The acid corrosion inhibition and adsorption process of copper in 2M H3PO4 containing 0.3M of NaCl by an Ecofriendly ionic liquid newly synthesized [1-(2-(4-chlorophenyl)-2 oxoethyl)Pyridazinium Bromid CPEPB] and [1-(2- (4-nitrophenyl)-2-oxoethyl)Pyridazinium Bromide NPEPB]. Was studied by using weight loss measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization.The presence of these tow molecules led to decrease of the corrosion rate of Copper. At 10-3 M of NPEPB and CPEPB, the inhibition efficiencies increase with the inhibitor concentration to reach 88.94% and 87.5%, respectively. The adsorption of these compounds on Copper surface agrees Langmuir's adsorption isotherm. To support the experimental results and To perform the corrosion study, Quantum chemical approach, using the density functional theory (DFT), was applied in order to get better understanding about the relationship between the inhibition efficiency and molecular structure of NPEPB and CPEPB. The parameters include the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), amount of electrons transferred and dipole moment. The results of the study suggest that NPEPB is a better corrosion inhibitor than CPEPB, which is in agreement with most experimental results obtained at different concentrations.


The present analysis suggests that three stages can be identified in the post-rift Cretaceous development of the northern North Sea, namely the incipient (Ryazanian–latest Albian), the middle (Cenomanian–late Turonian) and the mature (early Coniacian–early Palaeocene). The transition from syn-to post-rift configuration was strongly diachronous, suggesting that the thermal state of the system was not homogeneous at the onset of the post-rift stage. This is supported by observed differences between the early post-rift subsidence histories of the southern Viking Graben, the Stord Basin and the Sogn Graben. The incipient post-rift stage was characterized by diverse subsidence. The major structural features inherited from the syn-rift basin (e.g. crests of rotated fault blocks, relay ramps and sub-platforms) had a strong influence on the basin configuration and, therefore, the sediment distribution. In the middle stage the internal basin relief became gradually drowned by sediments. This is typical for basins where sediment supply outpaces or balances subsidence, as was the case in the northern North Sea. Thus, the influence of the syn-rift basin topography become subordinate to the subsidence pattern which was determined by the crustal thinning profile which, in turn, relies on thermal contraction and isostatic/elastic response to sediment loading. The mature post-rift stage was characterized by the evolution into a wide, saucer-shaped basin where the syn-rift features finally became erased. Since thermal equilibrium was reached at this stage, subsidence ceased, and the pattern of basin filling became, to a larger degree, dependent on extra-basinal processes. This simple pattern was influenced by the structural inhomogeneity of the basin. This inhomogeneity may have included the graben units, in turn related to contrasting geometries of the lithospheric structure. The incipient stage of post-rift development was halted by relative uplift/deceleration of subsidence, locally corresponding to 200 m. This is ascribed to a hitherto undescribed thermo-tectonic event. The mechanism of this event is not yet known.


The trustee/delegate problem purportedly expresses how closely a representative's votes in the legislature should correspond to their constituents' preferences. In this article, I argue that the usual formulation of this debate collapses three distinctions—aims, source of judgment, and responsiveness—and thus obscures the underlying complexity of the phenomenon. Given its tripartite formulation, the collapse of these distinctions into a binary "trustee/delegate" formulation obscures a more complex political landscape with eight—rather than two—ideal types. Furthermore, once unpacked, we can see that the distinctions operate entirely independent of the location of authority, leading to the seemingly paradoxical instructed trustees and independent delegates. I also claim that the three distinctions apply to any decision maker, and thus, the attribution of this problem as distinctive of democratic political representation is an important overstatement. The article thus contributes to a more general theory of political representation that can be applied in nonelectoral and nondemocratic contexts increasingly relevant to global politics.


Abstract Source-to-sink interpretations of genetic equivalency between fluvial feeder systems and basin accumulations infer that the sediment and water mass collected and transferred by rivers from the catchment is in balance with the mass ultimately delivered to the depositional basin. This relationship has value for modeling basin-fill volumes, climate and climate change, ocean water mass, and other applications. Executing an estimate of this mass balance is challenging in modern systems but even more difficult in deep-time stratigraphic systems where the catchment is no longer active and critical variables from the source and sink system are either not preserved or preserved with large uncertainties. Available data sets from stratigraphic systems are likewise often limited to a few localized boreholes, scattered outcrop, and/or geophysical surveys. This paper offers a method, the fulcrum test, for estimating mass flux from the source area to the basin sink by calculation of channel paleohydrologic variables extractable from these common stratigraphic data sources. We use the Cenomanian channels of the Bahariya Formation, Egypt, as an example application in a stratigraphic system. The technique may provide greater accuracy in modern systems where more data are available and uncertainties are lower. Total mass passing through a cross section of all feeder channels over a period of time should match with both the total sediment delivered to the cross section from the source area and the total volume delivered through these channels to the basin. This cross section would constitute a fulcrum across which source and sink sediment and water mass should balance. Bankfull dimensions and representative bedload are measured and sampled from channel stories identified in outcrop and/or subsurface data over a fulcrum cross section within the basin. Flow transport equations are used to estimate bankfull discharge and sediment concentrations using established methods. These concentrations are projected over longer durations to estimate total channel mass through-flux over basin-fill time spans. These estimates can also be tested against other mass-flux methods such as known volumetric basin-fill accumulation rates and/or estimates of drainage-area denudation. In the example case, calculations of mass flux from Bahariya channels that feed the equivalent fluvial-to-marine basin show that these channels were capable of delivering at least three times the sediment actually preserved. Channels were small with average depths of 2.5 m and 0.1 m3/sec bankfull sediment discharges. The fulcrum test offers a first-order approximation of mass balance, but it remains a nascent method. Key parameters have large uncertainties, which currently limit accuracy to an order of magnitude. This uncertainty could be reduced to a factor of three in stratigraphic systems through improved constraints on channel width and development of better relationships between bankfull and mean annual discharge. Uncertainties can be lowered to a factor of two in extant systems where key variables (e.g., slope, etc.) can be measured instead of estimated. The method also retains intrinsic limitations. It derives a discharge for only a single representative "unit" channel, and the contingency of multiple channels must be detected through other geologic data and integrated independently. The method also does not account for mass extraction through deposition between the catchment and the fulcrum, though fulcrum tests in multiple cross sections longitudinally could potentially lend insight into this issue. Accuracy of the test also depends upon stratigraphic preservation as a valid "statistical sampling machine" for discharge processes, and upon unbiased sampling of discrete channel stories within this preserved sample population.


Chocolate and cocoa are extensively used in many cultures. Although their composition has been studied, the functional significance of the components has not been as well defined. There are indications that cocoa constituents exert beneficial effects on human health, and therefore cocoa and chocolate may be considered functional foods. The use of functional foods to modulate human health has gained greater significance in recent years, and chocolate is widely consumed throughout society. We performed an extensive review of literature in both animal and human systems with respect to composition, bioavailability, comparative analysis with other food products and, especially, implications for cardiovascular disease and the human immune system. Although chocolate contains a high amount of saturated fats, the two major fatty acids are palmitic and stearic acid, which appear to have fewer implications for progression of coronary artery disease than other saturated fatty acids. In addition, the implications of f...


Households and communities in the Pacific islands are increasingly likely to have some of their most productive members regularly absent due to growing opportunities for seasonal work abroad. If these absences are costly for the family left behind, the net development benefits of seasonal migration will be less than what they appear from remittances and repatriated foreign earnings, and there might be a role for government policies in host and source countries to mitigate some of the effects of absence. This article provides the first evidence of how Pacific island households and communities are affected by and cope with seasonal absences. We find that Tongan households have succeeded in mitigating many of the potential adverse effects associated with seasonal separation of members, whereas households from Vanuatu with members participating in the RSE appear to have suffered some shortterm costs in terms of diet and health.


BACKGROUND
Successful salvage of a failing renal allograft secondary to compromised venous outflow from acute deep venous thrombus (DVT) has not been reported in the post-operative setting.

CASE REPORT
We present a case of acute DVT extending from the popliteal vein to the bifurcation of the inferior vena cava leading to renal allograft dysfunction in the post-operative period. The allograft was successfully salvaged with catheter directed thrombolysis of the DVT with tPA through the ipsilateral popliteal vein over a 48 hr period.

CONCLUSIONS
Post-operative renal transplant dysfunction secondary to iliac vein thrombosis can be successfully treated with catheter-directed thrombolysis using tPA.


In this paper we present a method of discriminatively training language models for spoken language understanding; we show improvements in named entity F-scores on speech data using these improved language models. A comparison between theoretical probabilities associated with manual markup and the actual probabilities of output markup is used to identify probabilities requiring adjustment. We present results which support our hypothesis that improvements in F-scores are possible by using either previously used training data or held out development data to improve discrimination amongst a set of N-gram language models.


