Introduction The supine and prone sling exercise may facilitate activation of the local trunk muscles. Does the side-lying sling exercise activate trunk muscles more easily than the supine and prone training with sling settings? Clinical work has shown that the side-lying sling exercise could reduce pain in patients with unilateral low back pain (LBP), but the mechanism behind it is unclear. The fundamental purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the electromyography (EMG) characteristics of trunk muscles during different sling lumbar settings on sixteen healthy adults. Methods Amplitude and mean power frequency (MPF) of EMG signals were recorded from the transversus abdominis (TA), rectus abdominis (RA), multifidus (MF), erector spinae (ES), gluteus maximus (Gmax), and gluteus medius (Gmed) muscles while the subjects performed the supine lumbar setting (SLS), prone lumbar setting (PLS), left side-lying lumbar setting (LSLS), and right side-lying lumbar setting (RSLS). Results During SLS and PLS, TA and MF showed significantly higher activity than RA and ES on the same side, respectively. The EMG activities of ES, TA, MF, Gmax, and Gmed had significant differences between the different sides during LSLS and RSLS, and the dominant-side muscles showed higher activity than the other side. There was no significant difference in core trunk muscles between different sling lumbar settings—only that the SLS of the MF/ES ratio was significantly higher than LSLS and RSLS. Conclusions Sling exercises can be an effective measure to enhance MF and TA EMG activity, and the side-lying position can increase dominant-side Gmax and Gmed activity. Side-lying sling training does not activate more core muscles than the supine and prone training. Supine and prone exercise should be preferred over SLT to stabilize the lumbar region because of its high local/global muscle ratio.


Using data from two cohorts of Grade 12 students in Toronto, we examined whether the transition to post-secondary education changed between 2006 and 2011, particularly for under-represented groups. We used multilevel, multinomial logistic regressions to examine how the intersections of race and sex affect post-secondary transitions in the two cohorts. Our findings revealed that Black, Latino, and Southeast Asian students were less prepared for post-secondary education than White students. Students in these groups had lower than average GPAs, higher identification of special education needs, or lower likelihoods of taking academic-stream courses. These differences remained fairly stable between 2006 and 2011. We did, however, find that Black students were more likely than White students to confirm a place in university in 2011—a significant difference. In contrast, Southeast Asian students experienced a decline in university transition but an increase in college confirmation. We also found that race and sex were important intersections for university confirmations in the case of Blacks and for college confirmations in the case of Southeast Asians. We contextualize our findings within the policy climate of Ontario in the years spanning our two cohorts.


Systems made of many interacting elements may display unanticipated emergent properties. A system for which the desired properties are the same as those which emerge will be inherently robust. Currently available techniques for designing emergent properties are prohibitively costly for all but the simplest systems.

The self-assembly of biological cells into tissues and ultimately organisms is an example of a natural dynamic distributed system of which the primary emergent behaviour is a fully operational being. The distributed process that co-ordinates this self-assembly is morphogenesis. By analysing morphogenesis with a cellular automata model we deduce a means by which this self-organisation might be achieved.

This mechanism is then adapted to the design of self-organising patterns, reliable electronic systems and self-assembling systems. The limitations of the design algorithm are analysed, as is a means to overcome them. The cost of this algorithm is discussed and finally demonstrated with the design of a reliable arithmetic logic unit and a self-assembling, self-repairing and metamorphosising robot made of 12,000 cells.


Larvae of a semiterrestrial grapsid crab that lives in mangrove swamps in Jamaica, Sesarma curacaoense, were reared in the laboratory from hatching through metamorphosis. The morphology of all larval stages and of the first juvenile crab instar is described in detail. It is compared with that in closely related coastal (S. reticulatum, S. rectum), freshwater (S. bidentatum), and terrestrial crab species (Metopaulias depressus, Geosesarma perracae). As in limnic and terrestrial relatives, the larval development of S. curacaoense is abbreviated, consisting of only two zoeal stages and a megalopa. The lack of a Zoea III stage as well as an exceptionally early appearance of advanced morphological features in the development of the maxilliped 3 and the pereiopods represent phylogenetically derived characters in S. curacaoense. However, in most of their morphological features (e.g. carapace spines, segmentation of the antennule, armature of the antennal exopod, and endopods of the maxillule and the maxilla), the larvae of S. curacaoense are similar to those of coastal rather than to freshwater and terrestrial species. In particular, they do not reveal significant reductions in spines or appendages. Most morphological differences between these species are striking in the zoeal stages, but decrease in the Megalopa or in the first juvenile crab stage. In conclusion, the larval development of S. curacaoense is intermediate between that of ancestral (coastal) and derived (terrestrial and freshwater) species. This corroborates the hypothesis that S. curacaoense is a close relative of the ancestral species, from which, in a process of adaptive radiation, a number of endemic Jamaican freshwater and terrestrial crabs have evolved.


Outbreaks of infectious diseases will worsen, as illustrated by the recent back-to-back Ebola and Zika epidemics. The development of innovative drugs, especially in the form of vaccines, is key to minimizing future outbreaks, yet current intellectual property (IP) regimes are ineffective in supporting this goal.

IP scholarship has not adequately addressed the role of IP in the development of vaccines for outbreak diseases. This Article fills that void. Through case studies on the recent Ebola and Zika outbreaks, it provides the first descriptive analysis of the role of IP from the pre- to the post-outbreak stages, specifically identifying IP inefficiencies.

The Article concludes that these inefficiencies result in a lack of "IP preparedness" that ultimately weakens our ability to respond effectively to outbreaks. To solve the problem, we need a blend of new and existing legal tools. This Article surveys existing solutions and proposes one such new legal mechanism: a dormant license, agreed upon in the pre-outbreak that would become active once a public health emergency is declared. This solution addresses transactional IP inefficiencies during the early stages of an outbreak and helps get vaccines to market to save lives.


