV or unstable NYHA classes II and III CHF.


The notion of a velocity function relating money's rate of turnover to its independent determining variables is hardly a twentieth-century invention. Indeed, economists William Petty and John Locke in the seventeenth century, Richard Cantillon in the eighteenth, and Henry Thornton and Knut Wicksell in the nineteenth presented velocity functions incorporating determinants such as income, interest rates, inflation expectations, uncertainty, frequency of receipts and payments, state of business confidence, degree of monetization, extent of financial sophistication, credit, and the availability of money substitutes.


An experimental system for the continuous sampling of organic phosphors by the room temperature phosphorimetric technique has been constructed. Phosphorimetric time resolution was achieved by the use of an analog switch phosphoroscope. The results obtained show that this system is fairly sensitive and will allow extremely rapid analyses of small amounts of samples, thereby making it quite suitable for routine analysis of molecules exhibiting phosphorescence at room temperature.


Over 110 effective recipes to help you build and operate OpenStack cloud computing, storage, networking, and automation About This Book * Explore many new features of OpenStack's Juno and Kilo releases * Install, configure, and administer core projects with the help of OpenStack Object Storage, Block Storage, and Neutron Networking services * Harness the abilities of experienced OpenStack administrators and architects, and run your own private cloud successfully * Practical, real-world examples of each service and an accompanying Vagrant environment that helps you learn quickly In Detail OpenStack Open Source software is one of the most used cloud infrastructures to support software development and big data analysis. It is developed by a thriving community of individual developers from around the globe and backed by most of the leading players in the cloud space today. It is simple to implement, massively scalable, and can store a large pool of data and networking resources. OpenStack has a strong ecosystem that helps you provision your cloud storage needs. Add OpenStack's enterprise features to reduce the cost of your business. This book will show you the steps to build up a private cloud environment. At the beginning, you'll discover the uses of cloud services such as the identity service, image service, and compute service. You'll dive into Neutron, the OpenStack Networking service, and get your hands dirty with configuring ML2, networks, routers, and Distributed Virtual Routers. You'll then gather more expert knowledge on OpenStack cloud computing by managing your cloud's security and migration. After that, we delve in to OpenStack Object storage and how to manage servers and work with objects, cluster, and storage functionalities. Also, as you go deeper into the realm of OpenStack, you'll learn practical examples of Block storage, LBaaS, and FWaaS: installation and configuration covered ground up. Finally, you will learn OpenStack dashboard, Ansible and Foreman, Keystone, and other interesting topics. What You Will Learn * Understand, install, configure, and manage Nova-the OpenStack Cloud Compute resource * Configure ML2, networks, routers, and Distributed Virtual Routers with Neutron * Use and secure Keystone, the OpenStack Authentication service * Install and set up Swift and Container Replication between datacenters * Gain hands-on experience and familiarity with Horizon, the OpenStack Dashboard user interface * Automate complete solutions with our recipes on Heat, the OpenStack Orchestration service * Use Ansible and Foreman to automate OpenStack installations successfully * Follow practical advice and examples to run OpenStack in production Who This Book Is For This book is aimed at cloud system engineers, system administrators, and technical architects who are moving from a virtualized environment to cloud environments. This book assumes that you are familiar with cloud computing platforms, and have knowledge of virtualization, networking, and managing Linux environments. Style and approach Clear, step-by-step instructions coupled with practical and applicable recipes that'll enable you to use and implement the latest features of OpenStack.


Mainstream pro-immigrant law reformers advocate for better treatment of immigrants by invoking a contrast with people convicted of a crime. This Article details the harms and limitations of a conceptual framework for immigration reform that draws its narrative force from a contrast with people — citizens and noncitizens — who have been convicted of a criminal offense and proposes an alternate approach that better aligns with racial and class critiques of the U.S. criminal justice system. Noncitizens with a criminal record are overwhelmingly low-income people of color. While some have been in the United States for a short period of time, many have resided in the United States for much longer. Many are lawful permanent residents with strong family ties, including U.S. citizen children. Convicted noncitizens who have served significant time in our penal system have experienced the well-documented harms associated with both criminal and civil incarceration. Despite the significant size of this population and its location at the convergence of two heavily criticized law enforcement regimes, these individuals rarely serve as an example for what is wrong with our immigration system. To the contrary, convicted noncitizens are typically regarded as foils for more deserving immigrants. Immigration reformers are not the first to employ a deserving/undeserving narrative as a means of obtaining political gains for some at the expense of others. Across all areas of law reform, policy makers and advocates have sought to generate empathy for groups of people by invoking a contrast with others. In drawing a contrast between a favored group and others who are degenerate, deviant, or less deserving, the "politics of respectability" depends on a contrast with an "out" or deviant group. Racial justice proponents, much more than immigration reformers, have made significant headway in moving beyond respectability politics, especially when critiquing hyperincarceration. This Article describes a different conceptualization of immigrants and crime as well as examples of how certain immigration reform groups have sought to implement aspects of this alternate frame.