Postponement as a tool of creating flexibility is not a new concept. It traces back in literature to the 1950's but was mainly argued as a method useful for manufacturing. However, postponement could potentially be used in all different parts of an organization to delay certain activities, and thereby create flexibility, which is crucial in today's volatile marketplace. Customers are requiring customized products, yet they are not willing to pay premium for processes involved. Also, competition is increasing, as retailers around the globe compete with each other due to internet and improved information systems.This study focuses on a retailer's perspective in the supply chain, as previous studies mainly discuss manufacturers, and their different abilities of achieving flexibility. Supply chain management as a concept are discussed, which is described as an integrative approach to dealing with the planning and control of the materials flow from suppliers to end users. This will further be "extended" to demand chain management, where focus lies at customers' demand and puts emphasis on the needs of the marketplace and identifies the roles and tasks to be designed in the supply chain to satisfy these needs, instead of starting with the supplier/manufacturer and working forward. This is closely connected to flexibility, and postponement as a tool to achieve this. Flexibility as such, is described as the ability to change, or adapt to customer demand.This study aims to explore the Swedish retailing business, and their use of postponement strategies. A quantitative study has been made to be able to create a general picture of their use of this tool, as well as their prerequisite for adopting this tool. This study shows that retailing in general do have adopted strategies for customizations except non-specialized stores where answers to a wide extent differed regarding their use of flexibility. However, these strategies mainly regard packaging, and/or basic customizations. Depending on the market certain retailers are active within; postponement is used in various extents. Expensive products, or customers requiring big quantities of products, are able to get these customized. Money is almost always the main concern in these adaptations. Some factors that have been studied, that were enablers of flexibility and postponement strategies, were not able to be analyzed as very low results were calculated. However, the main-factors: flexibility and postponement were able to be analyzed in detail, as well as discussions regarding the inconclusive data gathered.


We study a simple model of factor saving technological innovation in a concave framework. Capital can be used either to reproduce itself or, at additional cost, to produce a higher quality of capital that requires less labor input. If higher quality capital can be produced quickly, we get a model of exogenous balanced growth as a special case. If, however, higher quality capital can be produced slowly, we get a model of endogenous growth in which the growth rate of the economy and the rate of adoption of new technologies are determined by preferences, technology, and initial conditions. Moreover, in the latter case, the process of growth is necessarily uneven, exhibiting a natural cycle with alternating periods of high and low growth. Growth paths and technological innovations also exhibit dependence upon initial conditions. The model provides a step toward a theory of endogenous innovation under conditions of perfect competition.


Lightweight, flexible, large-aperture mirrors of a type being developed for use in outer space have unimorph structures that enable precise adjustment of their surface figures. A mirror of this type includes a reflective membrane layer bonded with an electrostrictive grafted elastomer (G-elastomer) layer, plus electrodes suitably positioned with respect to these layers. By virtue of the electrostrictive effect, an electric field applied to the G-elastomer membrane induces a strain along the membrane and thus causes a deflection of the mirror surface. Utilizing this effect, the mirror surface figure can be adjusted locally by individually addressing pairs of electrodes. G-elastomers, which were developed at NASA Langley Research Center, were chosen for this development in preference to other electroactive polymers partly because they offer superior electromechanical performance. Whereas other electroactive polymers offer, variously, large strains with low moduli of elasticity or small strains with high moduli of elasticity, G-elastomers offer both large strains (as large as 4 percent) and high moduli of elasticity (about 580 MPa). In addition, G-elastomer layers can be made by standard melt pressing or room-temperature solution casting.


Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is widely expected to make sustainable transport choices more attractive. New approaches to ticketing will be a core part of MaaS, both to attract users and fund services. The associated pricing decisions will be a matter of public policy as much as business objectives, because they can have large social welfare effects. This paper describes options for different pricing structures and their relative efficiency. It considers the potential impact that differing objectives of public and privately-owned transport providers might have on pricing decisions. It concludes with an assessment of the possible effects of Covid-19 on the MaaS market.


Abstract The taxonomy of the genus Natalus in the Greater Antilles has been controversial for decades. Although as many as three taxa of Natalus (sensu stricto) were described for the Greater Antilles, the main source of disagreement was whether Natalus major (thought to be distributed in Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica) is a species distinct from Natalus stramineus. The Cuban form of Natalus, previously known only from incomplete fossils, has been largely excluded from the debate surrounding the taxonomic status of N. major. The discovery of an extant population of the Cuban Natalus prompted a reanalysis of species limits among Natalus in the Greater Antilles. In this paper, we show that the genus Natalus is represented in the Greater Antilles by three distinct extant species, each endemic to a single island. We also summarize information about the natural history of these species and emphasize the importance of taking immediate conservation action for their protection.


With the purpose to study the effect of chlorpromazine on body fluids in vivo, especially the changes in the amounts of pyruvate and α-ketoglutaric acid in ventricle fluid, spinal fluid of lumbar region and blood, the author estimated according to Shimazono-Shimizu method the amounts of pyruvate and α-ketoglutaric acid in blood and spinal fluids obtained from schizophrenic patients at rest or after adminstration of the optimum dosage of chlorpromazine (C. P.) or iaomytal (Iso) and given lobotomy. The results are as follows: 1. No marked difference between the amount of pyruvate or α-ketoglutaraic acid in the venous blood obtained from the persons at rest with empty stomach and the same obtained after the administration of 200 mg C. P for 10 days or intramascular injection of 50 mg C. P. 2. In the estimation of two acid amounts in ventricle fluid, spinal fluid of lumbar regions and elbow venous blood obtained at about the same time after intramascular injection of 100 mg C. P, it has been found to be in the order of the amount of pyruvate in blood > the same in ventricle fluid > that in spinal fluid of lumbar region. The amount of α-ketoglutaric acid proves to be in the order of that in ventricle fluid > that in blood > that in spinal fluid of lumbar region. Each of these values shows a slightly decreasing tendency as compared with those in the control to which no drug has been administered. 3. After the intravenous administration of 0.5 g Isomytal (Iso) the amounts of both acids distributed at various sites have been estimated in the same manner as above. In this instance the amounts of pyruvate and α-ketoglutaric acid distributed at different sites show about the same tendency as observed in the control as well as in the cases given C. P. However, when these values are compared with those given C, P. and those at each site, the values of both acids in blood and in spinal fluid at lumbar region show a decreasing teudency as compared with the control, but in ventricle fluid the amount of α-ketoglutaric acid is slightly increased. In other words, it appears that the changes in the amount of α-ketoglutaric acid in cerbral fluid behave differently from those in the case given C. P. Moreover, this phenomenon seems to be due to the difference in the mechanism of C. P. and Iso. acting on the brain.


We quantify the synchronization between snowfall and natural avalanches in relation to terrain properties at the detachment zone. We analyze field statistics of 549 avalanche events in terms of slope, aspect, timing, coordinate, and release area, identified by a georeferencing procedure applied on terrestrial photography. The information from the digital pictures, together with associated meteorological data, provides us with the input needed for model calibration, namely, the magnitude of snowfall, the snow compaction rate, and the timing of precipitation and of avalanche events. Synchronization between snowfall and avalanches is established for different slope categories. We obtain an average probability of release after a snow event of 30% and 16% for the high‐ and low‐slope categories (average slope 44° and 36°, respectively). Using the notion of information entropy, we quantify the uncertainty in predicting avalanche occurrence from a snow event. The steeper slopes correspond to a larger entropy in avalanche prediction. Further, the presented method allows us to establish the return period of avalanches without requiring a long series of data. When considering events regardless of their release depth, the avalanches had a return period of 48 days (higher slopes) and 88 days (lower slopes). Finally, we determine the average daily detachment rate as a function of snow depth and the return period of avalanches as a function of the release depth.


a wake-up call for transforming U.S. defense planning. Unfortunately and paradoxically, despite the Bush administration's continuation of rhetoric about defense "transformation," those events likely drove the last nail into the coffin of reform. During his campaign and early in his administration, President Bush pledged to create a transformed military, based less on size and more on swiftness, agility, and ease of deployment. To do that, he talked about modernizing existing weapons selectively, skipping a generation of technology, and investing the savings in cutting-edge technologies that would provide a quantum leap in future military capabilities. Such transformation implied cutting force structure, terminating some weapons currently in development, and investing the savings in technologies for the future. Even before September 11, however, defense reform died at the hand of vested interests in the military bureaucracy and defense industry and their supporters in Congress. After September 11 and the war in Afghanistan, President Bush had the opportunity to use his prestige and high public approval ratings, as well as renewed public interest in national security issues, to resuscitate his defense reform agenda. Instead, the president took the easy way out, asking for the largest increase in defense spending since the military buildup during the Reagan administration. Until recently, all talk of terminating unneeded or Cold War–era weapons or cutting or reforming force structure had ceased. Merely throwing money at a bureaucracy whose efficiency even Secretary Rumsfeld compares to Soviet central planning effectively kills any chance of transforming the way the Pentagon will fight future wars. Many troublesome, unneeded, and Cold War–era weapons must be terminated; the balance of funding given to each of the military services must be altered; the forces of each service must be trimmed and restructured; and savings from such reforms must be reallocated to fund neglected areas and futuristic technologies. Those promises were included in Bush's agenda for defense transformation and became even more vital after September 11, but they will probably be left unfulfilled. Empty Promises Why the Bush Administration's Half-Hearted Attempts at Defense Reform Have Failed


Rapid progress in health research has led to generation of new knowledge and innovative practices in management of illness. This has resulted in a significant challenge for health professionals: if today we discovered a new therapy through research, when will this discovery be regularly prescribed or utilized to treat all patients suffering from this condition? Knowledge translation is the non-linear and often complicated process of translating knowledge into routine health practices. Technology enabled knowledge translation (TEKT) is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to accelerate knowledge translation. With the ubiquity of the internet, the proliferation of different approaches in communication and social networking, and the continuously improving technologies from netbooks to smartphones, there are rich opportunities for TEKT in health education, service delivery, and research.


