The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a collection of best practices for the management of IT services. ITIL helps organizations to become aware of the business value their IT services provide to internal and external stakeholders. Understanding this value is crucial to the definition of service level agreements (SLA) between an IT department and its stakeholders. However, it is not ITIL's objective to define how this value is to be elicited from stakeholders. This creates an opportunity for the use of RE methods in businesses. This paper describes the main principles of ITIL service management and illustrates how the SEAM RE method can contribute to the definition of an SLA by modeling the service provided by an IT department, the stakeholders of this service and the value the stakeholders expect from this service. A real industrial example is presented and analyzed.


This paper presents a novel approach of fingerprint image enhancement that relies on detecting the fingerprint ridges as image regions where the second directional derivative of the digital image is positive. A facet model is used in order to approximate the derivatives at each image pixel based on the intensity values of pixels located in a certain neighborhood. We note that the size of this neighborhood has a critical role in achieving accurate enhancement results. Using neighborhoods of various sizes, the proposed algorithm determines several candidate binary representations of the input fingerprint pattern. Subsequently, an output binary ridge-map image is created by selecting image zones, from the available binary image candidates, according to a MAP selection rule. Two public domain collections of fingerprint images are used in order to objectively assess the performance of the proposed fingerprint image enhancement approach.


The doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) is one of the main technologies at variable speed power generation systems. Reliability and efficiency are key factors to realize the maximum energy output of the renewable resources. Detecting generator faults enables the reduction of risk for unexpected outages and thus high economic losses. Stator winding insulation faults count to one of the most frequent failures in electric machines. Common fault detection methods are based on several additional sensors and hardware what makes the system complex, expansive and also fault-prone. In this work a method is proposed and investigated to detect stator winding faults based only on measured signals available from inverter build-in sensors. By rotor-side inverter switching the generator is excited by transient voltage pulses and the current response provides the possibility to extract a fault indicator through a specific signal processing. Measurements on DFIG test stand prove the methods applicability and accuracy.


The most gifted textile designer of her generation, Shirley Craven won a string of awards during the 1960s. This book celebrates her remarkable achievements at Hull Traders and documents her arresting hand screen-printed furnishing fabrics in full. Big bold abstracts were her speciality, striking in colour and breathtakingly original in style. A visionary small company with high ideals, Hull Traders made its mark initially with designs by artists Eduardo Paolozzi, Nigel Henderson and Ivon Hitchens. Under Craven's direction Hull Traders issued a string of ground-breaking textiles during the 1960s by forty artist-designers, recorded here in their entirety for the first time. Contributors included Althea McNish, John Drummond, Peter McCulloch, Doreen Dyall, Roger Limbrick, Cliff Holden, Richard Allen and Dorothy Carr. In 1966 Hull Traders branched out into furniture with the launch of Bernard Holdaway's revolutionary tom-tom range made of painted cardboard tubes - an icon of the Swinging Sixties, based entirely on circular forms, sold all over the world. Drawing on pioneering new research by leading post-war design historian Lesley Jackson, this book traces the fascinating, hitherto untold story of Hull Traders and its unique creative alliance with Shirley Craven and Bernard Holdaway. Featuring stunning new photography and rare archive photographs, it captures the explosion of creativity during the 1960s and provides a visual feast of inspirational post-war pattern and form. This work accompanies a major touring exhibition curated by Lesley Jackson, opening at the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, 3 October 2009 - 3 January 2010.


2-Perfluoro(alkyl)ethyl vinyl ethers, F(CF2)nCH2CH2OCHCH2, (n = 6 or 8), were synthesized and polymerized by means of cationic initiators (HI/ZnI2 and CF3SO3H/(CH3)2S). The perfluorohexyl-substituted poly(vinyl ether) is completely amorphous. The polymer with perfluorooctyl segments shows side chain crystallization with a disordering transition. For the corresponding perfluorooctyl monomer a liquid-crystalline phase was observed before melting. Copolymerization experiments of the flurocarbon-segmented monomers with a vinyl ether containing a cyanobiphenyl group in the side chain did not give homogeneous copolymers. This is attributed to the slower rate of polymerization of the fluorinated vinyl ethers as compared with the liquid-crystalline comonomer.


This study extends McPhie et al. (2011)'s [Maternal correlates of preschool child eating behaviours and body mass index: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, Early Online, 1–5.] McPhie et al. (2011)'s cross-sectional research, by prospectively evaluating maternal child-feeding practices, parenting style and mother–child interactions as predictors of child-eating behaviours, food habits and weight. A sample of 117 mothers of preschoolers (63 girls, 54 boys) participated at two time-points, Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2), 12 months apart. Results from the two path models revealed maternal pressure to eat at T1 positively predicted change in child enjoyment of food. Maternal warmth at T1 negatively predicted child unhealthy food habits at T2. At T1, family income and maternal control negatively predicted change in child body mass index z-scores (BMIz); maternal pressure to eat at T1 also positively predicted change in child BMIz. There were significant results specific to each model. Both final path models provided an adequate fit. Our findings suggest childhood obesity is predicted by a complex interplay of demographic, maternal and child variables.


Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, has two distinguishing characteristics: its ability to stain acid-fast and its ability to cause long-term latent infections in humans. Although this distinctive staining characteristic has often been attributed to its lipid-rich cell wall, the specific dye-retaining components were not known. Here we report that targeted deletion of kasB, one of two M. tuberculosis genes encoding distinct β-ketoacyl- acyl carrier protein synthases involved in mycolic acid synthesis, results in loss of acid-fast staining. Biochemical and structural analyses revealed that the ΔkasB mutant strain synthesized mycolates with shorter chain lengths. An additional and unexpected outcome of kasB deletion was the loss of ketomycolic acid trans-cyclopropanation and a drastic reduction in methoxymycolic acid trans-cyclopropanation, activities usually associated with the trans-cyclopropane synthase CmaA2. Although deletion of kasB also markedly altered the colony morphology and abolished classic serpentine growth (cording), the most profound effect of kasB deletion was the ability of the mutant strain to persist in infected immunocompetent mice for up to 600 days without causing disease or mortality. This long-term persistence of ΔkasB represents a model for studying latent M. tuberculosis infections and suggests that this attenuated strain may represent a valuable vaccine candidate against tuberculosis.


This new collection of writings on Alfred Hitchcock considers Hitchcock both in his time and as a continuing influence on filmmakers, films and film theory. The contributions, who include leading scholars such as Slavoj Zizek, Laura Mulvey, Peter Wollen, and James Naremore, discuss canonical films such as Notorious and The Birds alongside lesser-known works including Juno and the Paycock and Frenzy. Articles are grouped into four thematic sections: 'Authorship and Aesthetics' examines Hitchcock as auteur and investigates central topics in Hitchcockian aesthetics. 'French Hitchcock' looks at Hitchcock's influence on filmmakers such as Chabrol, Truffaut and Rohmer, and how film critics such as Bazin and Deleuze have engaged with Hitchcock's work. 'Poetics and Politics of Identity' explores the representation of personal and political in Hitchcock's work. The final section, 'Death and Transfiguration' addresses the manner in which the spectacle and figuration of death haunts the narrative universe of Hitchcock's films, in particular his subversive masterpiece Psycho.


A laser beam can be coupled with high efficiency into a light-guiding thin film by means of a prism–film coupler. Basically this device is a totally reflecting prism, the light-guiding film being separated from the reflecting prism face by a narrow gap of reduced refractive index. This coupling scheme is analyzed in detail by the method of plane-wave expansion. It is shown how the coupling efficiency is determined by the competition between the desired coupling effect and the reverse effect of leakage. A general condition is derived under which the transverse profile of the input beam continues undistorted into the guide. The theory is illustrated for a gaussian beam, which allows a maximum coupling efficiency of 0.80.


The core levels of a series of eighty-three homopo1ymers have been studied by ESCA. Comparisons of the experimentally determined core level binding energies with theoretical calculations within the CNDO/2 SCF MO formalism have been made on the C(_ls), and 0(_ls) core levels for the oxygen containing polymers in the series. A comparison of the ground state potential (GPM) and relaxation potential (RPM) models on a series of six model compounds is given. Compilations are given of binding energies of C(_ls), 0(_ls), N(_ls), C1(2p) , S(_2p) , Si(_2p) and Br(_3d) levels for typical structural features of common occurrance in polymer systems. Electron mean free paths as a function of kinetic energy have been measured by the substrate-over layer technique for in-situ polymerized films of po1yparaxy1y1enes. The results are compared with previous estimates of mean free paths available in the literature for organic materials. Comparison is also drawn with corresponding experimental data for typical metals and semi-conductors and it is shown that organic polymers fit into a consistent picture which may be rationalized on the basis of existing theory. A systematic series of experiments are described on the ESCA examination of 1) a series of [2.2] paracyclophanes, in an attempt to define isomeric differences in the structure and bonding properties of these systems; 2) a series of aliphatic aromatic and fluorine containing polycarbonates which Include theoretical and experimental data pertaining to the absolute and relative binding energies for C(_ls), 0(_ls) and F(_ls) core levels; 3) sample charging phenomena in the ESCA examination of thick insulating samples; 4) polymer/metal interfaces on a series of transition metals: molybdenum, tungsten, niobium and zirconium. Radio frequency plasmas excited in inert gas (argon) and active gas (oxygen) were used to "ablate" and "ash" the polymer over layers to approach the Interface for ESCA investigation of both the carbon type over layer and metal/metal-oxide substrate; In conclusion 5) a polymeric by-product of the direct fluorination of benzene in an attempt to determine the structure and composition of the po1ymer .