The use of live feed is common in aquaculture processes due to its nutritional advantages, and rotifers comprise one of the most used feeds in finfish aquaculture. However, bacteria present in water used for rotifer culture are a significant source of infection and consequently diseases could cause mortality in fishes. Advanced oxidation process (AOPs) are methods that may be useful to eliminate bacterial infections present in aquaculture wastewater and may allow the reuse of this water. Therefore, the prospect of using different advanced oxidation processes to inactivate Vibrio spp. and total bacteria cultures (TCB) present in this kind of water was evaluated. In particular, UVc/O 3 /H 2 O 2 , UVc/H 2 O 2 and O 3 /H 2 O 2 and the adsorption process were applied to seawater coming from a fish farming tank. The results obtained were highly promising because it was possible to inactivate 100% of bacteria present in the seawater when UVc/ozone/hydrogen peroxide and UVc/hydrogen peroxide were applied, needing around 20 and 80 min for Vibrio spp. and total culturable bacteria inactivation, respectively. These results are justified due to the strong action between H 2 O 2 in the presence of UVc, which may produce a large amount of hydroxyl radicals. Nevertheless, when ozone/hydrogen peroxide was applied, total inactivation of bacteria did not occur. Also, an interesting relationship between bacteria inactivation and oxide reduction potential of seawater was observed during the process. Rotifers put in water after the treatment did not suffer behavior changes (swimming) and no mortalities were observed.


To better understand urban sustainable transport status and catalyze changes, this paper assesses the adoption of selected "avoid" and "shift" sustainable transport measures in three fields: congestion pricing, low emission zone and vehicle quota system under vehicle demand management; bus rapid transit and metro under mass transit; and carsharing and bikesharing under shared vehicles. It adapts "diffusion of innovation" theory to assess adoption of measures in cities around the world and categorizes the process into five stages: emerging, on the rise, tipping, mainstream and saturation. For each measure, the paper presents data and evidence on the recent trends on the expansion of applications. It finds some emerging measures showing potential to be adopted by a larger number of cities in the near future (congestion pricing, vehicle quota systems); some measures undergoing tipping growth toward becoming mainstream (bikesharing, bus rapid transit); and others which are at the tipping point or mainstream in industrialized economies emerging in developing regions (low emission zones, and carsharing). The paper concludes with three key factors which might affect the adoption: iconic pilot cities, policy context in the region and attractiveness of the measures. The results of this assessment indicate that the calls of a paradigm shift towards sustainable transport are underway, but can be further reinforced through enabling policies and institutions.


Solar steam generation by heat localization is considered to be a highly efficient, sustainable way to alleviate water shortage in resource-limited regions. However, most of the interfacial photothermal evaporators demonstrated so far involve non-biodegradable nanoscale materials, which can quickly pose a significant threat to the environment and ecosystems, especially marine ecosystems, after their disposal. For the first time, a flexible, scalable and, more importantly, completely biodegradable photothermal evaporator for highly efficient solar steam generation is introduced. The bilayered evaporator is comprised of bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) densely loaded with polydopamine (PDA) particles during its growth. The biodegradable foam introduced here exhibits large light absorption and photothermal conversion, heat localization, and efficient water transportation, leading to an excellent solar steam generation performance under one sun (efficiency of ∼78%). The novel material and scalable process demonstrated here can be a sustainable solution to alleviate the global water crisis.


This paper addresses a small but crucial aspect of research on arts organizations: how to define a sample frame, based upon which one can collect data generalizable to the population of cultural organizations as a whole. Researchers undertook case studies in three metropolitan areas: Philadelphia, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Dallas/Fort Worth. They compiled, as complete as possible, a list of arts organizations based on printed sources and information from local citizens familiar with the nonprofit arts community. Then, they examined the extent to which different approaches to developing a sample frame would have captured the organizations by the group identified, and what types of bias each approach would entail. This paper reports on the findings from this research and discusses several theoretical and methodological dilemmas that emerged during the course of the work.


The formidable talents of Anthony Hecht, one of the most gifted of contemporary American poets, and Helen Bacon, a classical scholar, are here brought to bear on this vibrant translation of Aeschylus' much underrated tragedy The Seven Against Thebes. The third and only remaining play in a trilogy dealing with related events, The Seven Against Thebes tells the story of the Argive attempt to claim the Kingdom of Thebes, and of the deaths of the brothers Eteocles and Polyneices, each by the others hand. Long dismissed by critics as ritualistic and lacking in dramatic tension, Seven Against Thebes is revealed by Hecht and Bacon as a work of great unity and drama, one exceptionally rich in symbolism and imagery.


Abstract Survey and excavation by the Burials and Identity team of the Desert Migrations Project (DMP) focused in 2011 on the so-called Royal Cemetery of the Garamantes close to the Jarma escarpment, a few km south of Old Jarma. This Late Garamantian cemetery contains two distinct zones (GSC030 and GSC031) of monumental rectangular stepped tombs, which were plaster-coated and fronted by massive offering tables and stelae. Previous dating evidence has suggested they span the fourth to sixth centuries AD. However, many questions remain about the cemetery and the overall recording of the monuments had hitherto been left incomplete. The 2011 work focused on the excavation of one of the larger monuments in GSC030 and several of the smaller tombs in the neighbouring GSC031, along with an overall survey of both cemetery areas and a detailed record of the stelae and offering tables still present in considerable numbers. In addition, the team made a survey along the escarpment between the Royal Cemetery and Zinkekrā, completing and uniting the various surveys carried out by the DMP around Zinkekrā, Watwāt and the Jarma Escarpment. A survey of foggaras and settlement in the ad-Dīsa embayment was also undertaken.


The administration of risks is usually an important corner stone of professional operations. Nevertheless, specifically for biobanking organizations, risk recognition, control, management, and easing are inevitably extremely critical elements of everyday operations. The costly kind of unique samples/cell lines, data and also other high-pitched value biobanking products and services such as cell-based drugs, and biologically active pharmaceutical materials call for tremendously precise planning--including the full spectrum of risks. In this chapter, we have included the common risks in biobanking and the management way and methods of risks in a biobanking institution.