We propose a method for simulating the complex dynamics of partially and fully saturated woven and knit fabrics interacting with liquid, including the effects of buoyancy, nonlinear drag, pore (capillary) pressure, dripping, and convection-diffusion. Our model evolves the velocity fields of both the liquid and solid relying on mixture theory, as well as tracking a scalar saturation variable that affects the pore pressure forces in the fluid. We consider the porous microstructure implied by the fibers composing individual threads, and use it to derive homogenized drag and pore pressure models that faithfully reflect the anisotropy of fabrics. In addition to the bulk liquid and fabric motion, we derive a quasi-static flow model that accounts for liquid spreading within the fabric itself. Our implementation significantly extends standard numerical cloth and fluid models to support the diverse behaviors of wet fabric, and includes a numerical method tailored to cope with the challenging nonlinearities of the problem. We explore a range of fabric-water interactions to validate our model, including challenging animation scenarios involving splashing, wringing, and collisions with obstacles, along with qualitative comparisons against simple physical experiments.


ABSTRACT Protein-coding genes of trypanosomes are mainly transcribed polycistronically and cleaved into functional mRNAs in a process that requires trans splicing of a capped 39-nucleotide RNA derived from a short transcript, the spliced-leader (SL) RNA. SL RNA genes are individually transcribed from the only identified trypanosome RNA polymerase II promoter. We have purified and characterized a sequence-specific SL RNA promoter-binding complex, tSNAPc, from the pathogenic parasite Trypanosoma brucei, which induces robust transcriptional activity within the SL RNA gene. Two tSNAPc subunits resemble essential components of the metazoan transcription factor SNAPc, which directs small nuclear RNA transcription. A third subunit is unrelated to any eukaryotic protein and identifies tSNAPc as a unique trypanosomal transcription factor. Intriguingly, the unusual trypanosome TATA-binding protein (TBP) tightly associates with tSNAPc and is essential for SL RNA gene transcription. These findings provide the first view of the architecture of a transcriptional complex that assembles at an RNA polymerase II-dependent gene promoter in a highly divergent eukaryote.


OBJECTIVE
To assess oral bioavailability (F) and pharmacokinetic characteristics of the R- and S-enantiomers of ketoprofen administered IV and orally to captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

ANIMALS
5 adult Asian elephants.

PROCEDURE
Elephants received single treatments of racemic ketoprofen at a dose of 2.2 mg/kg, administered IV and orally, in a complete crossover design. Blood samples were collected at intervals during the 24 hours following treatment. At least 4 weeks elapsed between drug administrations. Samples were analyzed for R- and S-ketoprofen with a validated liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopic assay. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined by use of noncompartmental analysis.

RESULTS
The enantiomers of ketoprofen were absorbed well after oral administration, with median F of 101% for R-ketoprofen and 85% for S-ketoprofen. Harmonic mean half-life ranged from 3.8 to 5.5 hours, depending on route of administration and enantiomer. The area under the concentration-time curve, mean residence time, apparent volume of distribution, plasma clearance, and maximum plasma concentration values were all significantly different between the 2 enantiomers for both routes of administration.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Ketoprofen has a long terminal half-life and complete absorption in this species. Based on the pharmacokinetic data, a dosage of ketoprofen of 1 mg/kg every 48 hours to 2 mg/kg every 24 hours, PO or IV, is recommended for use in Asian elephants, although the safety and efficacy of ketoprofen during long-term administration in elephants have not been determined.


Scallops are marine bivalves that have a unique ability to swim and visualize their environment. Their eyes allow them to detect light and moving particles. It also gives them the ability to sense their surroundings and look for more suitable locations. In addition, the animals change their orientation position with water flow in order to maximize their food intake and growth. Both Chlamys rubida and Chlamys hastata exhibit these abilities, despite their morphological and behavioral differences. However, because of their profound distinctions that separate them between species, we suspect that the two groups will exhibit differences in their orientation preference to the current. Orientation position will optimize growth and feeding for these species within their local environment. Our hypothesis on scallops' orientation was tested in a flume tank. Their angle in respect to the water flow were measured and recorded for comparison. The experiment demonstrated that there was no statistical difference in orientation preference between the two species in a well-lit environment, and that their vision had no considerable influence on their orientation. However, we were able to find a statistical difference in how the two species preferred to orient themselves within a dark environment.


This paper gives a new taxonomy of dynamic term structure models that classifies all existing TSMs as either fundamental models or preference-free single-plus, double-plus, and triple-plus models. We exemplify the new taxonomy by considering preference-free versions of some well-known fundamental short rate models. Single-plus extensions of the fundamental models are shown to be both time-homogeneous and preference-free - two characteristics which do not simultaneously hold under any existing class of TSMs. Though the analytical apparatus for pricing fixed income securities is identical under fundamental models and single-plus models, the latter models are consistent with general non-linear forms of MPRs which may also depend upon an arbitrary set of state variables, leading to better estimates of risk-neutral parameters. The preference-free double-plus and triple-plus extensions of the fundamental models are similar to the Heath, Jarrow, and Morton [1992] models, in that time-inhomogeneous drifts and volatilities are used as "smoothing variables" to fit the initial bond prices and initial term structure of volatilities, respectively.


ABSTRACT In young adults at university, social interaction anxiety has been linked to elevated risk of alcohol-related problems, as has alexithymia. The present study sought to assess whether social interaction anxiety is, like alexithymia, associated with the primary motive of drinking to cope with negative affect. There were 126 undergraduates (76 females, 50 males), aged 18–25 years, who were recruited from two southeast Queensland universities to complete validated self-report measures of problematic drinking, alexithymia, drinking motives, and social interaction anxiety. As predicted, social interaction anxiety was positively related to problematic drinking and coping motives for drinking. Alexithymia mediated the relationship of social interaction anxiety with coping motives. Findings were consistent with a developmental hypothesis of the links between social anxiety, alexithymia, and drinking motives. Given the cross-sectional design of the current study, longitudinal research is ultimately needed to confirm such interpretations of alexithymia and alcohol use among socially anxious young adults at university.


The education reform efforts in Botswana have focused predominantly on teacher preparation, recruitment and compensation. Recruitment efforts have resulted in a significant number of expatriates working with indigenous teachers in many schools. However as the schools are currently upgraded and restructured, the quality of the working relationships forged between indigenous and expatriates teachers represents one vital aspect in the reform effort that has gone almost unattended This article presents the findings of an exploratory study of the development of working relationships between indigenous and expatriate teachers in Botswana. Using a qualitative approach including phenomenological interviews, observations and document analysis, along with a micro-political perspective, the study documents the ambiguity and uncertainty obligations interest and prerogatives - influenced by culture and the interplay of micro-politics - that indigenous and expatriate teachers bring to these relationships and the strategies that they use to shape these relationships in ways consistent with their own self-interest. The study raises important issues concerning the formation of working relationships across culture and micro-politics in schools.


This research has focused on the evaluation of the consumer satisfaction process in a sport event. A popular athletic cross urban race, periodically organized by a City Council, has served as the framework for the study of cognitive and affective elements that drives satisfaction judgement and the moderator effect of sport motivations. A causal model is tested and the results show that satisfaction is primarily driven by an affective factor (arousal), and the effect of pleasure is not significant. The cognitive element is also important for determining satisfaction and future behavior intentions, and all of the antecedents are independent in the satisfaction process. Sport motivations have a moderating effect on the relationship between disconfirmation and satisfaction. In addition, satisfaction is an emotional evaluation for the highly motivated individuals. Implications for both practical and theoretical research are discussed.


Wine production has been carried out by humanity for thousands of years. Besides grape, the second most important ingredient is yeast. Yeasts that involve in fermentation are basically denoted as Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces types. Discrimination and quantification of these yeast species play a crucial role in production of wine regarding its quality, taste, etc. In this study, yeast species from grapes that were collected from Adana, Tekirdag and Urla regions were isolated. Selective media (ESA and Lysine) were used to biochemically distinguish yeasts. For molecular level, Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region containing 5.8S rDNA gene was amplified by PCR for every isolate. The sequencing results were run by ClustalW and BLAST tools for identification of yeast species. Amplicons were digested to compare between species. For morphological differentiation, microscopic analysis was carried out. Biolog system was used to a physiological point of view. To monitor the growth rate of species, growth curves were drawn by growing the species in YPD media. Additionally, Sulfur resistances of species are calculated by comparison with growth in sulfur containing and not containing YPD media. For the last step, lyophilisation of Saccharomyces species was done to transport the species to Kuscular Village. As a conclusion Tekirdag samples possessed generally Isaatchenkia and Metschnikowia genera; Adana samples carried Metschnikowia (the most) and Hanseniaspora genera but also had Debaryomyces and Pichia; Kuscular Village's foreign variety grapes contained dominantly genera of Saccharomyces, Metschnikowia and Hanseniaspora, and only singular Rhodotorula, Cryptoccocus and Pichia genera; Kuscular Village's local natural flora contained Hanseniaspora, Metschnikowia, Debaryomyces, Rhodotorula, Cryptoccocus, Pichia and Saccharomyces.