This paper acts as a sister piece to my paper (Lucas 2012a) detailing some of the key outcomes of an ethnographic study I undertook between 2009 and 2011. The study itself examined the practices of a small village community in contributing to a regional, multi- site folk-culture festival from my role as a volunteer "observant practitioner" (Moeran, 2009). My attempts to develop an auto-ethnographic narrative as part of the study data have caused me to reflect more deeply on my relationship to this newly adopted place-community and its impact on my identity and practice as an academic. The aim of this paper is to share my reflections on this theme.

In summer 2008, my wife and I bought a family holiday home by a lake in central Sweden. It lies in a village at the centre of an idyllic tract of forest straddling the border between two Swedish administrative regions. Thanks to my wife's enthusiasm for visiting the place and our willingness to participate in village activities when we visit, particular those related to the organisation of the local summer festival, the permanent residents probably see us more than most of the other tourist home owners. Hence we seem to have attained a rather strange, half-way status, oddly closer to the community despite the geographical and cultural distances, than the rather peripheral position we hold in the community of our home village in the UK. This has subsequently struck me as somehow analogous to the state of my professional identity as I will endeavour to explain.

During 2004-9 I became involved in the activities of a UK government-funded Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) for Practice-Based Professional Learning project based at my own University. It allowed me to meet with colleagues, including a number of eminent scholars in the field of practice based learning to discuss, in workshop settings, our differing perspectives on the relationship between learning and practice. Etienne Wenger was a visiting fellow of the Centre and his contributions to the discussions on social learning and communities of practice captured my imagination. Almost without me realising it, I began to reflect on which practitioner community I belonged to. This proved a more difficult question than I first understood, since as I thought about it more deeply, I realised that although I had travelled through a number of practitioner communities at various times in my career in education, I had never really 'settled' in one as such. Wenger's notion of community began to seem to me a rather static metaphor which evokes 'settlement' – the development of a stable (professional) identity within a peer practitioner community. This also seemed at odds with my own personal journey of learning/practice, which involved lengthy periods of transience between different communities of education professionals and business academics, and of a temporary, all-too fragile lodging within them. It seemed I was in a perennial state of what Wenger has termed 'peripheral participation' in several communities at any one time.


This research investigated Chinese students' decision making processes for enrolling on a postgraduate taught business and management programme in a UK university, based on structured interviews, followed by a survey of just over 450 respondents. The validity and reliability of the research instrument were assessed prior to issuing the survey. Convenience sampling was used to collect questionnaires from Chinese students in seven universities in the Northwest of the UK, and the findings were analysed using frequency and factor analysis. The research shows that Chinese students chose a country first, a programme (Business & Management) second, a university third, and a city last; the four choices are determined by 14 factors comprising 42 variables. This study has managerial implications for UK universities' policy makers, managers and practitioners to promote their programmes in China.


During the period at issue in this paper–the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when trial juries were first employed in English felony cases–felonious homicide was a catch-all category, with no formal distinction drawn between murder and manslaughter. Nevertheless, juries did distinguish among different types of homicide as they sorted the guilty from the innocent, and the irremediably guilty from those worthy of pardon. Anger was one of the factors that informed this sorting process. This paper builds upon an earlier analysis of the meaning of felony, which posited that the medieval paradigm of felony was an act that involved deliberation and forethought, an exercise of a person's reasoning capacity and volition in the absence of necessity, and moral blameworthiness. Anger complicates this scenario. On the one hand, anger was seen to be a product of an ill-formed conscience. This potentially placed anger within the felonious area of moral blameworthiness. On the other hand, anger in its more extreme manifestations was seen to inhibit a person's ability to reason and to inspire behavior resembling insanity, thereby possibly pointing toward a partial excuse. This paper takes a fresh methodological approach for the study of emotion in the common law, placing legal texts within a broader cultural context in order to illuminate the concerns and priorities of jurors.


What does it feel like to own, to control, and to be inside a body? The multidimensional nature of this experience together with the continuous presence of one's biological body, render both theoretical and experimental approaches problematic. Nevertheless, exploitation of immersive virtual reality has allowed a reframing of this question to whether it is possible to experience the same sensations towards a virtual body inside an immersive virtual environment as toward the biological body, and if so, to what extent. The current paper addresses these issues by referring to the Sense of Embodiment (SoE). Due to the conceptual confusion around this sense, we provide a working definition which states that SoE consists of three subcomponents: the sense of self-location, the sense of agency, and the sense of body ownership. Under this proposed structure, measures and experimental manipulations reported in the literature are reviewed and related challenges are outlined. Finally, future experimental studies are proposed to overcome those challenges, toward deepening the concept of SoE and enhancing it in virtual applications.


Abstract Minerals preserve records of the physical, chemical, and biological histories of their origins and subsequent alteration, and thus provide a vivid narrative of the evolution of Earth and other worlds through billions of years of cosmic history. Mineral properties, including trace and minor elements, ratios of isotopes, solid and fluid inclusions, external morphologies, and other idiosyncratic attributes, represent information that points to specific modes of formation and subsequent environmental histories—information essential to understanding the co-evolving geosphere and biosphere. This perspective suggests an opportunity to amplify the existing system of mineral classification, by which minerals are defined solely on idealized end-member chemical compositions and crystal structures. Here we present the first in a series of contributions to explore a complementary evolutionary system of mineralogy—a classification scheme that links mineral species to their paragenetic modes. The earliest stage of mineral evolution commenced with the appearance of the first crystals in the universe at >13 Ga and continues today in the expanding, cooling atmospheres of countless evolved stars, which host the high-temperature (T > 1000 K), low-pressure (P < 10-2 atm) condensation of refractory minerals and amorphous phases. Most stardust is thought to originate in three distinct processes in carbon- and/or oxygen-rich mineral-forming stars: (1) condensation in the cooling, expanding atmospheres of asymptotic giant branch stars; (2) during the catastrophic explosions of supernovae, most commonly core collapse (Type II) supernovae; and (3) classical novae explosions, the consequence of runaway fusion reactions at the surface of a binary white dwarf star. Each stellar environment imparts distinctive isotopic and trace element signatures to the micro- and nanoscale stardust grains that are recovered from meteorites and micrometeorites collected on Earth's surface, by atmospheric sampling, and from asteroids and comets. Although our understanding of the diverse mineral-forming environments of stars is as yet incomplete, we present a preliminary catalog of 41 distinct natural kinds of stellar minerals, representing 22 official International Mineralogical Association (IMA) mineral species, as well as 2 as yet unapproved crystalline phases and 3 kinds of non-crystalline condensed phases not codified by the IMA.


The most attractive and eco-friendly technologies in biological treatment is Microbial fuel cells (MFCs).  In this work desalination rate, organic pollution removal and energy production in the MFC with and without desalination function were compared. A modified MFC was designed and fabricated for desalination process. The rough surface graphite (RSG) was used as anode electrode in the both reactors. The modified MFC for desalination unit the columbic efficiency improved from 16.8 to 23.4%. Maximum power density and desalination rate were 13.4 W/m3 and 81.2 %, respectively. A consortium of Enterobacter had special potential to remove dye (Acid Red 27) while bioelectricity is generated. The open circuit voltage (OCV) for 0.3 g/L AR27 with 24h retention time at 30 °C was 0.81 V; while, 91 % decolourization was achieved.  The obtained results demonstrated that in operated MFC with mixed culture of bacteria was successfully applied for the decolourization of AR27 dye and bioelectricity generation and salt removal.


STUDY BACKGROUND
Mental health and sleep problems are important public health concerns among adolescents yet little is known about the relationship between sleep, depressive symptoms, and suicidality among American Indian youth.

METHODS
This study examined the impact of sleep and other factors on depressive symptoms and suicidality among Lumbee American Indian adolescents (N=80) ages 11-18.

RESULTS
At the bivariate level, sleepiness, was associated with depression but not with suicidality. Time in bed (TIB) was not associated with depression, but more TIB decreased the likelihood of suicidality. Higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with increased likelihood of suicidality. At the multivariate level, sleepiness, suicidality, and self-esteem were associated with depression. TIB and depressive symptoms were the only variables associated with suicidality.

CONCLUSION
In working with American Indian youth, it may be helpful to consider sleep patterns as part of a comprehensive assessment process for youth who have or are at risk for depression and suicide.


How the FDA was shaped by public health crises and patient advocacy, told against a background of the contentious hearings on the breast cancer drug Avastin. Food and Drug Administration approval for COVID-19 vaccines and the controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm made headlines, but few of us know much about how the agency does its work. Why is the FDA the ultimate US authority on a drug's safety and efficacy? In Drugs and the FDA, Mikkael Sekeres—a leading oncologist and former chair of the FDA's cancer drug advisory committee—tells the story of how the FDA became the most trusted regulatory agency in the world. It took a series of tragedies and health crises, as well as patient advocacy, for the government to take responsibility for ensuring the efficacy and safety of drugs and medical devices.
 Before the FDA existed, drug makers could hawk any potion, claim treatment of any ailment, and make any promise on a label. But, throughout the twentieth century, the government was forced to take increasing action when children were poisoned by contaminated diphtheria and smallpox vaccines, an early antibiotic contained antifreeze, a drug prescribed for morning sickness in pregnancy caused babies to be born disfigured, and access to AIDS drugs was limited to a few clinical trials while thousands died. Sekeres describes all these events against the backdrop of the contentious 2011 hearings on the breast cancer drug Avastin, in which he participated as a panel member. The Avastin hearings, he says, put to the test a century of the FDA's evolution, demonstrating how its system of checks and balances works—or doesn't work.