Background: Exploration of the molecular mechanisms governing osteoblast proliferation and differentiation is very important for improving the treatment of osteoporosis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to act as a regulator during osteoblastic differentiation. In this study, we examined the role of miR-215 in the proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. Methods: The murine pre-osteoblast cell line MC3T3-E1 was used in the experiment. After transfected with miR-215 mimic, miR-215 inhibitor, or negative control, the expressions of miR-215, Runx2, Ocn, c-fos, MAPK, and JAK/STAT were assessed using qRT-PCR. Cell viability and migration were analyzed by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and the level of expressions of Runx2, Ocn, c-fos, MAPK, and JAK/STAT were detected by western blotting. Results: MiR-215 expression was significantly upregulated during osteoblastic differentiation. Overexpression of miR-215 significantly promoted viability, migration, and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells, whereas silencing of miR-215 inhibited these processes. Furthermore, it was found that overexpression of miR-215 significantly upregulated the expression of c-fos, MAPK, and JAK/STAT proteins, while silencing of c-fos reversed these effects. These findings together indicate that miR-215 promotes proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts by upregulating the expression of c-fos. Conclusion: Our findings imply that miR-215 promotes osteoblastic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells by regulating c-fos expression, and thus represent a novel and potential therapeutic target for treatment of osteoporosis.


Politeness is crucial in interpersonal and intercultural communication because different culture may speak different features of politeness. Considering the importance of politeness strategies in a conversation and how to use those strategies, the writer wanted to find out what types of politeness strategies produced by two characters that have different cultural background and see either the similarities or the differences. In this case, the writer preferred to analyze the utterances expressed by the two main male characters, Captain Nathan Algren and Mori Katsumoto in the film "The Last Samurai". The data were analyzed and classified based on the theories of politeness strategies proposed by Scollon and Scollon (2001). Based on the result of the analysis the writer found out that Algren uses more Involvement politeness strategies, while Katsumoto uses more the Independence one. On one side, Algren tends to apply Involvement politeness strategies, which are solidarity oriented to satisfy Katsumoto?s positive face, since he was influenced by American politeness. From the ten features of Involvement politeness strategies, Algren applies nine features, but the frequently used features are claim common point of view, opinions, attitudes, knowledge and empathy; notice or attend to the hearer; and be optimistic. On the other hand, Katsumoto tends to use Independence politeness strategies, which are formality oriented to satisfy Algren?s negative face that is his intentions to be free from being imposed, since he was influenced by Japanese politeness. From the ten features of Independence politeness strategies, Katsumoto applies seven features and the frequently used features are state a general rule, be pessimistic, and make minimal assumptions about hearer's wants. From the findings, it can be concluded that both characters, Algren and Katsumoto, used all of the politeness strategies, which were Involvement politeness strategies and Independence politeness strategies. Algren tended to use Involvement politeness strategies since he was influenced by American politeness. Algren gave less concern about the social status and power relationship between him and Katsumoto. Whereas Katsumoto tended to use Independence politeness strategies since he was influenced by Japanese politeness, Katsumoto still concern about social status and power relationship.


On May 31, 2010, in defense of a naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, Israel seized control of the Mavi Marmara in international waters, detained the passengers, and towed the ship to the Israeli port city of Ashdod. During the previous three days and without incident, Israel had boarded, inspected, and brought to Ashdod the other five ships that had set sail from Turkey as part of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla." But on the Mavi Marmara, passengers wielding pipes, knives, and axes attacked Israeli commandos as they rappelled from helicopters down to the ship's deck. Nine passengers were killed in the operation and several dozen were injured. Seven commandos were injured as well. The flotilla's ostensible purpose was to bring humanitarian goods to the Palestinian population of Gaza. In fact, humanitarian goods had been arriving in Gaza over land through Israel, and Israel had repeatedly volunteered to deliver the flotilla's humanitarian cargo through the established land crossings. The flotilla's real and obvious goal was, as one of the organizers put it, "breaking Israel's siege." The international outcry in response to Israel's raid on the Mavi Marmara was immediate. Little attention was given to the Turkish flotilla's deliberate provocation or to the possibility that Israel had acted ineptly or unwisely. The focus rather was on the accusation, often couched as a conclusion, that Israel had acted unlawfully. On May 31, almost as soon as the news broke, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon insisted that it was incumbent upon Israel to explain its actions to the world: "I condemn this violence ... it is vital that there is a full investigation to determine exactly how this bloodshed took place ... I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation." Also on May 31, Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, immediately pronounced Israel in egregious violation of international law: "Israel is guilty of shocking behavior by using deadly weapons against unarmed civilians on ships that were situated in the high seas where freedom of navigation exists, according to the law of the seas." Falk called for an investigation on the grounds that "It is essential that those Israelis responsible for this lawless and murderous behavior, including political leaders who issued the orders, be held criminally accountable for their wrongful acts." He characterized the Gaza blockade as "a massive form of collective punishment" constituting "a crime against humanity, as well as a gross violation of the prohibition on collective punishment in Article 3 3 of the Fourth Geneva Convention." He insisted that failure to punish Israel's lawlessness would itself be criminal: "As special rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, familiar with the suffering of the people of Gaza, I find this latest instance of Israeli military lawlessness to create a situation of regional and global emergency. Unless prompt and decisive action is taken to challenge the Israeli approach to Gaza all of us will be complicit in criminal policies that are challenging the survival of an entire beleaguered community." Such was Israel's "flagrant flouting of international law" that, to end its blockade of Gaza, Falk concluded, "the worldwide campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel is now a moral and political imperative, and needs to be supported and strengthened everywhere." Many nations promptly condemned Israel and some presumed its guilt that day. According to the bbc, within hours of the boarding of the Mavi Marmara French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner announced he was "deeply shocked" by Israel's action and called for an inquiry, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy accused Israel of a "disproportionate use of force." Sweden summoned the Israeli ambassador to discuss the "unacceptable action." The Turkish foreign ministry issued a statement declaring the incident a "flagrant breach of international law" while Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proclaimed Israel's raid "totally contrary to the principles of international law" and an act of "inhumane state terrorism. …


type="main"> This paper develops a model of active asset management in which fund managers may forgo alpha-generating strategies, preferring instead to make negative-alpha trades that enable them to temporarily manipulate investors' perceptions of their skills. We show that such trades are optimally generated by taking on hidden tail risk, and are more likely to occur when fund managers are impatient and when their trading skills are scalable, and generate a high profit per unit of risk. We propose long-term contracts that deter this behavior by dynamically adjusting the dates on which the manager is compensated in response to her cumulative performance.