Crosslinked polyesters with Young's moduli similar to that of certain soft biological tissues were prepared via bulk polycondensation of thiomalic acid and 1,8-octanediol alone, and with citric or maleic acid. The copolymers were converted to nitric oxide (NO)-releasing S-nitrosothiol (RSNO) analogues by reaction with tert-butyl nitrite. Additional conjugation steps were avoided by inclusion of the thiolated monomer during the polycondensation to permit thiol conversion to RSNOs. NO release at physiological pH and temperature (pH 7.4, 37 °C) was determined by chemiluminescence-based NO detection. The average total NO content for poly(thiomalic-co-maleic acid-co-1,8-octanediol), poly(thiomalic-co-citric acid-co-1,8-octanediol), and poly(thiomalic acid-co-1,8-octanediol) was 130 ± 39 μmol g-1, 200 ± 35 μmol g-1, and 130 ± 11 μmol g-1, respectively. The antibacterial properties of the S-nitrosated analogues were confirmed against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The hydrolytic degradation products were analyzed by time-of-flight mass spectrometry after a 10-week study to investigate their composition. Tensile mechanical tests were performed on the non-nitrosated polymers as well as their S-nitrosated derivatives and suggested that the materials have appropriate Young's moduli and elongation values for biomedical applications.


Hyperspectral imaging is a widely used technology for industrial and scientific purposes, but the high cost and large size of commercial setups have made them impractical for most basic research. Here, we designed and implemented a fully open source and low-cost hyperspectral scanner based on a commercial spectrometer coupled to custom optical, mechanical and electronic components. We demonstrate our scanner's utility for natural imaging in both terrestrial and underwater environments. Our design provides sub-nm spectral resolution between 350–1000 nm, including the UV part of the light spectrum which has been mostly absent from commercial solutions and previous natural imaging studies. By comparing the full light spectra from natural scenes to the spectral sensitivity of animals, we show how our system can be used to identify subtle variations in chromatic details detectable by different species. In addition, we have created an open access database for hyperspectral datasets collected from natural scenes in the UK and India. Together with comprehensive online build- and use-instructions, our setup provides an inexpensive and customisable solution to gather and share hyperspectral imaging data.


The purpose of this thesis is to probe the nature of Luke's soteriology by focusing on Luke's geographical (spatial-temporal) perspective within which the narrative world of Luke-Acts moves. In this thesis, by presenting space-time as intertwined aspects of the same event or reality, I have proposed that we rethink Luke's space-time as a dynamic event in motion. Within this framework, I have proposed that Luke's notion of salvation should be understood not as a static system for containing motion or a fixed framework for defining action, but as a dynamic event in motion, becoming, and flowing, which creates a new salvific space-time (i.e. the kingdom of God) in-between, among, around, and beyond regions and persons. Thus, 1 have proposed that we think of salvation in terms of the nomadic movements of flows that unfold the multiple layers (multiplicity) of release from various fabrics of captivity and oppression - i.e., release from sins and various forms of physical-spiritual sicknesses, stigmas, and debts. Thus we should rethink salvation in the following ways. (1) Not in terms of a dichotomy between physical and spiritual, but as both physical spiritual: both conditions applying to the same saving event. (2) Not as hierarchical or singular, but as heterogeneous and multiple. (3) Not as static moments, but as something flowing, being-toward, and in motion, showing that salvation and its nomadic event of flows is pictured as being in a constant state of movement, signifying an endless qualitative change in type and kind. This means salvation is a nomadic event of release and deterritorialization from one sphere to another. It deterritorializes the fixed, binary, and hierarchical system of the Jerusalem temple, creates the heterogeneous and relational space of God, and establishes multiple access points to the dynamic network (the kingdom) of God.


Brain-inspired cognitive systems (BCSs) are an emerging field of cybernetics, cognitive science, and system science. BCSs study not only the intelligence science foundations of artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive systems, but also formal models of the brain embodied by computational intelligence. This article presents the brain and intelligence science foundations of BCS toward hybrid intelligent systems and the symbiotic intelligence of humanity. It explores the transdisciplinary theoretical foundations of system, brain, intelligence, knowledge, cybernetic, and cognitive sciences toward the next generation of knowledge processors beyond classic data processors for autonomous computing systems. A BCS provides an overarching platform for cognitive cybernetics, humanity, and systems to enable emerging hybrid societies shared by humans and intelligent machines.


Multi-dimensional aerodynamic database development has become more and more important for the design, control and guidance of modern aircrafts. In order to relieve the curse of the dimensionality, we propose a novel flow field reconstruction method based on artificial neural network. The idea is to design a simplified problem which is related to the target problem. Then the map from the simplified problem to the target problem is built using an artificial neural network. Finally, the target problem can be predicted efficiently through solving the simplified problem instead. Examples of the efficiency of this approach include two-dimensional viscous nozzle flows, the inviscid M6 wing flow, and a viscous hypersonic flow of a complex configuration to evaluate the performance of the proposedmethod. With artificial neural network of moderate complexity, the solution of the target problem can be generated with good accuracy. Among other observations, we find that shocks can be predicted well with sharp resolution.


Although the initial promise of cardiac cell‐based therapy was based on the concept that stem cells engraft into diseased tissue and differentiate into beating cardiomyocytes, it is now clear that successful cell‐based tissue repair involves a more complex orchestration of cellular and molecular events. Many lessons about successful tissue repair can be gleaned from the results of early‐stage clinical trials. This body of work shows that cell‐based therapy (with various cell sources and delivery methods) effectively prevents and reverses the remodeling process, the sine qua non of the myocardial injury reaction and anatomic substrate for subsequent clinical events. The potentially favorable remodeling responses to cell therapy have prompted a search for mechanisms of action beyond cell repopulation and guided future clinical trial design by providing more clear focus on pathophysiological endpoints signifying favorable responses to cell‐based therapy. Perhaps the most important mechanistic insight is that endogenous stem/precursor cells have the potential to participate in tissue healing. With regard to the phenotype of cellular response, it is clear that parameters of remodeling, such as infarct size and ventricular dimensions, should be directly measured, thereby necessitating the use of sophisticated imaging modalities, such as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging or multidetector computed tomography. These new insights offer an optimistic outlook on the state of cell‐based therapeutics for cardiac disease and suggest that pivotal clinical trials are warranted. Here, we review lessons learned from clinical trials and evaluate the choice and assessment of endpoints to best predict efficacy of cell therapy.


From Eve to Evolution provides the first full-length study of American women's responses to evolutionary theory and illuminates the role science played in the nineteenth-century women's rights movement. Kimberly A. Hamlin reveals how a number of nineteenth-century women, raised on the idea that Eve's sin forever fixed women's subordinate status, embraced Darwinian evolution-especially sexual selection theory as explained in The Descent of Man - as an alternative to the creation story in Genesis. Hamlin chronicles the lives and writings of the women who combined their enthusiasm for evolutionary science with their commitment to women's rights, including Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Eliza Burt Gamble, Helen Hamilton Gardener, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. These Darwinian feminists believed evolutionary science proved that women were not inferior to men, that it was natural for mothers to work outside the home, and that women should control reproduction. The practical applications of this evolutionary feminism came to fruition, Hamlin shows, in the early thinking and writing of the American birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger. Much scholarship has been dedicated to analyzing what Darwin and other male evolutionists had to say about women, but very little has been written regarding what women themselves had to say about evolution. From Eve to Evolution adds much-needed female voices to the vast literature on Darwin in America.


The goals of this paper are to 1) examine the current practices of diagnostics, prognostics, and maintenance employed by United States (U.S.) manufacturers to achieve productivity and quality targets and 2) to understand the present level of maintenance technologies and strategies that are being incorporated into these practices. A study is performed to contrast the impact of various industry-specific factors on the effectiveness and profitability of the implementation of prognostics and health management technologies, and maintenance strategies using both surveys and case studies on a sample of U.S. manufacturing firms ranging from small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large-sized manufacturing enterprises in various industries. The results obtained provide important insights on the different impacts of specific factors on the successful adoption of these technologies between SMEs and large manufacturing enterprises. The varying degrees of success with respect to current maintenance programs highlight the opportunity for larger manufacturers to improve maintenance practices and consider the use of advanced prognostics and health management (PHM) technology. This paper also provides the existing gaps, barriers, future trends, and roadmaps for manufacturing PHM technology and maintenance strategy.


From the early 1930s to the early 1960s many scholars, whether liberalminded or socialist ideologues, Marxist or scientific positivists, classical scholars or political theorists and historians, have shown a widespread consensus in discrediting and assailing the man and political philosopher Plato. Such an extensive assault led the 'Platonic Legend' to an unprecedented crisis. Philosophically, it was a reaction to the undisguised Platonolatry coming from Oxford and the school of the British Idealists. Ideologically, the appropriation of Plato by Nazi apologists fostered further this vehement indictment. But a lot of other causes worked to the same effect. The general anguish and humanistic anxiety on the eve ofWorldWar II and the postwar traumas led scholars to reconsider the meaning of history and historicism, the psychology of the masses and the ethical responsibility of the citizen, the role of propaganda and state education. Such complementary elements converged in sustained anti-Platonic polemics, which in turn provoked a vigorous defence. Here an attempt is made to offer a preliminary survey of this complex debate and to provide a general intellectual framework in terms of which that controversy can be further explored.


We develop the theory of layered Euclidean spaces and layered lattices. We present algorithms to compute both Gram-Schmidt and reduced bases in this generalized setting. A layered lattice can be seen as lattices where certain directions have infinite weight. It can also be interpreted as the natural objects to be identified with the cusps of de moduli spaces of lattices. In this thesis the theory of layered lattices is put forward together with algorithm to compute with them and applications.