Multicultural Education in the United States, by David Washburn. Bloomsburg, PA: Inquiry International, 1996.160 pp. $19.95, cloth. To reach students, it is critical that teachers be aware of their experiential backgrounds and that they employ materials and methods culturally relevant to the lives of their students. This book discusses the role of schools in providing solutions to issues of education and culture and in making multicultural education a major element in teacher education programs. Its five chapters highlight the decline in the practice of multicultural education in the U.S. and reinforce the need to reconceptualize it. The book begins with an introduction that presents a conceptual framework for multicultural education. The author introduces terms and concepts, thereby setting the stage for what is to follow, and makes clear that instructional methods should be grounded in a complete understanding of the cultural diversity that is a hallmark of U.S. society. Chapter one traces the origin, development, and future prospects of multicultural education. Cultural diversity had no influence on educational thought and practice until the 1960s, when political and social pressures exerted by racial/ethnic minority groups began to transform American education and educational materials, leading to the emergence of multicultural education in the 1990s. Chapter two, "Multicultural Education: Conceptions and Descriptions," takes as its foundation Sleeter and Grant's (1988) typology of conceptual variants of multicultural education. Advocates of structural equality and cultural pluralism, Sleeter and Grant believe society can be directed toward these goals through effective education. Chapter three, "The 1995 Multicultural Education Survey," presents tables detailing the results of a survey Washburn conducted focusing on the implementation of multicultural education programs by state in 1974 and 1995. In that study, 713 school districts were surveyed, with the aim of categorizing the practice of multicultural education in the U.S. according to the typology developed by Sleeter and Grant. The survey results elucidate the primary social, curricular, and instructional goals of public school multicultural education programs and offer a comprehensive picture of their past and present status in the country's largest school districts. Chapter four presents Washburn's views on the status of multicultural education in the United States. The 19 tables included in this chapter provide a comprehensive summary of diverse factors such as the average length of operation of multicultural education programs, grade levels involved, extent and type of community involvement, and social and school goals of multicultural education programs. …


A relaxed paradigm of clustering has been proposed recently in which each data object can be assigned exclusively to one cluster, assigned simultaneously to multiple clusters, or unassigned from all clusters. This has been realised by six tunable binarisation techniques for the binarisation of consensus partition matrices (Bi-CoPaM) ensemble clustering method. These techniques can be used to generate clusters with tunable tightness levels from wide clusters, through complementary clusters and towards tight clusters. In this study, we analyse these six techniques and classify them into two classes/tracks which differ in the way in which they gradually tighten clusters. We also propose using hybrid combinations of the techniques from both classes/tracks. The results of applying these techniques over a real microarray dataset of 1000 yeast genes demonstrate that, in many cases, there are significant differences between both classes/tracks of techniques. Moreover, comparisons between both classes/tracks by hybrid combinations are able to unveil information about the distinctness of the clusters and the competitiveness between them. (4 pages)


We investigate consequences of a continuously energy-injecting central engine of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow emission, assuming that a highly magnetized pulsar is left beaming in the core of a GRB progenitor. Beaming and continuous energy-injection are natural consequences of the pulsar origin of GRB afterglows. Whereas previous studies have considered continuous energy-injection from a new-born pulsar to interpret the deviation of afterglow light curves of GRBs from those with the simple power law behavior, a beaming effect, which is one of the most important aspects of pulsar emissions, is ignored in earlier investigations. We explicitly include the beaming effect and consider a change of the beaming with time due to a dynamical evolution of a new-born pulsar. We show that the magnitude of the afterglow from this fireball indeed first decreases with time, subsequently rises, and declines again. One of the most peculiar optical afterglows light curve of GRB 970508 can be accounted for by continuous energy injection with beaming due to a highly magnetized new-born pulsar. We discuss implications on such observational evidence for a pulsar.


Recent studies of economic voting have focused on the role of the local economy, but with inconclusive results. We argue that while local economic conditions affect incumbent support on average, the importance of the local economy varies by citizens' interactions with it. More recent and frequent encounters with aspects of the local economy make those aspects more salient and, in turn, feature more prominently in evaluations of the incumbent government. We label this process "context priming." We provide evidence for these propositions by studying local housing markets. Linking granularly detailed data on housing prices from Danish public registries to both precinct-level election returns and an individual-level panel survey, we find that when individuals interact with the housing market, their support for the incumbent government is more responsive to changes in local housing prices. The study thus provides a framework for understanding when citizens respond politically to the local economy.


Abstract Speech-language pathologists experience ethical dilemmas as they fulfil their professional roles and responsibilities. Previous research findings indicated that speech-language pathologists working in publicly funded settings identified ethical dilemmas when they managed complex clients, negotiated professional relationships, and addressed service delivery issues. However, little is known about ethical dilemmas experienced by speech-language pathologists working in private practice settings. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe the nature of ethical dilemmas experienced by speech-language pathologists working in private practice. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 speech-language pathologists employed in diverse private practice settings. Participants explained the nature of ethical dilemmas they experienced at work and identified their most challenging and frequently occurring ethical conflicts. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse transcribed data and generate themes. Four themes reflected the nature of speech-language pathologists' ethical dilemmas; balancing benefit and harm, fidelity of business practices, distributing funds, and personal and professional integrity. Findings support the need for professional development activities that are specifically targeted towards facilitating ethical practice for speech-language pathologists in the private sector.


Salinity is increasing in freshwaters throughout the world due to anthropogenic impacts with the significance of the increases to biological communities only now being realized. Declining mayfly populations in Appalachian streams have generated increased interest in elevated dissolved solids in that region and their effect on benthic macroinvertebrates, particularly the sensitive Ephemeroptera taxa. Field and laboratory evaluations have indicated high sensitivity of mayflies to elevated dissolved solids. The research described herein is part of an ongoing effort to provide opportunity for toxicity testing with native mayflies in the laboratory. A successful endeavor would establish mayfly sensitivity to total dissolved solids and evaluate the relationship between the sensitivity of the native taxa and laboratory surrogates. The objective of this study was to investigate methods for rearing field collected, larval mayflies using three types of recirculating culturing systems. Five Ephemeroptera families were collected from streams in central West Virginia. Success of the rearing method was measured by emergence and mortality rates for each individual mayfly taxa. Mayflies are known to reproduce both sexually and asexually, and establishing a parthenogenetic population would allow for a more sustainable laboratory culture and facilitate the use of the taxa in toxicity testing. The ability of field collected mayflies to exhibit parthenogenesis was also examined with emergent adults from the rearing study. Flow rate in the culturing units was found to be a determining factor of emergence success. The most successful culturing unit based on mayfly emergence was the aquatic plant culturing system (Hexagon) which also generated the highest flow rate. Of the families evaluated, Baetidae was the only family which exhibited parthenogenesis. Eggs from the genus Baetis had a hatch rate of 46 percent with incubation ranging from 11‐29 days after egg collection. Eggs from the genus Pseudocloeon hatched between 17‐24 days and had an average hatch rate of less than 1 percent. Ongoing research has focused on continued improvements in rearing and emergence techniques for native taxa, better understanding of optimal incubation conditions for egg hatch, and increasing survival and longevity of newly hatched larval mayflies.


Nudge and the wider behavioral economics approach has become increasingly dominant in contemporary political and policy discourse. While much attention has been paid to the attractions and criticisms of nudge (such as liberal paternalism), this article argues that nudge is based on a rationality paradox in that it represents an approach that despite its emphasis on bounded rationality, does not reflect on its own limits to rationality. The article considers the implications of this paradox by considering mechanisms that influence government decision making and mechanisms that lead to unintended consequences in the context of policy interventions.


This paper will examine intertextual references between the Dialogus of Tacitus and the letters of Pliny, in particular those regarding boar hunting. It will argue that there are clues in the letters of Pliny which can help us to understand the relationship between these two writers as well as the tone and purpose of the Dialogus . By studying Pliny's letters to Tacitus on hunting (1.6, 9.10), one can see the specific reference to boars as an allusion to Marcus Aper, the chief spokesperson for contemporary eloquence in the dialogue, indicating a degree of humor and irony in the Dialogus that is further displayed by the similarity of Pliny's opening exhortation in Epistle 1.6, ridebis et licet rideas , to the final words of the Dialogus , cum adrisissent , discessimus . Moreover, the dialogue between Pliny and Tacitus in Pliny's letters can be seen as an indication that the Dialogus itself may have been revised throughout the years, thus problematizing the debate about the ""publication date"" of the Dialogus .


Introduction Metaforas de su tierra by Maria Amor Barros del Rio Joyceana: Literaria Hibernica by M.E. Jaime de Pablos & J. M. Estevez Saa (eds.) Las poeticas de James Joyce y Luis Martin-Santos by Marisol Morales Ladron La novela irlandesa del siglo XX by Ines Praga Terente (ed.) Humour and Tragedy in Ireland by P. Trainor de la Cruz & B. Krauel Heredia (eds.) Introduction The first years of the 21st century have witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of scholarly publications in Spain related to Irish studies. It is not by chance that this period roughly coincides with the creation of AEDEI. The Spanish Association for Irish Studies has promoted Irish literature and culture in such a way that what previously constituted the commendable efforts of scholars working in isolation (with the exception of the Spanish James Joyce Association, with more than 15 years of continuous work) has now become a thriving field of studies. Universities such as Burgos, Barcelona, A Coruna and some others are centres for new projects and Ph.D. dissertations are read every year. The production of books on Irish themes has acquired a high level of specialisation too, as the selection of recent works included here will testify. Still, there is plenty of work to be done. More provocative studies must be written (Ines Praga's essay on the novel in Northern Ireland commented on here is undoubtedly an example to follow). More translations into Spanish and into other peninsular languages must be done. Manuela Palacios' rendering of six Irish women poets into Galician in her book Pluriversos (Santiago: Follas Novas, 2003) is another example of a carefully edited bilingual volume. The year 2005 saw another edition of W. B. Yeats's poetry, Antologia Poetica (Barcelona: Lumen), which is always good news, but other Irish authors perhaps not so popular among Spanish readers are waiting their turn. Recent works such as Elena Jaime's translation of George Moore's The Wild Goose (Almeria: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad, 2003) indicate that there are reasons for hope in this sense, despite the many shortcomings: In the year of Samuel Beckett's centennial celebrations there are not many prospects of new publications on the "headmaster of the Writing as Agony school" as Martin Amis called him, and James Knowlson's superb biography Damned to Fame. The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996) still remains to be translated into Spanish. In any case, the seeds have been sown for a promising future of forthcoming publications on Irish subjects in Spain. Those commented on below will not disappoint the interested reader. Barros del Rio, Maria Amor (2004) Metaforas de su tierra. Breve historia de las mujeres irlandesas, Oviedo: Septem Ediciones. ISBN: 84-95687-82-8 One of the great paradoxes in Irish history is that a nation which has been represented by feminine myths since ancient times has had its history written by men. As has been the case in most countries, the historical role of women has been silenced and what Amor Barros proposes in this book is to redress the balance and to rescue from oblivion the presence of women in this country's evolution from the Celtic era to our postmodern times. One of the assets of the book lies in its capacity of synthesis: as the title suggests, this is a "brief history", and the author has compressed the plight of Irish women for more than two thousand years into no more than a hundred pages. It should be taken into account that her approach is an integral one, and the situation of women in each period is not treated as an isolated phenomenon but is fully contextualised, considering factors such as land, religion or colonialism. The book is divided into eight main chapters, each dedicated to a particular historical period. After the introduction, the second chapter explains that in Celtic Ireland feminine figures closely connected to nature prevailed in the belief systems of the first inhabitants of the island. …