"The Andean highlands are home to some of the poorest rural households in South America. Native potato varieties and local knowledge for their cultivation and use are unique resources possessed by farmers in these areas. As the forces of globalization and market integration penetrate the Andes, they present both challenges and opportunities for farmers there. This paper reports on how the Papa Andina Regional Initiative is promoting the use of collective action to reduce poverty in the Andes, by developing market niches and adding value to potatoes, particularly the native potatoes grown by poor farmers. Since 1998, Papa Andina has worked with partners in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru to stimulate pro-poor innovation within market chains for potato-based products. Market chain actors (including small-scale potato producers, traders, and processors), researchers, and other service providers have engaged in innovation processes via two principal tools for facilitating collective action: the Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA) and Stakeholder Platforms. The PMCA fosters commercial, technological, and institutional innovation through a structured process that builds interest, trust, and collaboration among participants. Stakeholder Platforms provide a space for potato producers, other market chain actors, and service providers to come together to identify their common interests, share knowledge, and develop joint activities. The PMCA and Stakeholder Platforms have empowered Andean potato farmers by expanding their knowledge of markets, market agents, and business opportunities. Social networks built up among producers, market agents, and service providers have stimulated commercial innovation, which in turn has stimulated technical and institutional innovation. These innovations have allowed small farmers to market their potatoes on more favorable terms and other market chain actors to increase their incomes. This paper describes experiences with collective action in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, via the PMCA and Stakeholder Platforms. Based on these experiences, a number of lessons are formulated for using collective action to stimulate innovation, market access, and poverty reduction in other settings." authors' abstract


Measurements of gaseous and particulate organic carbon were performed during the MEGAPOLI experiments, in July 2009 and January–February 2010, at the SIRTA observatory in suburban Paris. Measurements comprise primary and secondary volatile organic compounds (VOCs), of both anthropogenic and biogenic origins, including C 12 –C 16 n-alkanes of intermediate volatility (IVOCs), suspected to be efficient precursors of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). The time series of gaseous carbon are generally consistent with times series of particulate organic carbon at regional scale, and are clearly affected by meteorology and air mass origin. Concentration levels of anthropogenic VOCs in urban and suburban Paris were surprisingly low (2–963 ppt) compared to other megacities worldwide and to rural continental sites. Urban enhancement ratios of anthropogenic VOC pairs agree well between the urban and suburban Paris sites, showing the regional extent of anthropogenic sources of similar composition. Contrary to other primary anthropogenic VOCs (aromatics and alkanes), IVOCs showed lower concentrations in winter (< 5 ppt) compared to summer (13– 27 ppt), which cannot be explained by the gas-particle partitioning theory. Higher concentrations of most oxygenated VOCs in winter (18–5984 ppt) suggest their dominant primary anthropogenic origin. The respective role of primary anthropogenic gaseous compounds in regional SOA formation was investigated by estimating the SOA mass concentration expected from the anthropogenic VOCs and IVOCs (I / VOCs) measured at SIRTA. From an integrated approach based on emission ratios and SOA yields, 38 % of the SOA measured at SIRTA is explained by the measured concentrations of I / VOCs, with a 2 % contribution by C 12 –C 16 n-alkane IVOCs. From the results of an alternative time-resolved approach, the average IVOC contribution to SOA formation is estimated to be 7 %, which is half of the average contribution of the traditional aromatic compounds (15 %). Both approaches, which are based on in situ observations Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 10440 W. Ait-Helal et al.: Volatile and intermediate volatility organic compounds in suburban Paris of particular I / VOCs, emphasize the importance of the intermediate volatility compounds in the SOA formation, and support previous results from chamber experiments and mod-eling studies. They also support the need to make systematic the IVOCs' speciated measurement during field campaigns.


The rapid evolution of digital mobile data services exerted a need for serious thrust on more efficient ways to address the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation due to the Uplink power of the mobile terminal on the human body. The Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value is the standard dosimetric parameter in defining the energy absorbed by the human body exposed to EM radiation. Increase in multimedia services and the wide scale use of various applications like web browsing, real-time video and interactive games have resulted in the EA between the uplink and downlink. We present a procedural approach for the evaluation of the Electromagnetic (EM) Radiation influence of the interaction of the mobile terminal with the human body. Electromagnetic Asymmetry (EA) means that, under the restriction of EM radiation, the equivalent bandwidth of uplink should be narrower than that of downlink in view of the duplexing schemes. Time Division Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) is meant to utilize dynamic Time division duplex(TDD) and adjust its service for the fast changes in Downlink(DL) and Uplink(UL)traffic Asymmetry. But the same subframe will have different DL/UL will have different DL/UL directions in neighboring cells leading to interference between different base stations and user equipments. A versatile UL power control scheme is proposed in the context of EM radiation and interference both occurring due to EM Asymmetry.


Therapeutic cloning for transplantations is one of the most complex issues in Bioethics. This is because it involves two of the most controversial subjects in today's medicine: cloning and transplantations. Although therapeutic cloning is a modern issue in the scope of transplantations, we consider Aristotle's contribution to be of high importance. On a first level, we will describe the modem phenomenon of therapeutic cloning, concerning the medical technique itself, its aim, its use in transplantations and its core legal and political aspects. On a second level, the depth of Aristotelian concepts of nature, art and their interrelationship will enlighten crucial aspects of our discussion, concerning human health and medicine. On a third level, Aristotle's concept of matter will constitute the basis for the solution of the ethical problems of transplantation through therapeutic cloning. On a fourth level, the Aristotelian concept of practical wisdom, considered as a part of Politics, will provide us with practical guidance as to how decision-making and legislation should be utilised to support the appropriate use of therapeutic cloning; thus, it will become clear that it is a moral-law and moral-politic issue. Finally, we will address the moral objections to therapeutic cloning, establishing some fundamental elements for the building of consensus between different countries on this subject.