Driven
by the increasing attention that the superionic conductors
Li3MX6 (M = Y, Er, In, La; X = Cl, Br, I) have
gained recently for the use of solid-state batteries, and the idea
that a softer, more polarizable anion sublattice is beneficial for
ionic transport, here we report Li3ErI6, the
first experimentally obtained iodine-based compound within this material
system of ionic conductors. Using a combination of synchrotron and
neutron diffraction, we elucidate the structure, the lithium positions,
and possible diffusion pathways of Li3ErI6.
Temperature-dependent impedance spectroscopy shows low activation
energies of 0.37 and 0.38 eV alongside promising ionic conductivities
of 0.65 and 0.39 mS·cm–1 directly after ball
milling and the subsequently annealed Li3ErI6, respectively. Speed of sound measurements are used to determine
the Debye frequency of the lattice as a descriptor of the lattice
dynamics and overall lattice softness, and Li3ErI6 is compared to the known material Li3ErCl6. The softer, more polarizable framework from the iodide anion leads
to improved ionic transport, showing that the idea of softer lattices
holds up in this class of materials. This work provides Li3ErI6 as an interesting framework for optimization in the
class of halide-based ionic conductors.


Genetic patterns were examined in five populations of North American Cleistes with three sources of molecular data: amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP), DNA sequencing, and plastid microsatellites. Populations of C. bifaria were sampled in four areas of the south-eastern US: the coastal plains of Florida and North Carolina and the mountains of North Carolina and West Virginia. A population of C. divaricata sympatric with the North Carolina coastal plain C. bifaria was also sampled. Analysis of the three types of molecular data resulted in the same relationships among the five sampled populations. The coastal plain population of C. divaricata was consistently grouped with the C. bifaria populations from the mountains of West Virginia and North Carolina, and the two coastal plain populations of C. bifaria formed a separate group, results not supporting the existing concepts of species relationships. For future studies, greater sampling of C. divaricata populations and more detailed morphological and phenological studies are recommended for better characterization of the diversity within North American Cleistes. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 145, 87–95.


Common Core State Standards Initiative mandates increased readings of informational texts within English Language Arts starting in elementary school. Accurate, age-appropriate, and engaging content is at the center of effective social studies teaching. Textbooks and children's literature—both literary and informational—are prominent in elementary classrooms because of the esoteric nature of primary source material. Many research projects have investigated historical accuracy and representation within textbooks, but few have done so with children's trade books. We examined children's trade books centered on three historical figures frequently incorporated within elementary school curricula: Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, and Helen Keller. Findings revealed various forms of historical misrepresentation and differing levels of historicity. Reporting such lacunae is important for those involved in curricular decisions. We believe children's books, even those with historical omissions and misrepresentations, provide an unique opportunity for students to incorporate and scrutinize diverse perspectives as they actively assemble historical understandings. All secondary narratives, even historically representative children's books, can benefit from primary source supplementation. We guide teachers interested in employing relevant and rich primary source material.


BACKGROUND
Despite the changes which have taken place in the sources of emissions, the levels of particles, SO2 and CO continue to be high in the municipality of Madrid. Apart from this, photochemical pollutants, such as NO2 and O3 are taking on growing importance due to the increased number of cars and trucks on the road and the major degrees of sunlight in this city. The objective of this article is to set out the short-term relationship between the major pollutants and the daily death rate in the city of Madrid for the 1992-1995 period, using the standardized procedure of the EMECAM Projects (Spanish Multicenter Study of Air Pollution and Death Rate).

METHODS
The daily fluctuations in the death rate for all causes except external ones for all ages and for those individuals over age 69, in addition to those of the circulatory system and respiratory apparatus are related to the daily fluctuations in particles (PM10), SO2, NO2, CO and O3, by means of autoregressive Poisson regression models. The seasonality, tendency, temperature, relative humidity, flu, day of the week, holidays and events out of the ordinary are controlled.