To the Editor: Rhabdoviruses are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses that comprise a large and diverse family in the order Mononegavirales and infect arthropods, plants, fish, and mammals. There are 9 genera of rhabdoviruses: Cytorhabdovirus, Ephemerovirus, Lyssavirus, Novirhabdovirus, Nucleorhabdovirus, Perhabdovirus, Sigmavirus, Tibrovirus, and Vesiculovirus. In addition, a substantial number of plant, vertebrate, and invertebrate rhabdoviruses have not been classified (1). Three genera (Novirhabdovirus, Perhabdovirus, and Vesiculovirus) comprise members that infect fresh water and marine fish (2). Fish rhabdoviruses pose a serious problem for aquaculture because of worldwide outbreaks of disease caused by novirhabdoviruses, perhabdoviruses, and vesiculoviruses (3,4).

In 1992, a rhabdovirus-like virus was isolated from lung and kidney of a white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) that had beached along the coast of the Netherlands (5). Although no macroscopic or microscopic lesions were observed at necropsy, negative contrast electron microscopy showed typical rhabdovirus-like, bullet-shaped particles in Vero cell cultures that showed a focal cytopathic effect (5). After this rhabdovirus-like virus was injected intracerebrally into brains of 1-day-old suckling mice, they died within 5 days (5). We report genetic and phylogenetic characterization of a dolphin rhabdovirus (DRV) and evaluated the seroprevalence of DRV-neutralizing antibodies by using serum samples from various marine mammals collected during a 10-year period (2003–2012).

To characterize DRV, we performed random sequence amplification and deep sequencing with the 454 GS Junior Instrument (Roche, Basel, Switzerland) with DRV-infected Vero cell supernatants as described (6). From this analysis, we determined the complete coding sequence of DRV covered by 42,080 of 49,292 reads (minimum coverage 4 reads, average coverage 872 reads).

Genomic termini of DRV were determined by using a 3′ and 5′ rapid amplification of cDNA ends PCR and Sanger sequencing of obtained PCR amplicons. The complete genome of DRV (GenBank accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"KF958252","term_id":"657638886","term_text":"KF958252"}}KF958252) consists of 11,141 nt and has a typical rhabdovirus gene arrangement of 5 major open reading frames (ORFs) in the order 3′-nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P), matrix (M) protein, glycoprotein (G), and large (L) protein-5′ (Figure, panel A, Appendix). No additional ORFs ≥300 nt were detected. Between the major ORFs of DRV, intergenic sequences were present that ranged in size from 34 (P–M) to 83 (G–L) nucleotides. Putative transcription initiation and transcription termination polyadenylation sequences were AACA(G/U) and AUGA7, respectively.

Figure

Genome organization and phylogenetic analysis of dolphin rhabovirus (DRV). A) Genome organization of DRV showing locations of major open reading frames and start and stop codons at the nucleotide level. N, nucleoprotein; P, phosphoprotein; M, Matrix; ...

The deduced amino acid sequence of genes of DRV and several other rhabdoviruses were aligned by using MUSCLE in MEGA5 version 5.2) (7). Ambiguous aligned regions were removed by using the Gblocks program (8). Phylogenetic analysis of the L and G genes was performed by using the neighbor-joining method in MEGA5 (7). This analysis showed that DRV is most closely related to fish rhabdoviruses of the genera Perhabdovirus and Vesiculovirus and unassigned fish rhabdoviruses with strong bootstrap support (Figure, panels B–D, Appendix).

Deduced amino acid sequences of the 5 major genes had the highest, although weak, homology with those of various fish rhabdoviruses by pairwise identity analyses: N (48%) with hybrid snakehead virus (HSHV), Monopterus albus rhabdovirus (MARV), and Siniperca chautsi rhabdovirus (SCRV); P (18%–20%) with eel virus European X (EVEX), HSHV, MARV, and SCRV; M (27%–33%) with lake trout rhabdovirus, Swedish sea trout rhabdovirus, and EVEX; G (30%–32%) with perch rhabdovirus, lake trout rhabdovirus, Swedish sea trout rhabdovirus, HSHV, MARV, SCRV, and EVEX; and L (54%–56%) with perch rhabdovirus, HSHV, and EVEX. This close relationship with fish rhabdoviruses is surprising because DRV was isolated from tissues of a mammal and propagated in mammalian cell lines at 37°C, which does not occur with related viruses isolated from fish.

To evaluate whether DRV or related viruses circulate among species of cetaceans, we performed serologic screening by using a virus neutralization assay as described (5). The specificity of this assay was tested by using a panel of rhabdovirus-specific antisera obtained from cetaceans of various species (5). The serum samples had been collected for diagnostic purposes from mainly juvenile cetaceans stranded along the coast of the Netherlands during 2003–2012. These species included 2 Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus), 79 harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), 9 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoabla), and 6 white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus aIbirostris). Serum samples from 145 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates) from the collection of the Dolphinarium Harderwijk (Harderwijk, the Netherlands) were also tested. DRV-neutralizing antibodies were detected in serum samples from 1 bottlenose dolphin (7%), 5 striped dolphins (55%), 1 white-beaked dolphin (17%), and 3 harbor porpoises (4%). These results suggested that DRV or closely related viruses continue to infect members of cetacean species (6).

Although rhabdovirus evolutionary pathways are complicated (9), our analysis suggests that DRV is a possible derivative of fish rhabdoviruses. DRV might have originated from an unidentified fish rhabdovirus and might cycle between fish and marine mammals, similar to that suggested for cycling of vesicular stomatitis virus between arthropods and terrestrial mammals (10). Future analyses of sequences from other marine mammal rhabdovirus sequences might support the validity of our phylogenetic analysis and result in creation of a new group containing marine mammal rhabdoviruses.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Lung sound analysis (LSA) has been reported to be useful for predicting airway obstruction and inflammation in patients with bronchial asthma. Objectives: We examined whether the exhalation-to-inhalation sound pressure ratio in the middle frequency range (200-400 Hz) (E/I MF) is useful for monitoring therapy in patients with asthma. METHODS The study population comprised 84 patients with mild to moderate asthma whose LSA data were available before and after 1 year of daily treatment with (budesonide 800 μg). We analyzed whether the E/I MF before and after treatment was associated with the fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) level, sputum eosinophil percentage, respiratory function, and airway hyperresponsiveness. RESULTS Prior to treatment with budesonide, the E/I MF was significantly correlated with respiratory function, airway hyperresponsiveness, FeNO, and sputum eosinophil percentage. The cutoff values for the E/I MF to detect the abnormalities of respiratory function, FeNO, and sputum eosinophil percentage were 0.367, 0.358, and 0.363, respectively. With respect to the reference value, the E/I MF improved significantly in patients whose respiratory function and FeNO benefited from therapy with budesonide compared with patients whose respiratory function did not benefit from budesonide (odds ratios of 6.39 and 4.78, respectively). According to the multivariate analysis, patients whose E/I MF did not improve had a longer history of smoking (P=.038), poorer posttreatment respiratory function (P=.028), and higher posttreatment FeNO (P=.0095). CONCLUSIONS Similar to respiratory function and FeNO, E/I MF based on LSA is a useful indicator for monitoring the efficacy of therapy in asthmatic patients.


While the crisis in Ukraine may contribute to a revision of defence expenditures in a number of European countries, the task of finding the right balance between cost-effective and strategically-relevant defence spending in Europe is still critical. As defence expenditure generally remains in decline across Europe, a range of innovative measures to ensure that defence budgets are spent more efficiently and effectively are being devised.One such measure – being pursued by the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Commission – is the greater standardisation of defence equipment in the European Union. Yet the European defence market is fragmented, paradoxically resulting in higher costs for national treasuries. At present, it is characterised by a plethora of national standards: national defence establishments and industries have become used to catering for their own military needs.


Amebic liver abscess (ALA) had previously been endemic in Taiwan, particularly in the southern region, although its occurrence in the southeastern area was unknown. Thus, we conducted a retrospective study for southeastern Taiwan. We identified 14 patients who were diagnosed with ALA between July of 1995 and July of 2008. These patients were predominantly male and older in age. Most patients lived in rural areas (85.7%). Alcoholism (78.6%) and diabetes (35.7%) were risk factors for ALA. No human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections were detected. The most common clinical symptoms were fever (100%) and abdominal pain (100%). Short mean durations of symptoms, high bilirubin levels, and low albumin levels were also noted. Most patients (92.86%) had a single lesion, particularly in the right liver lobe (71.4%). Six patients also had secondary Klebsiella pneumoniae bacterial infections. Clinicians should be aware of the different risk factors in different regions when diagnosing amebic liver abscess in Taiwan.


The determination of past successional stages, as well as the factors triggering succession, is crucial for the understanding of forest dynamics and the design of current and future management and conservation strategies. Shifts between successional stages can take decades or even centuries to occur because of tree longevity; therefore palaeoecological studies are important tools for their study. The present research involved the palaeoreconstruction of a transitional forest dominated by Pinus-Carpinus-Quercus in west-central Mexico over the last ~1230 years. The proxies employed include fossil pollen, microscopic fossil charcoal, magnetic susceptibility and organic matter content evaluated by multivariate techniques. The findings reveal that an initial cloud forest stage developed from 1230 to 1050 cal. yr BP. This stage was then interrupted for ~400 years (1050–690 cal. yr BP) when a regional climate change event decreased the number of cloud forest taxa and increased herbaceous taxa including Asteraceae, Poaceae, Plantago and Zea. The cloud forest stage recovered at 690 cal. yr BP and the community has persisted to the present time, yet this stage is dominated by human-induced taxa such as Pinus and Acacia. Whilst the dynamics of individual taxa were related to forest fires and soil erosion, changes between community types were related to an interval of regional climate change (greater aridity) that occurred between 1050 and 690 cal. yr BP. Results from this study indicate that, in order to preserve the cloud forest stage, human disturbances such as logging and agriculture should be excluded; a conservation strategy established in the transitional forest in recent years.