Previous research in the UK and elsewhere has found that housing tenure (i.e. whether the dwelling is owned or rented) predicts mortality and morbidity. This thesis aims to explain whether ontological security (a long term tendency to believe things are reliable and secure as opposed to threatening) is more likely to be associated with owner occupation, and therefore whether it helps to explain the observed association with tenure and health.For the purposes of this study ontological security was operationalised as being formed of three components: protection, autonomy and prestige. A scale was devised to measure ontological security arising from the home through these three components. This scale was included in a postal survey that also included questions on health, housing area, psychological and sociodemographic characteristics. The postal survey was sent to a random sample of adults in the West of Scotland and nearly 300 completed questionnaires were returned.I found that ontological security was associated with owner occupation but not independently of features of housing. Ontological security was not independently related to housing tenure itself. Owner occupiers reported more ontological security from their homes because their homes were in better condition, situated in better areas and of higher value than social renters. Ontological security appeared to be related to health particularly through psychological characteristics. Other reasons for the associations between tenure and health were that owners were on average younger and richer than social renters.This study suggests that social meaning per se may not be health damaging, but that social rented homes might put their occupants at greater health risk because they are in poorer condition, located in more poorly resourced and problem ridden areas and of lower status. These features of social renting may also be observed in other countries (e.g. USA).


Charter schools grant significant autonomy to their principals, but do their principals make decisions that would not be possible in ordinary schools? Are they creating schools that are truly different from (and potentially better than) regular district schools? For this report, Bill Triant conducted extended interviews with eight charter school principals in Massachusetts on five dimensions of school operations (teacher hiring, budgetary control, instruction and curriculum, organizational design, and accountability) to shed light on how they use their autonomy. He finds that when charter school principals are given the opportunity to innovate, they do so.


PDK1 is a master kinase that activates at least six protein kinase groups including AKT, PKC and S6K and is a potential target in the treatment of a range of malignancies. Here we show overexpression of PDK1 in over 40% of myelomonocytic acute leukemia patients. Overexpression of PDK1 occurred uniformly throughout the leukemic population, including putative leukemia-initiating cells. Clinical outcome analysis revealed PDK1 overexpression was associated with poorer treatment outcome. Primary acute myeloid leukemia blasts over-expressing PDK1 showed improved in vitro survival and ectopic expression of PDK1 promoted the survival of myeloid cell lines. Analysis of PDK1 target kinases revealed that PDK1 overexpression was most closely associated with increased phosphorylation of PKC isoenzymes and inhibition of PKC strongly inhibited the survival advantage of PDK1 over-expressing cells. Membrane localization studies implicated PKCα as a major target for PDK1 in this disease. PDK1 over-expressing blasts showed differential sensitivity to PDK1 inhibition (in the low micromolar range) suggesting oncogene addiction, whilst normal bone marrow progenitors were refractory to PDK1 inhibition at effective inhibitor concentrations. PDK1 inhibition also targeted subpopulations of leukemic blasts with a putative leukemia-initiating cell phenotype. Together these data show that overexpression of PDK1 is common in acute myelomonocytic leukemia and is associated with poorer treatment outcome, probably arising from the cytoprotective function of PDK1. We also show that therapeutic targeting of PDK1 has the potential to be both an effective and selective treatment for these patients, and is also compatible with current treatment regimes.


Abstract Governing in multilevel settings has become a prominent research field in comparative political science. This article asks if German state parties adopt similar ideological positions and coalition strategies to the parties on the federal stage. The results of a content analysis of state and federal election manifestos show that German political parties on the state level indeed adopt different programmatic positions to the federal parties'. Government formation on the state level, however, is not only influenced by the state parties' programmatic viewpoints, but also by the predominant patterns of coalition politics at the federal level.


Products and services categorization standards, such as eCl@ss, eOTD, RosettaNet Technical Dictionary (RNTD), or UNSPSC, play a major role for the automation of content integration tasks, because they provide a consensual vocabulary that can be used for the tagging of product-related data along the various stages of the product life cycle. Eventually, the quality and usefulness of a given categorization standard is determined by its content, especially the coverage of concepts in the respective application domain, its structure and semantic consistency, and the level of detail provided. This paper proposes metrics for the content quality of products and services categorization standards, and applies those metrics to four prominent examples. It can be shown that there are significant differences between eCl@ss, eOTD, RNTD, and UNSPSC, which should both influence the choice of a standard for a specific business purpose and the maintenance strategies for the standards themselves.


Background Clostridium difficile whole genome sequencing has the potential to identify related isolates, even among otherwise indistinguishable strains, but interpretation depends on understanding genomic variation within isolates and individuals. Methods Serial isolates from two scenarios were whole genome sequenced. Firstly, 62 isolates from 29 timepoints from three in vitro gut models, inoculated with a NAP1/027 strain. Secondly, 122 isolates from 44 patients (2–8 samples/patient) with mostly recurrent/on-going symptomatic NAP-1/027 C. difficile infection. Reference-based mapping was used to identify single nucleotide variants (SNVs). Results Across three gut model inductions, two with antibiotic treatment, total 137 days, only two new SNVs became established. Pre-existing minority SNVs became dominant in two models. Several SNVs were detected, only present in the minority of colonies at one/two timepoints. The median (inter-quartile range) [range] time between patients' first and last samples was 60 (29.5–118.5) [0–561] days. Within-patient C. difficile evolution was 0.45 SNVs/called genome/year (95%CI 0.00–1.28) and within-host diversity was 0.28 SNVs/called genome (0.05–0.53). 26/28 gut model and patient SNVs were non-synonymous, affecting a range of gene targets. Conclusions The consistency of whole genome sequencing data from gut model C. difficile isolates, and the high stability of genomic sequences in isolates from patients, supports the use of whole genome sequencing in detailed transmission investigations.