Viruslike symptoms were observed in epidemic proportions in tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., in Guadeloupe and Martinique each year since 1992 and 1993, respectively, and in Puerto Rico since 1994 (1,3). Many tomato fields in Guadeloupe and Martinique had more than 70% of plants expressing symptoms of chlorotic mottling, leaf distortion, leaf rolling, and stunting in 1995 and 1996. The B biotype of Bemisia tabaci (aka B. argentifolii) was associated with all these epidemics. Ninety-three samples of tomato were collected from multiple locations from each island (65 samples from Guadeloupe, 11 from Martinique, and 17 from Puerto Rico) and assayed for the presence of geminivirus by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with broad spectrum primers, PAL1v1978 and PAR1c496 for the A component, and PBL1v2040 and PCRc154 for the B component (4). Most samples tested positive for geminivirus (98% from Guadeloupe, 100% from Martinique, and 82% from Puerto Rico). Restriction analyses of amplified A component fragment with SacI, EcoRI, and AluI, and amplified B component fragment with EcoRI, AluI, VspI, PstI, and HaeIII were conducted on 34 samples (25 from Guadeloupe, six from Martinique, and three from Puerto Rico). All samples produced very similar restriction patterns, suggesting that they were infected by the same virus. One to three clones of amplified fragments of A and B components, obtained from one plant sample from each location, were at least 98.7% identical in sequence to each other and were 89.6% and 75.2 to 75.7% identical to equivalent regions in potato yellow mosaic virus (PYMV) A and B DNA, respectively (GenBank accession nos. D00940 and D00941). This isolate of PYMV was collected from potato in Venezuela in 1985 (2). Infectious full-length genomic clones of A and B component DNA from Guadeloupe were derived from the same tissue as the PCR-generated clones, and nucleotide sequences were found to be 99.1 and 99% identical to the PCR-generated fragments of A and B DNA, respectively. Nucleotide sequences of these full-length clones were 92.6 and 89.4% identical to full-length sequences of PYMV A and B DNA, respectively. The DNA sequence identity of the common regions of the A and B components between the Guadeloupe virus and PYMV was 95.1 and 91.6%, respectively. There was a nucleotide identity of 93% in the first 125 nucleotides of the coat protein gene. The virus found in Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Puerto Rico appears to be a strain of PYMV reported from Venezuela. This strain of PYMV is at least partially responsible for the epidemics in tomato in Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Puerto Rico. The similarity among geminivirus sequences at distant locations (Puerto Rico to Martinique is approximately 600 km) is unexpected and could be due to recent introductions. References: (1) J. K. Brown et al. Plant Dis. 79:1250, 1995. (2) R. H. A. Coutts et al. J. Gen. Virol. 72:1515, 1991. (3) B. Hostachy et al. Phytoma 456:24, 1993. (4) M. R. Rojas et al. Plant Dis. 77:340, 1993.


Background The American Contact Dermatitis Society (ACDS) is the principal organization representing the subspecialty of contact dermatitis in the United States. Objective The aim of this study was to characterize ACDS members with respect to demographic characteristics, patch-test practices, and sentiments regarding the Society and its journal Dermatitis. Methods We conducted cross-sectional postal and online surveys of ACDS members. Results More than a third of ACDS members responded to the survey, 92% of whom practice dermatology, and most of whom are community practitioners. Responders manage patients with allergic and irritant dermatitis at a similar frequency. On average, they patch test 4 patients per week using 66 allergens per patient, which often include customized trays. Almost half of these practitioners learned patch testing from their residency programs. Most of the responders read and value the Society journal, value the Contact Allergen Management Program database, and attend society meetings. Conclusions The ACDS is comprised overwhelmingly of dermatologists who are primarily community-based, young relative to the start of their practices, and use the Society's resources for continuing education.


Environmental factors such as temp erature, irradiance, and nitrogen (N) supply affect the growth of Prorocentrum donghaiense, but the interactive effects of these physical factors and the effects of atmospheric CO2 (pCO(2)) on growth and N uptake have not been examined. We compared growth kinetics of P. donghaiense grown on 4 different N substrates (nitrate [NO3-], ammonium [NH4+], urea, and glutamic acid [glu]) with respect to temperature, irradiance, and pCO(2). Temperature (15 to 30 degrees C) had a positive effect on growth (max. growth rates: 0.17 to 0.65 d(-1); optimal temperature: 25 to 30 degrees C); maximum specific growth rates (mu(max)) declined when cultures were grown at 30 degrees C. P. donghaiense grew well on all 4 N sources, under irradiances ranging from 10 to 180 mu mol quanta m(-2) s(-1). mu(max) (2.0 +/- 0.1 d(-1)) was observed in cultures growing with NH4+ as the sole N source in the highest irradiance treatment (180 mu mol quanta m(-2) s(-1)). These rates were significantly higher than those measured in cultures grown on NO3-, urea, and glu (all similar to 1.4 d(-1)). Half-saturation constants (K-s) ranged from 66.5 +/- 4.6 to 99.4 +/- 6.7 mu mol quanta m(-2) s(-1) for cultures grown with glu or NH4+, respectively, as the sole source of N. Both growth and N uptake rates were higher in cultures grown under elevated pCO(2). Our results suggest that P. donghaiense exhibits flexible adaptation for N utilization under broad environmental conditions (temperature, irradiance, pCO(2)), which may play an important role in the formation and duration of P. donghaiense blooms.


Biofilms are highly organised colonies of microorganisms, at a surface or an interface, which are extremely resistant to treatment with biocides or antimicrobials. Consequently, biofilms are the primary cause of fouling and persistent infections in both industrial and clinical settings. Thus, there is a clear need to develop coatings that are able to prevent the growth of biofilms on surfaces. Herein, we report on the development of polynitroxides for use as anti-biofilm coatings. We demonstrate that we can tune the composition of the nitroxide 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl methacrylate in a copolymer with methyl methacrylate in order to control the surface concentration of nitroxides in the resulting thin films. The prepared films are able to reduce biofilm fouling by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1) at nitroxide monomer concentrations as low as 30 wt%. The nitroxide containing materials show no difference in toxicity to mammalian cells, compared to poly(methyl methacrylate), in a proliferation assay with 3T3 fibroblast cells. This is the first demonstration of surface tethered nitroxides with activity against biofilms and provides new opportunities for developing antifouling surface coatings.


Abstract The Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications (GTA) is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The task of this article was to give a selection of gestalt theoretical research, which was created within the framework of the GTA. After a brief introduction to the theory, recent developments that have emerged since the founding of the Society and have found expression in the journal Gestalt Theory, as well as in many other publications, have been discussed. A number of contributions to the fundamental area could be cited: consciousness research, multifield approach, synergetics, language, development, and so on. The transfer of basic knowledge to a number of application-oriented disciplines, namely, psychotherapy, education, arts, culture, nation and society, organizations, and so on, has been presented. The article has shown that Gestalt theory has great relevance in both basic and application-related areas and can cover a wide range of issues.


Motivated by concerns regarding the impact of cultural diversity on group interaction processes and a desire to extend the Social Influence Model of Technology Use, this paper discusses the impact of normative social influence on enhancing group media use and group decision making performance over time in different cultural group compositions. This paper proposes that the strength of attraction to the group influences the similarity in media perception and use of group members. The similarity of group media perception and use is proposed to influence group performance. Concurrently, group cohesion, similarity of media perception and use, and group performance are positively correlated over time. Since culture affects individuals' values, beliefs and behavior, this paper proposes that the degree of similarity in media perception and media use may differ when group composition varies by culture. Several propositions for empirical examination are highlighted. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the importance and implications of understanding cultural diversity and social influence on technology use and group performance.


There are multiple barriers in order to cause or improve adherence to medication among the patients with hypertension; and recognize the relevant obstacles is a significant stage in performing effective interventions. Accordingly, the current study seeks to examine personal psychological and environmental obstacles influencing adherence to pharmacotherapy in the patients with hypertension. In the current cross-sectional study, 390 patients with hypertension sponsored by health centers in Isfahan city (Iran) were examined. The sampling in the current research was performed in several stages. The data collection method was demographic factor questionnaire, eightitem Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS), Beck Depression Inventory, and John Henry Active Coping Scale. The data relevant to the subjects was collected and analyzed in a self-reporting manner. According to results,12 percent of patients had adherence to medication. The patients with low scores of active coping reported the greater level of non-adherence to pharmacotherapy(OR = 0.17 95% CI 0.06-0.65).Furthermore, the patients who had higher level of depression and interpersonal conflicts with family reported higher non-adherence to pharmacotherapy(respectively OR= 1.50 95% CI 1.05-3.46, OR=1.99 95% CI 1.03-3.6). The results suggest that depression, interpersonal conflicts and also application of active coping strategies in the patients with hypertension can play an important part in their adherence to pharmacotherapy.