Although "intragranular" pore space within grain aggregates, grain fractures, and mineral surface coatings may contain a relatively small fraction of the total porosity within a porous medium, it often contains a significant fraction of the reactive surface area, and can thus strongly affect the transport of sorbing solutes. In this work, we demonstrate a batch experiment procedure using tritiated water as a high‐resolution diffusive tracer to characterize the intragranular pore space. The method was tested using uranium‐contaminated sediments from the vadose and capillary fringe zones beneath the former 300A process ponds at the Hanford site (Washington). Sediments were contacted with tracers in artificial groundwater, followed by a replacement of bulk solution with tracer‐free groundwater and the monitoring of tracer release. From these data, intragranular pore volumes were calculated and mass transfer rates were quantified using a multirate first‐order mass transfer model. Tritium‐hydrogen exchange on surface hydroxyls was accounted for by conducting additional tracer experiments on sediment that was vacuum dried after reaction. The complementary ("wet" and "dry") techniques allowed for the simultaneous determination of intragranular porosity and surface area using tritium. The Hanford 300A samples exhibited intragranular pore volumes of ∼1% of the solid volume and intragranular surface areas of ∼20%–35% of the total surface area. Analogous experiments using bromide ion as a tracer yielded very different results, suggesting very little penetration of bromide into the intragranular porosity.


Political actors aim at persuading voters, who are the key elements of target market in order to win election by gaining a higher vote potential than their opponents. Whether voter preferences are shaped by political elements or by the effects of social environment has become the focus of the studies within the relevant literature. The main purpose of this study is to determine the effect of political marketing activities and word of mouth communication and to determine mediator role WOM communication on voter behaviours. The study is conducted in Konya on a sample consisting of 432 voters and the size of which is determined by convenience sampling method by using face-to-face survey method. Political marketing, word of mouth communication and voter behaviours are confirmed by structural equation modelling through confirmatory factor analysis. As a result of the study, political marketing activities and word of mouth communication are found to have a positive effect on voter behaviour. Furthermore, it is determined that word of mouth communication have mediator role in the effect of political marketing activities on voter behaviours.


Scotland has played an immense role in European high culture through the centuries, and among its cultural links none have been greater than those with France. This book shows that the links with France stretch back deep into the Middle Ages, and continue without a break into the eighteenth century, the Age of Enlightenment. In one way or another all of the major figures of the Scottish Enlightenment were in close relation to France, and though this book attends to the broad picture of the cultural links binding the two countries, the focus is on certain individuals, especially David Hume, Thomas Reid, Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson, and certain of their French counterparts such as Montesquieu, Madame de Condorcet, Victor Cousin and Theodore Jouffroy. Prominent among the areas under discussion are scepticism and common sense, morality and the role of sympathy, and civil society and the question of what constitutes good citizenship. The book should appeal to all with an interest in the broad sweep of Scottish cultural history and more particularly in the country's Age of Enlightenment and its links with France.


Ontogenetic changes in the behavior, spatial distribution, or habitat use of a species are presumably adaptations to ecological forces that differ in their effect on various life stages. The New Zealand rock lobster Jasus edwardsii is one of several species of spiny lobster that exhibits dramatic ontogenetic shifts in sociality and spatial distribution, and we tested whether such changes are adaptive. We first surveyed several natural populations of J. edwardsii to document size-specific differences in aggregation. To determine if chemical cues discharged by conspecifics promote aggregation of certain ontogenetic stages, we tested the responsiveness of lobsters of 3 ontogenetic stages (early benthic juvenile, juvenile, and subadult) to the chemical cues produced by conspecifics of different sizes. Finally, we tethered lobsters of different ontogenetic stages alone and in groups to test the effect of lobster size and aggregation on mortality. Our results offer compelling evidence that pre-reproductive J. edwardsii undergo an ontogenetic change in sociality that alters their spatial distribution and survival. Our field surveys show that J. edwardsii are solitary as early benthic juveniles and become social and aggregate as they grow larger. We then demonstrate, using laboratory experiments, that there is a size-specific increase in the response of pre-reproductive J. edwardsii to the chemical cues of larger conspecifics which facilitates these ontogenetic changes in aggregation. Finally, our tethering results confirm that this change in social condition is selectively advantageous: aggregation does not increase the survival of small lobsters, but larger lobsters survive better in groups. Thus, in this study we demonstrate the linkage between ontogenetic changes in the spatial distribution of a species, the behavioral process that creates the pattern, and the selective advantage conferred by these developmental changes.


ABSTRACT When a company suffers loss due to a wrongful act perpetrated against the company, the company's shareholders suffer where the value of their shares or dividends decreases. However, in the UK and in Commonwealth jurisdictions, such shareholders have in principle no personal recourse against the wrongdoer because their loss is merely 'reflective' of the company's loss; the loss is for the company alone to recover. This 'reflective loss principle' as it stands cannot be fully justified by the policy considerations offered in its support. I argue that the most convincing rationale for the principle is to preserve the primacy of the company's internal governance arrangements in the corporate litigation context. I propose a framework reconstructing the reflective loss principle as a 'priority rule' under which resolution of the company's claim takes precedence over the shareholder's personal claim, but with an 'exit exception' that permits shareholders who exit the company to pursue their own claims. My proposal explains the seeming contradiction that while shareholders may not recover reflective losses via a personal claim, they may recover what are essentially reflective losses through a court-ordered buyout on an unfair prejudice petition, and brings much needed balance and clarity to the law.


BACKGROUND
A reliable means of menstrual suppression would greatly improve the quality of life for women. Information is lacking on the direct endometrial effects and appropriate dosages of new antiprogestins that may be useful for this purpose.

METHODS
The current work evaluated three different systems in macaque monkeys. First, the range of doses of two relatively new antiprogestins, ZK 137 316 and ZK 230 211, that would block progesterone action directly on the endometrium in artificially cycled, spayed rhesus macaques; second, the direct endometrial effects of ZK 230 211, a type III antiprogestin; and third, investigation of whether endometrial-suppressive doses administered chronically to intact, cycling monkeys could be used for reversible, menstrual suppression.

RESULTS
The results in naturally cycling animals showed that ZK 137 316 blocked menstruation in all animals, but doses of 0.05 mg/kg blocked ovulation in 55.5% of animals and doses of 0.1 mg/kg blocked ovulation in 66.6% of the animals. However, all doses of ZK 230 211 that blocked menstruation also blocked ovulation. All progesterone antagonist (PA)-treated animals, regardless of dose, maintained normal follicular phase concentrations of oestradiol and returned to normal menstrual cyclicity within 15--41 days post-treatment. Therefore ZK 137 316, depending on dose, can allow ovulation but block menstruation, while ZK 230 211, a much more potent PA, blocks both ovulation and menstruation at all effective doses. Both PAs block unopposed oestrogenic action on the endometrium through their antiproliferative effects.

CONCLUSIONS
Reversible amenorrhoea can be achieved with these two PAs, and they can protect the endometrium from the effects of unopposed oestrogen whether or not ovulation is blocked. Chronic, low dose PA treatment may provide a new option for women who wish to suppress their menstrual periods.


We introduce optical solenoid beams, diffractionless solutions of the Helmholtz equation whose diffraction-limited in-plane intensity peak spirals around the optical axis, and whose wavefronts carry an independent helical pitch. Unlike other collimated beams of light, appropriately designed solenoid beams have the noteworthy property of being able to exert forces on illuminated objects that are directed opposite to the direction of the light's propagation. We demonstrate this through video microscopy observations of a colloidal sphere moving upstream along a holographically projected optical solenoid beam.


A series of experiments were performed in a mixing box in order: (1) to investigate the applicability of phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) to discriminate fluid and sediment particle sizes and velocities in sediment-laden turbulent flows; and (2) to relate the size and amount of sediment in suspension to the grid-generated turbulence. Natural impurities within the water provide excellent "seeding" to represent the fluid and can be easily discriminated from spherical glass beads (75-355 μm) used as sediment. Slight asphericity in the glass beads results in larger grain size ranges determined by PDA compared to the nominal sieved sizes. The mean, root-mean-square and skewness of the vertical fluid velocities increase at higher grid oscillation frequencies but decrease with distance from the grid. Similarly, the size and amount of suspended sediment increase with grid oscillation frequency and decrease with distance from the grid. The suspension of sediment is shown to be dependent on the magnitude and anisotropy of the fluctuating vertical component of velocity. Phase Doppler anemometry offers a unique methodology to investigate the complex links between the transport of sediment and the turbulent flow field.


NA broad survey of the experimental database of neutral beam heated baseline and hybrid scenarios in the JET tokamak with the C-wall was undertaken and has established the ubiquity of non-diffusive momentum transport mechanisms in externally driven, strongly rotating plasmas. The experimentally identified non-diffusive contributions to the gradient are largely consistent with the theoretically expected Coriolis pinch. The predicted non-diffusive transport using the GKW code is about 30% lower on average, than inferred from observation, suggesting that the difference may be due to residual stresses. In this case a scaling with Ors=rho_i*(R/L_Ti)2/u would be expected. However a lack of scaling of the angular velocity gradients with Ors=rho_i*(R/L_Ti)2/u throughout the plasma minor radius leads to the conclusion that there is no evidence for significant residual stress contributions in these fast rotating plasmas.