The visual arts play an important role in the aesthetic environment. The condition of the aesthetic environment has the potential to have positive or negative effects on people. Understanding the importance the visual arts play in enhancing an academic and social environment within a university campus is important in order to maximize the role of the university. The university today has become the chief agent in formulating and handing on our cultural traditionthis is what its visual environment should make visible. By providing visual artwork which represents social responsibility and artistic substance, as well as by offering an educational forum in which dialogue between artist and viewer and art and community is encouraged the university can provide outside learning experiences for students and faculty to be continually engaged in critical thinking about abstract concepts and academic issues. Research surrounding the possible negative or positive effects the conditions of an aesthetic environment can have on individuals is lacking and the scope does not extend as far as college, rather focusing on the visual environments of elementary schools. When considering the role of the visual arts in terms of its display within the buildings of a university community the value and importance can often be overlooked or greatly misunderstood. The purpose of this research inquiry can be defined in with three progressive goals; identify key characteristics to evaluate tangible attributes which make a visual art piece "valuable" and thus significant for an academic community, find research and literature which will support an understanding of the value and importance of viewing and purchasing art in a tangible context for a university, and finally developing a measure to discover and recognize how members of the university community perceive the role of the arts in their environment. With this proposal I hope to bring attention to the importance of the visual arts in higher education and the role of the arts in enhancing an academic environment.


ABSTRACT Micro enterprises (firms with less than nine employees) represent an increasingly important component of the economy. The United States literature typically defines small businesses as having less than 500 employees, incorporating micro firms into this broader definition. Although there has been a diversity of studies focusing on small and medium sized enterprise supply chain management, there has been insufficient research on micro entities. Thus, little is known about supply chain management in micro ventures. This study develops a profile of micro enterprise supply chain management practices, the factors that encourage or discourage the implementation of supply chain management activities, and the impact of these supply chain activities on firm performance. The findings of this study indicate that micro enterprises tend to implement supply chain management methods and supply chain management appears to increase micro firm performance. INTRODUCTION For the last decade many large enterprises (LEs), and to a lesser extent small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), have placed increasing emphasis on the implementation of supply chain management (Chopra & Meindle, 2001; Mentzer, 2000). Supply chain management (SCM) is a philosophy and a set of business practices that allow firms to more closely coordinate their activities with suppliers, distributors, retailers and consumers (Laudon & Laudon, 2001; Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky & Simchi-Levi, 2003). The SCM literature is somewhat inconsistent in its definition of SMEs, but tends to utilize size as the focal point, with LEs characterized as 500 or more employees and SMEs as less than 500 employees, although in some cases no definition is offered at all (Barringer, 1997; Brush, 2001; Committee on Supply Chain Integration, 2000; Larson, 2005). In addition to the number of employees, small firms are also delineated by such factors as finances, sector and ownership, effectuating a universal definition problematic (Curran & Blackburn, 2001; Storey, 1994). Micro enterprises, the focus of this study, are a subset of SMEs, with micro entities defined as those having nine or fewer employees (European Commission, 1996; Fulantelli, Allegra & Vitrano, A.Z.P., 2002). SMEs by definition include micro firms, SMEs can also be referred to as micro, small and medium sized enterprises or MSMEs. Although the literature includes studies of supply chain management in SME's, it does not to date appear to address SCM implementation by micro organizations in particular. The growth of small business and its impact on the economy and employment has been recognized by both the public and private sectors as well as by academics (Chapman, Ettkin & Helms, 2000; Committee on Supply Chain Integration, 2000; Curran & Blackburn, 2001; Park & Krishnan, 2001; Schwenk & Shrader, 1993; Watkins, 1993). Furthermore, SMEs have become increasingly more important to the United States economy in the 1990's as more employees at LEs have been downsized and the growing attention to core competencies among many companies has evolved to increased outsourcing by LEs to smaller suppliers (Park & Krishman, 2001). SMEs not only comprise the maj ority of the United States manufacturing facilities and employees, but account for much of the innovation (Committee on Supply Chain Integration, 2000). SCM has taken on critical importance within the context of small business due to its impact on long-term performance, competitive advantage, strategic competence and competitiveness (Cavinato, 1992; Park & Krishnan, 2001). Small businesses are already involved in SCM, whether the owner-managers of those small businesses recognize it or not (Chapman et al. 2000). Successful implementation of SCM can reduce costs, increase revenues, enhance productivity and quality, advance technological innovation and in general allow an organization to be more competitive (Chase, Aquilano & Jacobs, 2000; Christopher, 2000; Fisher, 1997; Gryna, 2001; Huit, Thomas, Nichols & Giunipero 2000; Mainardi, Salva & Sanderson, 1999; Spekman, Kamauff, & Salmond, 1994). …


Learning character balance is important in calligraphy. Transcription is the practice method for learning characters, however it has some problems, for example, it is hard to judge intuitively whether character balance is correct, because the sheet of white paper and the sample image are separate. Therefore, the goal of our study is the construction of a support system for learning character balance in transcription, for beginners. The proposed system uses a tablet-type device. Learners practice transcription in Indian ink on a sheet of white paper laid on top of the tablet-type device which is displaying a sample character. Learners can see the contents displayed by the tablet-type device because a sheet of white paper is thin. Moreover, the tablet-type device can recognize the touch of a Japanese brush wrapped in conductive tape. The system offers a function that changes the sample characters based on the learner's skill level to withdraw from the system support. We have developed a prototype system, and evaluated its effectiveness through actual use of the system.


The 18th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention to Climate Change has taken place in December 2012 in Doha and brought some fruitful results in defining the future climate regime strategy. The parties acknowledged that, during the first phase of the implementation of Kyoto Protocol from 2008 to 2012, there had been a number of truly important achievements, in particular in setting up mechanisms aimed at the reduction of emissions locally and involving strong participation of the private sector. The lessons learned in the first phase of 2008-2012 provide valuable pointers for the future and will hopefully make an even stronger contribution to sustainable development in the years to come. This article offers an overview of the international climate policy framework and analysis of the probably most successful and promising instrument - clean development mechanism (CDM) - that has really boosted clean technology transfer, sustainable development and climate change awareness in the Middle East over the last 5 years. This article also reviews the implementation of several Global Environmental Fund (GEF) projects on renewable energy technologies diffusion in Tunisia, Egypt and other developing nations. It specifically addresses the inclusion of private actors (banking sector, equipment producers, private developers) throughout the definition phases and implementation of the projects. This paper analyzes the compatibility of the stakeholders' interests and the adaptation of public regulations and mechanisms in developing a fertile framework for the creation of private initiatives. The choice of cases allows for the study of the most relevant set of domestic parameters (such as legal, political and cultural variables) to unsure the capacity building and sustained contribution of private actors. The author worked for the United Nations Environment Programme during the development of the initiative and introduces in this paper a range of theoretical and analytic tools to underline the success and shortcomings of public-private partnerships in environmental technologies diffusion programs The article concludes by extracting the best practices that provide insights on how to develop similar projects within the GCC in general and Qatar in particular. Analyzing the shortcomings of some of the projects and the achievements of most, it will provide leads as to the establishment of a framework of public policies and program developments that could serve as a relevant foundation for the sustainable development of the country and the region.