The use of microbial inoculants holds a great promise to improve crop yield without the negative environmental and health hazard associated with chemical fertilizer.To investigate ifPseudomonasspp. (Pseudomonas kilonensisF113 andPseudomonas protegensCHA0 strains) have promoting effects on vegetative growth and yield of different maize genotypes (viz. AFLATOXIN SYN 4W, TZB-SR, AFLATOXIN R SYN 2Y, AFLATOXIN SYN 3W and AFLATOXIN SYN-2Y) under different soil types.Both pot and field experiments were employed. Bacterialized seeds were sown (2 seeds/pot/stand).Pot experiment showed that both the bacterial species significantly stimulated the growth of maize shoot length, stem girth, leaf length, root length and root weight. The effect of genotypes AFLATOXIN SYN 4W, TZB-SR, AFLATOXIN R SYN 2Y and AFLATOXIN SYN 3W are not significantly different from one another but AFLATOXIN SYN-2Y showed a significantly lower increase in the measured parameters. No significant difference was observed according to soil types. AFLATOXIN SYN 4W showed a significantly higher root weight while AFLATOXIN R SYN 2Y showed a significantly higher root length compared to the other maize genotypes. Moreover,Pseudomonassignificantly increased maize growth and yield under field experiment. AFLATOXIN R SYN 2Y and AFLATOXIN SYN 4W showed a significantly higher yield than the other maize genotypes studied.We concluded thatPseudomonas kilogenensisF113 andPseudomonas protegensCHA0 are potential biofertilizers.


The theme for this collection of articles is drawn front a March 2009 workshop on the broader topic of 'Southeast Asian exiles: crossing cultural, political and religious borders'. From the dozen or so papers that ranged across the countries of southeast Asia, a selection of those focused on Indonesia are gathered together here.

The workshop brought together established and emerging scholars from Australia, Southeast Asia and Europe to analyse the production and articulation of cultural, political and religious networks formed by exiles from Southeast Asia The aim was threefold to explore the cultural, political and intellectual histories of exiles within and outside the Southeast Asia region; to examine how exiles engage in and maintain trans-national networks, based on cultural, political and religious affiliations within Southeast Asia and worldwide; and to explore how these networks have the potential to establish affiliations that figure as alternatives to the legal and cultural belonging to the nation state.


ABSTRACT The Western Balkan countries are stuck in a hybrid status quo on their way to democracy. Traditional arguments related to cost–benefit calculations, national identity or conflicting objectives fail to explain the observed decoupling between gradual improvements in formal compliance with membership criteria and stagnating, if not declining, democratic performance. We explain the limited impact of the EU's political conditionality in the Western Balkans with rampant state capture and proceed to unpack how EU conditionality has effectively contributed to the consolidation of such detrimental governance patterns. First, EU pressure for simultaneous economic and political reforms opened opportunities for business actors to build powerful clientelist networks that reach into politics. Second, top-down conditionality has weakened political competition and mechanisms of internal accountability and deliberation. Finally, formal progress towards membership and high-level interactions with EU and member state officials legitimize corrupt elites. A congruence analysis of the Serbian case provides empirical evidence for the hypothesised linkages between EU conditionality and state capture.


Absorption of far-infrared (FIR) radiation in very small CdSe crystallites (quantum dots, QDs) via excitation of confined dipolar vibrational modes was studied, both theoretically and experimentally. Spatial quantisation of optical phonons was analysed in the framework of a continuum model, which couples the phonon amplitude to the electrostatic potential via the Frohlich interaction. The frequencies and oscillator strengths of the dipole-active optical vibration modes are presented calculated for a spherical QD, and for the first time for II-VI QDs these quantised modes were observed experimentally. Another effect studied in this work is the influence of the QD concentration on the FIR absorption of their ensemble. It is shown that the dipole-dipole interaction becomes very important in dense QD ensembles and leads to smearing of the structure in the CdSe phonon band as the QD concentration increases.


The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of violent writing in the high school English classroom. A non-experimental research design utilizing a new survey instrument guided the process of collecting data across three areas of interest: frequency, teacher response, and teacher perception of preparedness to respond. A new definition and typology consisting of seven categories for the construct of violent writing served as the foundation of the survey creation process.
The study was conducted with North Carolina 9th-12th grade public school English teachers (target population = 4,290). English as a Second Language, private, and charter school teachers were exempted from the study. Simple random sampling was used to create a sample of 351 North Carolina High School English teachers; 87 of whom completed the survey (response rate of 24%).
Survey questions focused teachers on a "typical school year." Data revealed that violent writing is encountered but at minimal levels, with most respondents selecting "zero" (29%-90% of respondents) or between1-5 examples (10%-63% of respondents) encountered in any given category in a typical year. The most commonly selected responses included communication with the student (22%-56% of respondents) or contacting a counselor or other mental health provider (7%-58%). When asked about preparedness, between 35%-52% of respondents across the categories indicated feeling fairly well prepared to respond, although a respectable percentage indicated negative levels of preparedness.
Recommendations for future research include the need to expand research through qualitative research methods that consider greater teacher, student, and cross-curricular and grade level input.


A model structure of vitreous silica, for which the vibrational frequencies and eigenmodes were calculated from first principles, is used to investigate vibrational amplitudes. Calculated mean-square displacements for oxygen and silicon atoms are obtained as a function of temperature. The square displacement tensors of oxygen atoms show a marked anisotropic character, which is related to the local geometry. The displacements of oxygen atoms along the three principal directions can be associated to distinct parts of the vibrational spectrum, as evidenced by their thermal dependence. These anisotropic effects directly affect the elastic and the static structure factors, which are sensitive to the correlation between displacements of different atoms along their connecting direction. This description shows that the observed widths for Si-O and O-O correlations mainly derive from atomic vibrations rather than from structural disorder. Anisotropic correlations between different atoms are shown to be important up to a distance of 4 Angstrom, i.e., involving atoms that belong to corner-sharing tetrahedra. The scattering functions, calculated at finite temperature and in the harmonic approximation, show good agreement with experiment. In particular, the comparison between the static and the elastic structure factors yields a characterization of the correlated displacements in accord with experimental observations. The static structure factor is significantly affected by anisotropic correlations, but shows only a weak dependence on temperature between 0 and 300 K.


Importance As the United States considers how to best structure its health care services, specialty care availability is receiving increased focus. This study assesses whether patients lack reasonable access to ophthalmologists in states where optometrists have been granted expanded scope of practice. Objective To determine the estimated travel time (ETT) to the nearest ophthalmologist office for persons residing in states that have expanded scope of practice for optometrists, and to quantify ETT to the nearest ophthalmologist for Medicare beneficiaries who received surgical care from optometrists in those states between 2008 and 2014. Design, Setting, and Participants This study used data from the 2010 US census, a 2016 American Academy of Ophthalmology member database, and a data set of claims data for a random sample of 20% of beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare nationwide from 2008 to 2014 (n=14 063 725). Combining these sources with geographic information systems analysis, the ETT to the nearest ophthalmologist office was calculated for every resident of Kentucky, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. This study also assessed ETT to the nearest ophthalmologist for Medicare beneficiaries in those states who had received surgery from an optometrist from 2008 to 2014. Data analyses were conducted from July 2016 to July 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures The proportion of residents of Kentucky, Oklahoma, and New Mexico who live within an ETT of 10, 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes of the nearest ophthalmologist office. Results The study included 4 339 367 Kentucky residents, 3 751 351 Oklahoma residents, and 2 059 179 New Mexico residents. Of these, 5 140 547 (50.6%) were female. Racial/ethnic composition included 7 154 847 people (70.5%) who were white, 640 608 (6.3%) who were black, and 1 418 246 (14.0%) who were Hispanic. The mean (SD) age was 37.8 (22.8) years. More than 75% of residents in the 3 states lived within an ETT of 30 minutes to the nearest ophthalmology office, and 94% to 99% of residents lived within an ETT of 60 minutes to the nearest ophthalmology office. Among Medicare beneficiaries who received surgery by optometrists, 58.3%, 51.1%, and 46.9% in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, respectively, lived within an ETT of 30 minutes from the nearest ophthalmologist office. Conclusions and Relevance In the states where optometrists have expanded scope of practice, most residents lived within an ETT of 30 minutes of the nearest ophthalmologist office, as do half of Medicare beneficiaries who received surgical care from optometrists. These results can help inform policy makers when weighing the pros and cons of scope of practice expansion for optometrists.


The subject of this article is the possibilities of the documentation of a defunct town from the Pre-Islamic period to Early Islamic period. This town is located near the town Makhmur in Iraq. The Czech archaeological mission has worked at this dig site. This Cultural Heritage site is threatened by war because in the vicinity are positions of ISIS. For security reasons, the applicability of Pleiades satellite data has been tested. Moreover, this area is a no-fly zone. However, the DTM created from stereo-images was insufficient for the desired application in archeology. The subject of this paper is the testing of the usability of RPAS technology and terrestrial photogrammetry for documentation of the remains of buildings. RPAS is a very fast growing technology that combines the advantages of aerial photogrammetry and terrestrial photogrammetry. A probably defunct church is a sample object.