RESULTS
Statistically significant positive relationships were found to exist between SO2 and all of the death rate series analyzed, between CO and the death rate of individuals over age 69, as well as with cardiovascular and respiratory deaths and of the particles to the death rate as the result of cardiovascular disease. A statistically significant relationship was also found to exist between NO2 and the cardiovascular death rate. These impact are immediate, that is to say, they occur with the pollutants of the same day. No significant positive relationships were found to exist for O3.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that, for a broad spectrum of major pollutants, the current levels of air pollution in Madrid are related to a rise in the death rate.


The emergence of very large cohorts in genomic research has facilitated a focus on genotype-imputation strategies to power rare variant association. These strategies have benefited from improvements in imputation methods and association tests, however little attention has been paid to ways in which array design can increase rare variant association power. Therefore, we developed a novel framework to select tag SNPs using the reference panel of 26 populations from Phase 3 of the 1000 Genomes Project. We evaluate tag SNP performance via mean imputed r2 at untyped sites using leave-one-out internal validation and standard imputation methods, rather than pairwise linkage disequilibrium. Moving beyond pairwise metrics allows us to account for haplotype diversity across the genome for improve imputation accuracy and demonstrates population-specific biases from pairwise estimates. We also examine array design strategies that contrast multi-ethnic cohorts vs. single populations, and show a boost in performance for the former can be obtained by prioritizing tag SNPs that contribute information across multiple populations simultaneously. Using our framework, we demonstrate increased imputation accuracy for rare variants (frequency < 1%) by 0.5–3.1% for an array of one million sites and 0.7–7.1% for an array of 500,000 sites, depending on the population. Finally, we show how recent explosive growth in non-African populations means tag SNPs capture on average 30% fewer other variants than in African populations. The unified framework presented here will enable investigators to make informed decisions for the design of new arrays, and help empower the next phase of rare variant association for global health.


BaZr0.8Y0.2O3-∂ (BZY)-NiO composite powders with different BZY-NiO weight ratios were prepared by a combustion method as anodes for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). After heating to 1100°C for 6 h, the composite powders were made of a well-dispersed mixture of two phases, BZY and NiO. Chemical stability tests showed that the BZY-NiO anodic powders had good stability against CO2, whereas comparative tests under the same conditions showed degradation for BaCe0.7Zr0.1Y0.2O3-∂NiO, which is at present the most used anode material for proton-conducting SOFCs. Area specific resistance (ASR) measurements for BZY-NiO anodes showed that their electrochemical performance depended on the BZY-NiO weight ratio. The best performance was obtained for the anode containing 50 wt % BZY and 50 wt % NiO, which showed the smallest ASR values in the whole testing temperature range (0.37 Ω cm2 at 600°C). The 50 wt % BZY and 50 wt % NiO anode prepared by combustion also showed superior performance than that of the BZY-NiO anode conventionally made by a mechanical mixing route, as well as that of Pt.


The basic features of the Naghamish Basin and agro-ecosystem in the North West Coastal Zone of Egypt (climate, soils and vegetation cover) are mapped to analyse the wear and tear of physical components of the environment of three tribes' territories between 2006 and 2011 when a dry spell struck. Our land use mapping and results using RS and GIS indicate considerable and quick changes in the agricultural and biotic components in spite of an inter-annual long-term rainfall variability appearing standard for this low-rainfall desert region. After good rainy years (1985–1995), the impact of the following drought (1996–2011) perceived by the farmer and Bedouin communities is real and confirmed by our land cover mapping changes of the Nagamish watershed. The communities are correct in their perception of the drought and are deeply affected in their economy and social life.


Development of advanced techniques has enhanced the capability of more accurate characterization of engineering materials at both the microscopic and macroscopic levels. Through better understanding of material structures, deformation failure mechanisms, improved material systems have been developed. This paper presents recent development of cement-based materials and the related research findings. Problems related to civil engineering applications of the newly developed materials are also discussed.


The vacuolar ATPase is required for amino acid–mediated activation of mTORC1. This Podcast features a conversation with the senior author of a Report published in the 4 November 2011 issue of Science. Signaling through mTORC1 (the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1) promotes cell growth by stimulating protein synthesis. The activity of mTORC1 is regulated by cellular nutrient and energy status as well as growth factors. The presence of amino acids stimulates the translocation of mTORC1 to the surface of the lysosome, where it is activated. Zoncu and colleagues report that the vacuolar ATPase is required for amino acids to activate mTORC1. Senior author David Sabatini discusses these findings.