Does a phylogenetic association exist between Australian freshwater fishes and their monogenean parasites and if so what is the nature of the association? Are the associations an example of coevolution, phylogenetic tracking or some other phenomenon? In this thesis I explore these questions.

Knowledge of monogeneans from Australian freshwater fishes is very sparse. To date 26 species of monogenean have been described from 16 species of native freshwater fishes (roughly 5% of the approximately 300 species of freshwater fish known). In the current study I examine a further 19 species of fish from Australian freshwaters.

Studies on phyletic associations can be confounded by taxonomic problems. This is an under-acknowledged problem. Taxonomic understanding of the host group, if vertebrates, is generally better than that of the parasite group. This is certainly true of the atheriniform fish studied here. Here, detailed taxonomic work on previously undescribed parasites is presented. This is based on both morphological and morphometric analysis of dimensions. I erect four new genera of Monogenea in the Dactylogyridae: Longidigitis gen. nov., Recurvatus gen. nov., Iliocirrus gen. nov.and Helicirrus gen. nov.and describe 19 new species. The genera are defined by morphology of the copulatory apparatus while species are defined by haptoral sclerite morphology.

Studies on phyletic associations (coevolution, phylogenetic tracking and cospeciation) typically use comparisons of the phylogeny of the hosts with an independently derived phylogeny of the parasites. Where a single parasite species inhabits a single host species (i.e. is mono-host-specific), comparisons of phylogenies will provide information on the extent of phyletic association, extinction of parasites etc. It is often the case that a single species of parasite inhabits more than one species of host. This can complicate interpretation of the results, but provides an opportunity to discuss phenomena such as host addition, host-switching, rates of cospeciation etc. In the absence of a molecular or morphological-based phylogeny of the parasites, I used data from morphometric
analyses to infer a phylogeny.

In this study I recognised that the assumption of mono-host specificity (parasite occurs only on a single host species) is inappropriate as a model for examining coevolution. A much lower level of mono-host-specificity, than previously documented or assumed, was detected which creates many problems for comparing host and parasite phylogenies. Consequently, I developed an approach using the distribution of parasite species among hosts.

A strict one-host one-parasite cospeciation scenario is clearly not apparent for all host species; however a high congruence with host clades is seen in inter and intra specific morphometric variation of parasite and for their associated distribution patterns among hosts. This congruence may be explained by delayed speciation of parasites, since the alternative, extensive host addition, should produce a high level of incongruence with the host phylogeny especially for morphometric variation-derived phylogenies. Whether the patterns of congruence shown represent coevolution or phylogenetic tracking is
uncertain. There is clearly a response induced by the host on the parasite in the form of morphometric variation of sclerite variables. Coevolution may be occurring but the high prevalence of parasite infection appears to reject the idea of a parasite-induced host immune response. Thus phylogenetic tracking seems to be the process controlling parasite speciation.

Clustering patterns produced by both methods mentioned above imply a rather high level of congruence with the host clades. These two methods, however, require a well-planned sampling regimen to enable collection of sufficient parasites from sufficient host species and sample sites for pattens to become apparent. It was noted that small sample sets from multiple sites would indicate levels of host specificity better than a large sample set from a single site since, in this study, parasite community structures within sample sites show a high level of prevalence.

Apparent cospeciation between Australian atheriniform fishes and their monogenean parasites is more common in older lineages than in more recently evolved lineages. Two major parasite speciation events were identified, one co-occurred with the speciation event that produced Melanotaenia trifasciata and the second with the speciation event that produced the "nigrans" clade. Delayed cospeciation is also evident and is reflected in the distributions of parasite species and the inferred parasite phylogenies that used intraspecific variation. If the parasites have not evolved at the same rate, but appear to be one taxonomic level behind the host, then host clades can be identified by the presence of a particular parasite species. Host addition or switching does not appear to be significant in the monogeneans studied here although possible examples are discussed. Morphometric variation of parasite haptor can be used in phylogenetic studies. Parasite distributions among host species can reflect host phylogeny. Parasite inter-specific associations are strong especially among low host-specific species. Host body length does not appear to affect these interactions. It is clear that when examining phyletic associations of Australian teleosts and their parasites, the host family should be studied as a basic unit.

A phyletic association is present between hosts and parasites and evidence suggests phylogenetic tracking is the process. Cospeciation is common in older host lineages while delayed cospeciation is common in more recently derived lineages.


We propose a highly efficient framework for penalized likelihood kernel methods applied to multi-class models with a large, structured set of classes. As opposed to many previous approaches which try to decompose the fitting problem into many smaller ones, we focus on a Newton optimization of the complete model, making use of model structure and linear conjugate gradients in order to approximate Newton search directions. Crucially, our learning method is based entirely on matrix-vector multiplication primitives with the kernel matrices and their derivatives, allowing straightforward specialization to new kernels, and focusing code optimization efforts to these primitives only.

Kernel parameters are learned automatically, by maximizing the cross-validation log likelihood in a gradient-based way, and predictive probabilities are estimated. We demonstrate our approach on large scale text classification tasks with hierarchical structure on thousands of classes, achieving state-of-the-art results in an order of magnitude less time than previous work.

Parts of this work appeared in the conference paper Seeger (2007).