The Variscides of southeast England are buried beneath post-Carboniferous cover. Interpretations of the basement are based mainly on deep boreholes. Geophysical signatures from the basement are contained within the regional gravity and magnetic data. A gravity stripping exercise has been undertaken to remove the gravitational effect of the post-Variscan cover to generate a residual gravity map. This map is interpreted along with integrated potential field modelling along four long interconnected profiles and compared with a revised pre-Permian subcrop map. The magnetic evidence suggests that Precambrian magnetic basement of the Midlands Microcraton has been buried southwards by north-vergent Variscan thusting over the foreland. North of the Variscan Front, short-wavelength anomalies superimposed upon this deep Precambrian source are due to shallower Silurian and Carboniferous volcanic rocks. Many residual gravity lows within the Rhenohercynian zone may be related to thick, low-density Devonian basins. In the English Channel a change in geophysical signature occurs north of the Portland–Wight Fault, coinciding with phyllites in the basement. Models are presented in which the English Channel magnetic anomalies originate within the pre-Permian basement. Comparisons with anomalies in the Southwestern Approaches suggest that the Portland–Wight Thrust is a terrane boundary, possibly a subduction-related suture, implying southerly directed Variscan subduction.


I am extremely grateful to Pakistan Institute of Development
 Economics, Islamabad for giving me an opportunity to share my views on
 "Skill Development for Growth and Productivity". Pakistan is currently
 experiencing an exciting period of economic and social change. The
 post-WTO regime and the global market dictate has exposed Pakistans'
 economy to international competitiveness necessitating rapid
 technological changes in the industry. There is definite and recurring
 need to optimise human resources through Skill Development efforts for
 achieving high productivity culture for investments in the industrial,
 commercial, agriculture and services sectors. There is clear indication
 that low cost labour will no longer be significant advantage for any
 business which is not based on productivity charged and quality oriented
 workforce. Therefore, a growing realisation exists for the huge skill
 deficiency and the demand for competitive workforce with constant supply
 from educational, vocational/technical training institutions. These hard
 facts point towards urgent development of strong network between various
 stakeholders to achieve skill development for economic development.
 Indeed skill excellence and human resource development has been
 acknowledged as the major component of economic and social development
 that contributes in direct proportion to poverty alleviation and
 national prosperity.


Abstract Introduction Clinical guidelines recommend anticoagulation therapy for the treatment of cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE), but little is known about preferences. Therefore, the objective of this discrete choice experiment (DCE) was to elucidate patient preferences regarding anticoagulation convenience attributes. Methods Adult patients with cancer-associated VTE who switched to direct oral anticoagulants were included in a single-arm study (COSIMO). Patients were asked to decide between hypothetical treatment options based on a combination of the following attributes: route of administration (injection/tablet), frequency of intake (once/twice daily), need for regular controls of the international normalized ratio (INR) at least every 3 to 4 weeks (yes/no), interactions with food/alcohol (yes/no), and distance to treating physician (1 vs. 20 km) as an additional neutral attribute. DCE data were collected by structured telephone interviews and analyzed based on a conditional logit regression. Results Overall, 163 patients (mean age 63.7 years, 49.1% female) were included. They strongly preferred oral administration compared with self-injections (importance of this attribute for overall treatment decisions: 73.8%), and a treatment without dietary restrictions (11.8%). Even if these attributes were less important (7.2% and 6.5%, respectively), patients indicated a preference for a shorter distance to the treating physician and once-daily dosing compared with twice-daily intake. "Need for regular controls of INR at least every 3 to 4 weeks" showed no significant impact on the treatment decision (0.7%). Conclusion This study showed that treatment-related decision making in cancer-associated VTE, assuming comparable effectiveness and safety of anticoagulant treatments, is predominantly driven by "route of administration," with patients strongly preferring oral administration.


Nova-1, a protein expressed in tumors and neurons, is a target antigen in a human paraneoplastic motor disorder [paraneoplastic opsoclonus- myoclonus ataxia (POMA)]. We evaluated the relationship between the function of Nova-1 and its role as a disease antigen. We show that Nova- 1 is a neuron-specific RNA-binding protein with sequence and functional similarities to FMR-1. Nova-1 mRNA is restricted to the subcortical nervous system, and the protein binds to RNA with high affinity. Nova-1 KH domains mediate this RNA binding, and point mutations within them abrogate binding. POMA disease antisera (6/6) recognize the third KH domain but not an inactive point mutant, and affinity-purified antibody blocks Nova-1 RNA binding. Thus, a cardinal feature of POMA is the production of antibodies that inhibit Nova-1-RNA interactions, suggesting such inhibition may cause the neurological disease.


Want to become a crime novel buff, or expand your reading in your favourite genre? This is a good place to start! From the publishers of the popular, Good Reading Guide comes a rich selection of the some of the finest crime novels ever published. With 100 of the best titles fully reviewed and a further 500 recommended, you'll quickly become an expert on the world of crime. The book also allows you to browse by theme, includes 'a reader's fast-guide to the world of crime fiction' as well listing the top 10 crime characters and their creators, award winners and book club recommendations.


Partial oxidation of n-butanol to butyraldehyde, propionaldehyde and acetaldehyde over MnCo2O4 spinel oxides has been investigated. Physicochemical characteristics of samples, prepared by co-precipitation with different amounts of precipitating agent, were studied by XRD, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, FT-IR, SEM and XPS. The ratio between the precipitating agent and the precursors has a considerable influence both on the structure, which is evidenced by XRD, due to switching from a crystalline structure to an amorphous one and on the surface (XPS) by an obvious change in the ratio Co3+/Co2+ and Mn4+/Mn3+ and in the content of oxygen vacancies. The reaction rate is not influenced by the oxygen pressure, emphasizing that n-butanol oxidation occurs through the Mars van Krevelen mechanism. The conversion of n-butanol and yield of butyraldehyde are directly proportional to the cobalt content on the surface, while the propionaldehyde yield is proportional to the Mn4+/Mn3+ ratio.


Automated scene understanding or interpretation is a fundamental problem of computer vision. Its goal is to compute a formal description of the content and events that can be observed in images or videos and distribute it to artificial or human agents for further exploitation or storage. Over the last decade, tremendous progress has been made in the design of algorithms able to analyze images taken under standard viewing conditions. Several of them, e.g., face detection, are already used daily on consumer products. In contrast, the aerospace context has been confined to professional or military applications for a long time, due to its strategic stakes and to the high cost of data production. However, images and videos taken from sensors embedded in airborne or spatial platforms are now being made publicly available, thanks to easily deployable UAVs and web based access data repositories. This article examines the state of the art of automated scene interpretation from aerospace sensors. It will examine how the general techniques of object detection and recognition can be applied to this specific context, as well as what their limitations are and what kind of extensions are possible. The interpretation will be focused on the analysis of movable objects such as vehicles, airplanes and persons. Results will be illustrated with past and ongoing projects.


Our empirical investigation confirms the common belief that retail gasoline prices react more quickly to increases in crude oil prices than to decreases. Nearly all of the response to a crude oil price increase shows up in the pump price within 4 weeks, while decreases are passed along gradually over 8 weeks. The asymmetry could indicate market power of some producers or distributors, or it could result from inventory adjustment costs. By analyzing price transmission at different points in the distribution chain we investigate these theories. We find that some asymmetry occurs at the level of the competitive spot market for gasoline, perhaps reflecting inventory costs. Wholesale gasoline prices, however, exhibit no asymmetry in responding to crude oil price changes, indicating that refiners who set wholesale prices are not the source of the asymmetry. The most significant asymmetry appears in the response of retail prices to wholesale price changes. We argue that this probably reflects short run market power among retail gasoline sellers.


This paper presents the indoor positioning research activities carried out within the scope of the Liaison project. Most of the work has been performed on WiFi location. WiFi is nowadays widely deployed in buildings such as hotels, hospitals, airports, train stations, public buildings, etc. Using this infrastructure to locate terminals connected to the wireless LAN is expected to have a low cost. Methods presented in this paper include fingerprinting with particle filter constrained on a Voronoi diagram and TOA based on data frames and acknowledgments at the IEEE 802.11 MAC level. Other technologies have also been researched: A-GNSS to handle the transition between outdoors and indoors, UWB in ad-hoc mode to cope with possible lacks of infrastructure and inertial MEMS to increase the availability and robustness of the overall system.


Introduction Pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) use a hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) propellant, a greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential. Soft mist inhalers (Respimat) are propellant-free and potentially reusable, reducing their environmental impact. Aims Compare product carbon footprints (PCFs) of disposable Respimat and HFA pMDI devices and assess any environmental impact of a reusable Respimat device supplied with 3 or 6 months of refills. Methods Whole life-cycle PCFs of tiotropium bromide (Spiriva) Respimat, ipratropium bromide/fenoterol hydrobromide (Berodual) Respimat, Berodual HFA pMDI and ipratropium bromide (Atrovent) HFA pMDI were assessed. Data were collected from relevant supply chain members using customised data collection email templates. PCFs were calculated according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC AR5). Results pMDI PCFs are ˜20 times greater than disposable propellant-free Respimat PCFs (˜98% due to HFA release during use and end-of-life phases). Electricity and thermal energy use in a disposable Respimat device assembly adds more to the PCF than cartridge assembly: 0.38 vs 0.08 kg CO2eq. Therefore, developing a reusable Respimat device has potential to further reduce PCF. Indeed, assessment of a reusable Respimat shows a further reduction in PCF by 57% for a 3 month refill and 71% for a 6 month refill, vs the 1 month disposable Respimat. Conclusions Respimat not only addresses many practical limitations of pMDIs but also has a considerably lower environmental impact than HFA pMDIs. Development of a reusable option decreases impact even further, providing significant environmental improvements.


In victim impact panels, persons convicted of driving while intoxicated are confronted by survivors of accidents caused by drunk drivers. The objective is to reduce the number of subsequent convictions by increasing empathy with victims and increasing awareness of the seriousness of the consequences of drinking and driving. Participation in a victim impact course was not found to consistently reduce reoffending in a sample of persons convicted of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. More specifically, program participants were just as likely to reoffend as non‐participants and sometimes more likely.