Until the middle of the 20th century European colonialism determined all developments in Africa. During the post-colonial period, and under predominantly authoritarian or dictatorial governments psychoanalysis developed only sporadically, except in South Africa. There is no detailed account of the history and current status of psychoanalysis on the continent. Traces, however, can be found within the context of colonial history and its effects. Ethnopsychoanalysis can be seen as a major contribution to psychoanalytic research in Africa. And in the last decade of this century we find several encouraging indications of relevance for future of psychoanalysis in Africa: (1) A number of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists who trained in Euro-North America and have now been practicing psychotherapy in Africa for years have adopted psychoanalysis in theory and practice; (2) the rapid societal change and urbanization witnessed in African societies seems to create a need for western forms of psychotherapy including psychoanalysis; (3) psychoanalysis is recognized and taught in several university departments of psychology, clinical psychology, and psychiatry; and (4) the re-foundation of psychoanalytic study in South Africa. Psychoanalysts and their professional associations have shown little interested in psychoanalytic research and training in Africa, a continent containing perhaps the most culturally diverse societies and types of human relations on the globe.


Peer victimisation, more commonly referred to as bullying, comprises of intentional and repeated acts, words, or other hurtful behaviour and/or systematic harassment within the school context where it is directed by children against each other. This phenomenon seems to coincide with a general increase in school violence as well as more serious incidents of violence and is, therefore, a cause for concern.
This article explores the experiences of safety and happiness (quality of life) of a non-probability sampled research population of public school learners in Tshwane South. The participants also shared their observations and experiences of bullying with respect to the frequency, nature and location where bullying occurred, as well as the characteristics of bullies.
The findings of this study confirmed that bullying in the delimited research area is indeed a reality in the daily lives of the majority of the research participants. While most respondents observed mainly milder forms of peer victimisation on a frequent basis, nearly 18% reported more serious forms of victimisation (threatened with harm), followed by a further 26% respondents who observed physical bullying on a daily basis.
Furthermore, the research findings raise questions about the general feelings of safety and happiness of a significant proportion of the research group while attending their schools. Although not consistently and not without a certain tension between them, variables such as gender, age and population group emerged as critical factors in these experiences and as part of the social context and its influence in the lives of the participants.


The median confidence interval is useful for one parameter families, such as the exponential distribution, and it may not need to be adjusted if censored observations are present. In this article, two estimators for the median of the exponential distribution, MD, are considered and compared based on the sample median and the maximum likelihood method. The first estimator is the sample median, MD1, and the second estimator is the maximum likelihood estimator of the median, MDMLE. Both estimators are used to propose a modified confidence interval for the population median of the exponential distribution, MD. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed confidence intervals with respect to coverage probability, average width and standard error. A numerical example using a real data set is employed to illustrate the use of the modified confidence intervals; results are shown.


Internet has significantly grown during the last decade; also many novel services appeared, generating huge incomes and fame worldwide. This is the era of new Internet services over the top, without requiring specific changes or specific functionalities from the "old" version of Internet. This, on one side, does not pose any limitations for the creation of new services able to build and offer on top of the large Internet technological foundation. On the other side, this way of "do it (everything) by yourself" has its drawbacks, such as slow creation process, long time-to-market, deep knowledge of many technologies on top of Internet, no standardization, no interoperability, solutions created by different people, and many other typical limitations of free but complex individual development. All those aforementioned classic Internet characteristics lead to a strong fragmentation of technology and services. The Future Internet initiative instantiation by European Commission in form of Private-Public Partnership (PPP) Program has the objective to populate Internet with common conceptual components (Generic Enablers or GE) enabling faster and interoperable service creation. FI-WARE is the technological core foundation project of the PPP program that provides specifications and reference implementations of the most common generic enablers and deploys them on its test-bed for public and evaluation usage. The Publish/Subscribe and Semantic Annotation GEs that the project has provided and installed in the FI-WARE test-bed are demonstrated in this paper.


The tax on immovable property has been characterized as probably the most unpopular among tax instruments, in part because it is salient and hard to avoid. But economists continue to emphasize the virtues of the property tax owing to its relatively low efficieny costs, benign impact on growth, and high score on fairness. It is, therefore, generally considered to be underutilized in most countries. This paper takes stock of the arguments for using real property taxation, and presents an updated data-set for high-and middle income countries to illustrate its use. It also reflects the renewed and widespread interest in property tax reform globally, and discusses the many policy and administrative issues that must be carefully considered as prerequisites for successful property tax reform.


An experiment has been conducted to study the effect of the quality of irrigation water quality and festination with Potassium and KSC in wheat (Triticum aestivum) cv Moelhu growth productivity. Eight treatments were applied ; irrigation with river water , drainage water , river water plus Potassium humate , river water plus KSC , river water plus Potassium humate plus KSC , drainage water plus Potassium humate , drainage water plus KSC , drainage water plus Potassium humate plus KSC . The treatments are put in completely randomized design with three replications . The parameters measured included ; plant height , spike length , total chlorophyll in SPAD , biological yield , grain yield , harwst index and NPK leaves content . The results show outweigh the treatment of river, the added organic matter type Slphoric acid and type Potassium humateas compared with the other proportion like the rate of chlorophyll in the leaves, while not it's significantly different from the treatment by drainage water that added organic matter to both previous properties, but it's significantly different as compared with it by plant height feature . and  the drainage water excelled with added two types of organic matter in the character of the length of the tufts compared with the comparison treatment and treatment of river water that the added matter of both two types of organic material that are used in the experiment.


Many-core architectures provide an efficient way of harnessing the increasing numbers of transistors available in modern fabrication processes. While they are similar to multi-node systems, they exhibit different communication latency and storage characteristics, providing new design opportunities that were previously not feasible. Traditional cache coherence protocols, although often used in many-core designs, have been developed in the context of multi-node systems. As such, they seldom take advantage of the new possibilities that many-core architectures offer. We propose Proximity Coherence, a scheme in which L1 load misses are optimistically forwarded to nearby caches via new dedicated links rather than always being indirected via a directory structure. Such an optimization is made possible by the comparable cost of local cache accesses with the use of on-chip network resources. Coherency is maintained using lightweight graph structures embedded in the L1 caches. We compare our Proximity Coherence protocol to an existing directory-based MESI protocol using full-system simulations of a 32 core system. Our extension lowers the latency of L1 cache load misses by up to 32% while reducing the bytes transferred on the global on-chip interconnect by up to 19% for a range of parallel benchmarks. Employing Proximity Coherence provides execution time improvements of up to 13%, reduces cache hierarchy energy consumption by up to 30% and delivers a more efficient solution to the challenge of coherence in chip multiprocessors.


This thesis examines the adoption process of Information Technology (IT)-based solutions within small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia, in the furniture and handicraft industries. As the Indonesian SMEs grew in size, they faced new problems in managing their businesses. They have tried to use IT to support their business and resolve some of these problems. Yet in their efforts to adopt IT, they often faced new problems by introducing new technology into the organisation.
 The thesis examines the experiences of 35 Indonesian SMEs when they adopted IT. We investigated what factors were influencing IT adoption; the process of IT adoption which covers decision making, implementation or deployment and evaluation; and how SMEs cope with and recover from failure. The participants' experiences were compared to what has been reported in the existing literature.
 Analysis of the relevant research literature revealed some unexplored issues concerning IT adoption within SMEs. Most of the published research has been conducted in developed countries, with little in developing or less developed countries. From those few, only one was conducted in Indonesia and it was about IT diffusion. The focus of previous studies was mainly to explore factors influencing IT adoption and they mostly utilised survey techniques to elicit the factors. The scant literature suggests that exploring IT adoption can be approached from three different perspectives: individualist, structuralist, and interactive process. This thesis uses the interactive process approach to explore how well those factors that have been well documented in the literature actually work in Indonesian SMEs' IT adoption. As a result of our exploration, we formulated a model of an interactive process view of IT adoption within Indonesian SMEs.
 A qualitative approach was used to answer research questions and explore the participants' experiences in depth. In this thesis, we used in-depth interviews to explore participants' experiences. These interviews enabled us to draw out not only IT adoption processes but also successes and failures in IT adoption. Semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection tool. They provided guidance so the interviews stayed well within the focus of the thesis, yet provided room to explore new and relevant issues that emerged during the interview process. Content analysis of the interview transcripts was used to extract answers given during the semi-structured interviews and to identify new themes that emerged from the data.
 The analysis resulted in important findings. First, it confirms some factors found in the literature as actually influencing IT adoption in Indonesian SMEs. Despite some similarities, we found some differences such as government role and competitors' influence on IT adoption. The other findings are concerned with the failures faced by some of the participants. We then explore the differences between failed and successful participants, and how Indonesian SMEs cope with and recover from failed IT deployment. Finally, we revised the initial model of the interactive process of IT adoption. The extended model captures new insights into success and failure of IT adoption, and could provide a better understanding of IT adoption within Indonesian SMEs. The interaction between different factors in the IT adoption shows how those factors influence each other and how different stakeholders could manage their own interests related to IT adoption. The improved model could be used to guide Indonesian SME managers to manage their adoption of IT more effectively.