A spin‐on‐glass (SOG) film modification technology, using a fluoroalkoxysilane vapor treatment (FAST) at room temperature, is developed. The silanol‐based SOG films with the thickness of about 0.25 μm can be modified by the fluorotriethoxysilane (FTES) monomers, and their properties are improved with increasing the FAST time. It has been revealed that the fluorine atoms are deeply and uniformly distributed across the modified SOG films. It has also been clarified that the modified SOG films have tightly bonded Si‐O networks with less residual OH radical than those without the FAST process. At the FAST time of 120 min, the modified SOG film's refractive index is 1.398, density is 2.20 g/cm3,, and shrinkage is −5% (increase). The hypothetical mechanism of the FAST is: fluoroalkoxysilane monomers are diffused into the SOG films, adsorbed to the Si‐OH bonds existing in the SOG precursors, then the precursors are cross‐linked with assistance of FTES monomers by a catalytic dehydration reaction at room temperature. Warpage variations for a 500 μm thick, 4 in. Si wafer with a 0.25 μm thick modified SOG film in a heating cycle with the temperatures ranging from 25 to 430°C are less than 2.1 μm which is three times smaller than those without the FAST process (6.3 μm). The moisture absorbed in the modified SOG films is about 2 weight percent (w/o) which is eight times smaller than that without the FAST process (16 w/o). The leakage current through the films, measured using an Al/SOG film/p‐Si structure (−5 V to Al) decreases with increasing the FAST time. The leakage current at the FAST time of 120 min is about three orders of magnitude smaller than those without the FAST process. The FAST technique has been applied to interlayer dielectric film planarization of a double level Al interconnection without using any SOG etchback process, where pure Al is used as wiring materials. The surface planarization characteristics are better than those using the conventional SOG etchback process. Neither crack nor void is observed in the trenches between the Al wirings. For the double level Al interconnections formed on 4 in. Si wafers, via hole resistances and yields, which have been obtained from five wafers with 100 chips of 10,000 via chains on each wafer, are 0.11 to 0.13 Ω/unit and 98%, respectively. The via hole diameter in this experiment is 0.9 μm. The via hole resistance increase and open circuit, which are very common in the conventional SOG planarization process without using any SOG etchback, has not been observed for the double level Al interconnections, even without using any SOG etchback process.


Background and Hypothesis: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is underutilized for evaluation of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) in the pediatric emergency department (ED). This study seeks to determine the utilization of POCUS compared to formal radiology ultrasound for SSTI in the pediatric ED prior to an ultrasound program implementation. We hypothesize that POCUS utilization will be low but can lead to a decreased length of stay (LOS) and cost for patients with SSTI.
Experimental Design or Project Methods: This is a retrospective EMR chart review covering pre-implementation (July 2016-June 2017) and post-implementation (July 2018-June 2019) of a POCUS program curriculum. Patients (<18 years old) were included based on screening for diagnoses via the international classification of diseases 9th and 10th revision codes for abscesses and cellulitis. We excluded patients who required admission and subspecialty consult or had other non-SSTI evaluation.
Results: Pre-Implementation period included 160 patients who met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of these, 16 (10%) received POCUS evaluation and 8 (5%) received a radiology image evaluation. The majority of patients had cellulitis (80%) when compared to abscess (20%). The average LOS for POCUS ultrasound was 173 minutes compared to 304 minutes for radiology evaluation. The total cost for visit was $3,503 for patients evaluated by POCUS compared to $8,875.56 for patients who received radiology imaging.
Conclusion and Potential Impact: Taken together, the pre-implementation assessment of POCUS utilization in the pediatric emergency department was low but associated with decreased LOS and lower total ED cost when applied to SSTI management.


This paper analyses how countries are adapting the architecture and requirements for national-level governance of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to better suit their contexts and to implement the Paris Principles for more effective aid. The paper identifies two trends of linkages and integration with the national structures for co-ordination of a) the HIV/AIDS response, and b) the health sector. Both approaches potentially contribute to improved aid effectiveness, but raise some concerns in practice. The paper proposes a future research and action agenda to promote better understanding of integration and the role it can play in promoting harmonization and alignment.


When highly disordered insulating materials are subjected to energetic electron bombardment they can emit photons. This process is termed "cathodoluminescence." This occurs in the space plasma environment and is an important phenomenon to understand when designing any object to be put into space. Light emitted from spacecraft materials can affect optical detection, and can cause stray-light contamination in space-based observatories. The Materials Physics Group at Utah State University uses an ultra-high vacuum chamber equipped with electron guns and a cryostat to control the sample temperature to simulate the space environment and to observe its affects on sample materials. Previous studies have looked at the cathodoluminescent properties of a variety of materials, as incident electron energy and current were modified. The purpose of this study is to observe the statistical variation of a large sample set of a particular material (bisphenol/amine epoxy) subjected to the same environmental conditions. This provides important information on the stochastic variability which can be expected when using a particular material and the precision of ground-based laboratory experiments.


Predicting how a drug-like molecule binds to a specific protein target is a core problem in drug discovery. An extremely fast computational binding method would enable key applications such as fast virtual screening or drug engineering. Existing methods are computationally expensive as they rely on heavy candidate sampling coupled with scoring, ranking, and fine-tuning steps. We challenge this paradigm with EquiBind, an SE(3)-equivariant geometric deep learning model performing direct-shot prediction of both i) the receptor binding location (blind docking) and ii) the ligand's bound pose and orientation. EquiBind achieves significant speed-ups and better quality compared to traditional and recent baselines. Further, we show extra improvements when coupling it with existing fine-tuning techniques at the cost of increased running time. Finally, we propose a novel and fast fine-tuning model that adjusts torsion angles of a ligand's rotatable bonds based on closed-form global minima of the von Mises angular distance to a given input atomic point cloud, avoiding previous expensive differential evolution strategies for energy minimization.


Background Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors take several weeks to achieve their full antidepressant effects. Post-synaptic 5-HT2A receptor activation is thought to be involved in this delayed therapeutic effect. Pipamperone acts as a highly selective 5-HT2A/D4 antagonist when administered in low doses. The purpose of this study was to compare citalopram 40 mg once daily plus pipamperone 5 mg twice daily (PipCit) versus citalopram plus placebo twice daily for magnitude and onset of therapeutic effect. Method An 8-week, randomized, double-blind study in patients with major depressive disorder was carried out. Results The study population comprised 165 patients (citalopram and placebo, n=82; PipCit, n=83) with a mean baseline Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score of 32.6 (s.d.=5.5). In the first 4 weeks, more citalopram and placebo than PipCit patients discontinued treatment (18% v. 4%, respectively, p=0.003). PipCit patients had significantly greater improvement in MADRS score at week 1 [observed cases (OC), p=0.021; last observation carried forward (LOCF), p=0.007] and week 4 (LOCF, p=0.025) but not at week 8 compared with citalopram and placebo patients. Significant differences in MADRS scores favoured PipCit in reduced sleep, reduced appetite, concentration difficulties and pessimistic thoughts. Mean Clinical Global Impression–Improvement scores were significantly improved after 1 week of PipCit compared with citalopram and placebo (OC and LOCF, p=0.002). Conclusions Although the MADRS score from baseline to 8 weeks did not differ between groups, PipCit provided superior antidepressant effects and fewer discontinuations compared with citalopram and placebo during the first 4 weeks of treatment, especially in the first week.


ABSTRACTThis study investigated PM2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in order to determine the seasonal changes in total benzo[a]pyrene equivalent (BaPeq) concentrations and to identify contamination sources by using a positive matrix factorization model, a conditional probability function, and characteristic ratios of PAHs in Hsinchu. The sampling period was from September 2014 to August 2015. PM2.5 samplers equipped with 47-mm quartz membrane filters were operated at a flow rate of 16.7 L min–1 for 48 h. The concentrations of 20 PAHs were determined through gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The results revealed the PM2.5, total PAHs, and BaPeq mass concentrations in the four seasons ranged from 4.91 to 58.5 µg m–3, 0.21 to 8.08 ng m–3, and 0.03 to 0.78 ng m–3, respectively. The PM2.5, total PAHs, and BaPeq mass concentrations were in the order winter > autumn > spring > summer and exhibited significant seasonal variations. The carcinogenic potency of PAHs in winter was approximately 6.21 times higher than that in summer. The major BaPeq contributors were BaP, BbF, INP, and DBA. BaP accounted for 49.0% of BaPeq concentrations in PM2.5 in all four seasons. The annual average lifetime excess cancer risk of PM2.5-bound PAHs (1.60 × 10–5) was higher than that specified in the United States Environmental Protection Agency guidelines (10–6). The two major sources were stationary emission sources and unburned petroleum and traffic emissions, which together accounted for 90.3% of PM2.5-bound PAHs.


In the world where increasingly mobility and long-distance relationships with family, friends and loved-ones became commonplace, there exists a gap in intimate interpersonal communication mediated by technology. Considering the advances in the field of mediation of relationships through technology, as well as prevalence of use of jewelry as love-tokens for expressing a wish to be remembered and to evoke the presence of the loved-one, developments in the new field of computational jewelry offer some truly exciting possibilities. In this paper we investigate the role that the jewelry-like form factor of prototypes can play in the context of studying effects of computational jewelry in mediating long-distance relationships.