The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing worldwide. Several factors such as hyperglycemia are associated with risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a clinical tool for identification of subjects at risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, which could be a predictor of metabolic syndrome. There may be an association between diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to review the literature on diabetes, as a component of metabolic syndrome.


Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and basic computer games have been interconnected since BCI development began, exploiting gameplay elements as a means of enhancing performance in BCI training protocols and entertaining and challenging participants while training to use a BCI. By providing the BCI user with an entertaining environment, researchers hope to assist users in becoming more proficient at controlling a BCI system. BCIs have been used to enrich the experience of abled-bodied and physically impaired users in various computer applications, in particular, computer games. BCI games have been reviewed previously, yet a critical evaluation of "gameplay" within BCI games has not been undertaken. Gameplay is a key aspect of any computer game and encompasses the challenges presented to the player, the actions made available to the player by the game designer to overcome the challenges and the interaction mechanism in the game. Here, the appropriateness of game genres (a category of games characterized by a particular set of gameplay challenges) and the associated gameplay challenges for different BCI paradigms is evaluated. The gameplay mechanics employed across a range of BCI games are reviewed and evaluated in terms of the BCI control strategy's suitability, considering the genre and gameplay mechanics employed. A number of recommendations for the field relating to genre-specific BCI-games development and assessing user performance are also provided for BCI game developers.


Developing countries, led by China and other BRICS members (Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa), have been successfully organizing alternative sources of credit flows, aiming for financial stability, growth, and development. With their goals of avoiding International Monetary Fund loan conditionality and the dominance of the US dollar in global finance, these new BRICS-led institutions represent a much-needed renovation of the global financial architecture. The nascent institutions will provide an alternative to the prevailing Bretton Woods institutions, loans from which are usually laden with prescriptions for austerity--with often disastrous consequences for output and employment. We refer here to the most recent example in Europe, with Greece currently facing the diktat of the troika to accept austerity as a precondition for further financial assistance. It is rather disappointing that Western financial institutions and the EU are in no mood to provide Greece with any options short of complying with these disciplinary measures. Limitations, such as the above, in the prevailing global financial architecture bring to the fore the need for new institutions as alternative sources of funds. The launch of financial institutions by the BRICS--when combined with the BRICS clearing arrangement in local currencies proposed in this policy note--may chart a course for achieving an improved global financial order. Avoiding the use of the dollar as a currency to settle payments would help mitigate the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on transactions within the BRICS. Moreover, using the proposed clearing account arrangement to settle trade imbalances would help in generating additional demand within the BRICS, which would have an overall expansionary impact on the world economy as a whole.


In this paper, a fast and accurate interpolation algorithm is proposed to reconstruct the high resolution amplitude only frequency domain response such as radar cross section and antenna radiation patterns from sparse and nonuniform samples based on the Cauchy method. For the Cauchy method, the amplitude only system frequency response is represented by a ratio of two polynomials, whose coefficients are estimated by using the conjunction of total least square (TLS) methodology, singular value decomposition (SVD) and conjugate gradient methods. Nonuniform sampling is implemented in Cauchy method such that any additional samples and any a priori information can be added to the existing sample set to continuously improve the interpolation result. In this proposed algorithm, the sample set is automatically adjusted according to the nature of the given data, so that the computational load is minimized by taking the least number of sample points while still maintaining high interpolation accuracy. Even though the Cauchy method can accurately interpolate the data containing both amplitude and phase, in this paper, the application is illustrated for the interpolation of amplitude only data, which may not be differentiable at all points.


Because of the longevity of the built environment, it is important not only to study methods of daylighting in new buildings, but to consider daylighting in existing buildings as well. Technologies exist which could benefit these buildings, but predicting the impact of these technologies on a daylit space remains difficult, and the highly computational modeling process probably discourages many people from even considering such devices. The aim of this study, therefore, is to produce an intuitive set of guidelines and recommendations for the applicability of a certain daylighting technology to a given space. The device on which this study focuses is the zenithal anidolic collector, and data is gathered using the software RADIANCE.


Samples from the surface horizon of a cultivated Aquoll were ultrasonically dispersed and separated into particle size fractions. Humic acids (HAs) were extracted from the whole soil and each particle size fraction. Residual humic acids (RHAs) were obtained from the residue of each HA extraction by treating with HCl-HF and reextracting. Chemical analyses showed that the fine silt fraction had the highest C and N contents. Although δ¹⁵N values and proportions of mineralizable N increased with decreasing particle size, C/N ratios decreased. Mineralizable N appeared to be related to both the total N content and the characteristics of the minerals with which the organic matter was associated. Nitrogen in sand and silt fractions was more resistant to mineralization than in clay fractions. Extractions with 0.5 M NaOH removed more of the C and N from the fine-clay fraction than from the whole soil or any of the other fractions. Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra showed that HAs extracted from clays were more aliphatic than HAs extracted from larger particle sizes. The major aliphatic components in the clay size fractions appeared to be alkanoic and hydroxyalkanoic acids. Compared with HAs, RHAs, were more homogeneous, contained fewer proteinaceous materials and carbohydrates, were more aromatic, richer in phenolic OH and CO₂H groups, had higher molecular weights, and contained more free radicals.


Herb and spices namely kesum, ginger and turmeric were extracted by using juice extractor without the additional of solvent. These herb and spices were determined for moisture content and the extracts were analyzed for total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (DPPH radical scavenging assay and FRAP ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay). The yield of kesum, ginger and turmeric extraction was 23.6%, 58.6% and 66.4%, respectively. The results showed that, there was significant difference (P < 0.05) in total phenolic content and antioxidant activity for kesum, ginger and turmeric extracts. Kesum extract had the highest total phenolic content followed by ginger and turmeric extract. A significant and positive high Pearson's correlations between TPC and DPPH assay (r = 0.86) and between TPC and FRAP assay (r = 0.91) respectively was observed for all plants extracts. This indicated that phenolic compounds were the main contributor of antioxidant activity in plants. However, there was no synergistic effect observed for all plants extract mixture.


Deterrence is back in Europe. As NATO approaches its July summit in Warsaw, Allies are adapting this concept to the new security settings in place in Europe since the 2014 crisis in Ukraine. Yet, deterrence is intrinsically connected to dialogue: these are the two pillars of NATO's strategy, as defined in the 1967 Harmel Report. Consequently, in a security environment in which Russia uses military force to coerce neighbours and violates international law by redrawing borders, NATO needs to find a new balance between deterrence and dialogue to safeguard security in Europe. NATO rightly is strengthening its deterrence measures as an urgent priority for Alliance security. These steps should be framed as part of a double-track strategy that, over time, will encourage Russia to abide by international norms – not through blandishments, but through transatlantic unity and strength. This will require sustained political commitment, backed up by military and diplomatic resources. Germany and the US should lead within NATO the development of a durable new balance of deterrence and dialogue that will sustain Alliance cohesion and establish conditions for lasting peace in Europe.


This article reviews the existing literature on the collection of paradata in web surveys and extends the research in this area beyond the commonly studied measurement error problem to paradata that can be collected for managing and mitigating other important sources of error. To do so, and in keeping with the nature of paradata as process-oriented, we develop a typology of web survey paradata that incorporates information from all steps in the web survey process. We first define web survey paradata and describe general phases of paradata that run parallel to the steps in fielding a typical web survey. Within each phase, we enumerate several errors within the total survey error paradigm that can be examined with paradata, discussing case studies and motivating examples that illustrate innovative uses of paradata across the web survey process. We conclude with a discussion of open questions and opportunities for further work in this area. Overall, we develop this typology keeping technological advancements at the center of our discussion, but with flexibility to continuously incorporate new developments and trends in both technology and study design. Our typology encourages researchers to think about paradata as tools that can be used to investigate a broader range of outcomes than previously studied.


Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an emerging threat to both human and animal health. Antimicrobial use and resistance in food animal production including swine has received increased scrutiny as a source of resistant foodborne pathogens. Continuous surveillance of AMR in bacterial isolates of swine origin can guide in conservation of antimicrobials used in both human and swine medicine. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and trends of the phenotypic AMR in Escherichia coli of swine origin isolated from clinical samples at the Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic laboratory between 2006-2016. The prevalence of resistance to ampicillin, tetracyclines and sulphadimethoxine remained greater than 50% throughout the period. There was a drastic change in enrofloxacin resistance, increasing from less than 1% to more than 20% between 2006-2016 (annual relative increase of 57% between 2006-13 and 16% between 2013-16). The prevalence of resistance to other antimicrobials remained constant (ceftiofur, oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline) or changed significantly (annual relative changes of less than 10%) for at least some time-period between 2006-16 (ampicillin, florfenicol, gentamicin, neomycin, sulphadimethoxine, trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, spectinomycin). Rarefaction analysis revealed an increase in the number of unique combinations of AMRs per year. Network analysis was performed by estimating and plotting partial correlations between minimum inhibitory concentrations of various antimicrobials. An increase in strength of these networks was observed, particularly in networks created for years later than 2010 which can be indicative of increased multiple antimicrobial resistance in these isolates. These results provide valuable insight into the trends in AMR in E. coli of swine origin in USA and act as supplementary information to existing active AMR surveillance systems.


The greatest strength of this thoroughly revised and expanded edition of Lectures on International Trade is its rigorous algebraic and geometric treatment of the various models and results of trade theory. The authors, who now include Arvind Panagariya, offer both policy insights and empirical applications. They have added nine entirely new chapters as well as new sections to several existing chapters (e.g., a greatly expanded treatment of the growing theory of preferential trade agreements).