Activation of the inducible transcription factor nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) occurs in cells exposed to oxidative stress, and the serine/threonine kinase protein kinase D (PKD) is critical for signal relay to NF-κB. We have recently delineated two coordinated events that control PKD activation in response to oxidative stress: phosphorylation at Tyr463 by the tyrosine kinase Abl, and phosphorylation at the activation loop Ser738/Ser742 by the protein kinase C (PKC) isoform PKCδ. The result is fully active PKD that controls NF-κB activation through the IκB kinase (IKK) complex. Here, we investigate the mechanism by which PKD controls IKK/NF-κB activation. Resveratrol, a potent antioxidant, blocks both PKD activation and NF-κB induction. In particular, resveratrol blocked PKD activation loop phosphorylation and activity, and this was caused by a specific inhibition of the Ser738/Ser742 kinase PKCδ. On the other hand, resveratrol did not affect Abl kinase activity and had no effect on Tyr463 phosphorylation. Moreover, we show that the mechanism by which resveratrol inhibits NF-κB is by blocking the translocation of PKD to the IKK complex, specifically by inhibiting Ser738/Ser742 phosphorylation. We therefore propose that rather than acting as an antioxidant, resveratrol specifically blocks oxidative stress-dependent NF-κB activation by interfering with PKD phosphorylation and association with the IKK complex.


This dissertation centers on two major aspects dictating the computational time of applications based on the solution of systems of coupled nonlinear parabolic equations: nonlinear and linear iterations. The former aspect leads to the conception of a novel way of reusing the Krylov information generated by GMRES for solving linear systems arising within a Newton method. The approach stems from theory recently developed on a nonlinear version of the Eirola-Nevanlinna, algorithm (originally for solving non-symmetric linear systems) which is capable of converging twice as fast as Broyden's method. A secant update strategy of the Hessenberg matrix resulting from the Arnoldi process in GMRES amounts to reflecting a secant update of the current Jacobian with the rank-one term projected onto the generated Krylov subspace (Krylov-Broyden update). This allows the design of a new nonlinear Krylov-Eirola-Nevanlinna (KEN) algorithm and a higher-order version of Newton's method (HOKN) as well. The underlying development is also auspicious to replace the use of GMRES by cheaper Richardson iterations for the sake of fulfilling the inexact Newton condition. Hence, three algorithms derived from Newton's method, Broyden's method and the nonlinear Eirola-Nevanlinna algorithm are proposed as a part of a new family of hybrid Krylov-secant methods. All five algorithms are shown to be computationally more economical than their Newton and quasi-Newton counterparts. The aspect of linear iterations complements the present research with an analysis on nested or inner-outer iterations to efficiently precondition Krylov subspace iterative solvers for linear systems arising from systems of coupled nonlinear equations. These preconditioners are called two-stage preconditioners and are developed on the basis of a simple but effective decoupling strategy. Their analysis is restricted to the particular class of problems arising in multi-phase flow phenomena modeled by systems of coupled nonlinear parabolic equations. The resulting approach outperforms fairly robust and standard preconditioners that "blindly" precondition the entire coupled linear system. Theoretical discussion and computational experiments show the suitability that both linear and nonlinear aspects undertaken in this research have for large scale implementations.


Efficient natural dispersal of herbicide-resistance alleles via seed and pollen can markedly accelerate the incidence of herbicide-resistant weed populations across an agroecoregion. Studies were conducted in western Canada in 2014 and 2015 to investigate pollen- and seed-mediated gene flow in kochia. Pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) from glyphosate-resistant (GR) to non-GR kochia was quantified in a field trial (hub and spoke design) at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Seed-mediated gene flow of acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor-resistant kochia as a function of tumbleweed speed and distance was estimated in cereal stubble fields at Lethbridge, Alberta and Scott, Saskatchewan. Regression analysis indicated that outcrossing from GR to adjacent non-GR kochia ranged from 5.3 to 7.5%, declining exponentially to 0.1 to 0.4% at 96 m distance. However, PMGF was significantly influenced by prevailing wind direction during pollination (maximum of 11 to 17% outcrossing down-wind). Seed dropped by tumbleweeds varied with distance and plant speed, approaching 90% or more (ca. 100,000 seeds or more) at distances of up to 1,000 m and plant speeds of up to 300 cm s−1. This study highlights the efficient proximal (pollen) and distal (seed) gene movement of this important GR weed. Nomenclature: Glyphosate; kochia, Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad., KCHSC.


"TO BE FOND OF DANCING was a certain step towards falling in love" (9), writes Jane Austen at the outset of Pride and Prejudice. So she includes dances in all her novels to catalyze courtship, the subject of Mr. Elton's charade in Emma (72) and the subject of all of Austen's fiction. Austen herself was fond of dancing and excelled in the art, as we know from her letters. She wrote to her sister Cassandra from Steventon about a 1798 Christmas Eve ball: "There were twenty Dances & I danced them all, & without any fatigue.... I fancy I could just as well dance for a week together as for half an hour" (24 December 1798). Not all of her characters are fond of dancing, however. Fitzwilliam Darcy, for example, dislikes the activity, and it takes all of Volume One of Pride and Prejudice to overcome his distaste. In Emma, George Knightley says, "'Fine dancing, I believe, like virtue, must be its own reward'" (258). But Austen demonstrates that dancing with the right partner can lead to greater rewards. Austen choreographs her ball scenes skillfully to prefigure the proposals of marriage that conclude her novels. She employs the same terminology for dancing as marriage: the man "offers his hand," "engaging" the woman as his "partner" in the parlance of the period--suggesting the mating dance may be a prelude to matrimony. Courtship patterns do underlie the formal etiquette of the dance ritual. As Steven Lonsdale notes, "Dance is an activity that can tame excessively brutal impulses while still allowing erotic expression. Dance in many cultures is an acceptable and effective way for the young to release and express sexual feelings for members of the opposite sex" (71). In the restricted social intercourse allowed to single young men and women in Regency England, dancing was one of the few ways they could converse privately or actually touch each other--a socially sanctioned method of establishing their chemistry--even though both partners wore gloves! Lonsdale adds, "The dances sort out the weak and clumsy and match up those pairs most compatible for matrimony" (71). Havelock Ellis notes, "Here we are in the sphere of sexual selection" (242), for "dancing is often an essential part of courtship" (242). Darrell Mansell compares Austen's fiction to dance: "Her novels are more like ballroom dances than like anyone's conception of life in the raw. They present the relationship between the sexes in a graceful, restrained and highly stylised form of art that has developed in polite society.... In dancing the sexual passions are celebrated in a ceremony that hints at their power while keeping them safely contained in art" (8). This mating-dance pattern renders Austen's novels intensely sexual, even though they appear very decorous. The dance scenes also render her novels highly cinematic, as many recent films can verify. Sue Birtwistle, the director of the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, states in her chapter on "Dancing" in The Making of Pride and Prejudice, "In Jane Austen's time dancing was an integral part of social life. Given her own love of dancing and the crucial role it played in courtship, it is no surprise that she set many key scenes in the book at dances or balls" (67). (1) So it is also no surprise that film directors make the most of Austen's dance scenes, and these ball scenes, in turn, make the movie adaptations scintillating. As Linda Wolfe argues, "For many film-goers and television watchers, the stately dancing in the recent spate of Jane Austen dramatizations stirred a touch of culture envy: a longing for a presumably lost Eden of elegance, for forms of social intercourse less brash and brazen than our own" (1). (2) The ball scenes in Austen's novels have been featured prominently in recent film adaptations. Austen employs her dance scenes to catalyze courtship--either to initiate it, or, in some cases, to terminate it, because the ballroom provides a dramatic forum to publicize the state of a relationship. …


The trigonal strain-relief pattern formed by an Ag bilayer on Pt(111) is a prominent example for dislocation networks and their use as nanotemplates. However, its atomic structure has not been solved. Combining scanning tunneling microscopy, low-energy ion scattering, and x-ray photoelectron diffraction, we demonstrate that, unexpectedly, about 22% of the atoms exchange across the Ag/Pt interface, and that the partial dislocations defining the trigonal network are buried in the Pt interface layer. We present an embedded-atom-method simulation identifying the lowest energy structure compatible with all experimental findings.


Abstract:Continuing excavation on the South Acropolis at Azoria in northeastern Crete has exposed buildings of Archaic date (7th-early 5th century b.c.) that served communal or public functions. Work conducted in 2005 and 2006 completed the exploration of Late Archaic levels within the Communal Dining Building (putative andreion complex), the Monumental Civic Building, and the adjacent Service Building. These contexts and their assemblages, especially the animal and plant remains, permit the characterization of diverse dining practices and the interpretation of patterns of food production and consumption. Both the Communal Dining Building and the Monumental Civic Building show extensive evidence of communal feasting and the integration of cult.


CONTEXT
Recently approved drugs may be more likely to have unrecognized adverse drug reactions (ADRs) than established drugs, but no recent studies have examined how frequently postmarketing surveillance identifies important ADRs.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the frequency and timing of discovery of new ADRs described in black box warnings or necessitating withdrawal of the drug from the market.

DESIGN AND SETTING
Examination of the Physicians' Desk Reference for all new chemical entities approved by the US Food and Drug Administration between 1975 and 1999, and all drugs withdrawn from the market between 1975 and 2000 (with or without a prior black box warning).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Frequency of and time to a new black box warning or drug withdrawal.

RESULTS
A total of 548 new chemical entities were approved in 1975-1999; 56 (10.2%) acquired a new black box warning or were withdrawn. Forty-five drugs (8.2%) acquired 1 or more black box warnings and 16 (2.9%) were withdrawn from the market. In Kaplan-Meier analyses, the estimated probability of acquiring a new black box warning or being withdrawn from the market over 25 years was 20%. Eighty-one major changes to drug labeling in the Physicians' Desk Reference occurred including the addition of 1 or more black box warnings per drug, or drug withdrawal. In Kaplan-Meier analyses, half of these changes occurred within 7 years of drug introduction; half of the withdrawals occurred within 2 years.

CONCLUSIONS
Serious ADRs commonly emerge after Food and Drug Administration approval. The safety of new agents cannot be known with certainty until a drug has been on the market for many years.