This article challenges the common assumption that the external actors involved in the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) are driven either by neo-realist strategic competition or by the constraining power of domestic lobbies, or by a mixture of both. Such implicit assumptions are evident in the controversial argument of the power of the 'Israel lobby' as promoted by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. This article argues that approaches based on such assumptions fail to explain adequately the policies adopted not only by the United States, but also by other key external actors who have been historically engaged in the MEPP — the Soviet Union and the European Union. A better explanatory framework is provided by treating the MEPP as an institution and by applying a historical institutionalist approach to the development of the MEPP, using such concepts as critical junctures, path dependence and positive feedback to analyse how the main external actors involved in the MEPP came to adopt their distinctive national approaches to the peace process. In particular, it is the responses of these actors to certain critical junctures, most notably but not exclusively to the period of the 1967 and 1973 Arab–Israeli wars, that has had a particularly strong influence on policy formulation. For the US case, the creative policymaking of Henry Kissinger during the period after the 1973 war, which was subsequently incorporated into the US conceptualization of the MEPP, provides powerful and generally unrecognized insights into the initial puzzle identified by Walt and Mearsheimer — the consistent and almost unconditional support given to Israel by the United States despite the strategic problems this creates for broader US Middle East policy.


This paper intends to identify the features of an economic environment that is conducive to the development of efficient solutions in the fight against Aedes aegypti mosquito in Brazil. A brief history of governmental efforts to eradicate the vector is told, highlighting the recent ban on Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT), followed by a theoretical analysis of so-called market failures and government failures. The concept of "Dynamic Efficiency", according to the theories of Kirzner and Huerta de Soto, was used to support the thesis that greater social gains may be accomplished by fighting the contagious vector in an environment of strong respect for private property and voluntary agreements.


This paper presents a new method to evaluate machine translation (MT) systems against a parallel treebank. This approach examines specific linguistic phenomena rather than the overall performance of the system. We show that the evaluation accuracy can be increased by using word alignments extracted from a parallel treebank. We compare the performance of our statistical MT system with two other competitive systems with respect to a set of problematic linguistic structures for translation between German and French.


Severe ascites is a hallmark of advanced ovarian cancer (OVCA), yet the underlying mechanism that creates an imbalance between peritoneal vascular leakage and lymphatic drainage is unknown. Here, we identified and characterized peritoneal lymphatic vessels in OVCA mice, a model generated by implantation of human OVCA cells into athymic nude mice. The OVCA mice displayed substantial lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic remodeling, massive infiltration of CD11b(+)/LYVE-1(+) macrophages and disseminated carcinomatosis in the mesentery and diaphragm, and progressive chylous ascites formation. Functional assays indicated that the abnormally abundant lymphatic vessels in the diaphragm were not conductive in peritoneal fluid drainage. Moreover, lipid absorbed from the gut leaked out from the aberrant mesenteric lymphatic vessels. Our results indicate that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C, VEGF-D, and VEGF-A from CD11b(+) macrophages are responsible for producing OVCA-induced dysfunctional lymphangiogenesis, although other cell types contribute to the increased ascites formation. Accordingly, the combined blockade of VEGF-C/D and VEGF-A signaling with soluble VEGF receptor-3 and VEGF-Trap, respectively, markedly inhibited chylous ascites formation. These findings provide additional therapeutic targets to ameliorate chylous ascites formation in patients with advanced OVCA.


On-board the International Space Station (ISS), the Remote Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System (RAIDS) is a suite of limb-scanning monitors taking measurements from the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) to the near infrared (NIR). A single-scattering Rayleigh model is developed to eliminate the scattered brightness below 90 km and an inversion technique is applied on limb-scanned radiance profiles at 236.5 nm, NO (0,1) gamma band. The ISS orbit allows observations from 7:00 to 16:00 local hours over a one-month period from mid-June to mid-July of 2010 and observation of the local-time variation of NO abundance in the lower thermosphere is derived. The uniquely stable solar activity during 2010 allows the local time variation of NO to be observed with limited influence of solar variability. The comparison with a 1D model shows good agreement at altitude above 120 km, suggesting that most of the local time variation of NO is due to solar illumination, radiation, chemistry, and vertical diffusion. Solar soft X-ray is the major driver of the variability observed in the ionospheric and thermospheric constituents at the equatorial region. Over the years measurements in these wavelengths are scarce and discrepancies lie among the existing data. The Solar Aspect Monitor (SAM) is a pinhole camera on the Extreme-ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) flying on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Every 10 seconds SAM projects the solar disk onto the CCD through a metallic filter designed to allow only solar photons shortward of 7 nm to pass. Contamination from energetic particles and out-of-band irradiance is, however, present. The broadband (BB) technique is developed for isolating the 0.1 to 7 nm integrated irradiance to produce broadband irradiance. The results agree with the zeroth-order product from the EUV SpectroPhotometer (ESP) with 25% regardless of solar activity level. Active regions in the solar atmosphere are tracked by the Apertural Progression Procedure for Light Estimate (APPLE). The photon event detection (PED) algorithm takes both BB and APPLE results as prior information to extract in-band photons. Applications of the PED products, including solar feature studies and spectral resolved irradiance, are demonstrated.


PURPOSE
To examine independence in activities of daily living (ADL) at the 1- and 2-year follow-ups of the health-promoting study Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone.

DESIGN AND METHOD
A randomized, three-armed, single-blind, and controlled study. A representative sample of 459 independent and community-dwelling older adults, 80 years and older, were included. A preventive home visit was compared with four weekly multiprofessional senior group meetings including a follow-up home visit.

RESULTS
Analysis showed a significant difference in favor of the senior meetings in postponing dependence in ADL at the 1-year follow-up (odds ratio [OR] = 1.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19-3.10) and also in reducing dependence in three (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.31-0.86) and four or more ADL (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.22-0.72) at the 2-year follow-up. A preventive home visit reduced dependence in two (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.24-0.68) and three or more ADL (OR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.17-0.80) after 1 year.

IMPLICATIONS
A long-term evaluation of Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone showed that both senior meetings and a preventive home visit reduced the extent of dependence in ADL after 1 year. The senior meetings were superior to a preventive home visit since additional significant effects were seen after 2 years. To further enhance the long-term effects of the senior meetings and support the process of self-change in health behavior, it is suggested that booster sessions might be a good way of reinforcing the intervention.


Alkali-silica reactivity (ASR) can cause distributed cracking and premature deterioration in concrete structures. It is highly desirable to determine whether impact-echo testing may be applied to detect and quantify the amount of ASR damage in concrete specimens. To address this issue, all efforts were concentrated on monitoring the evolution of ASR damage in concrete using transient stress waves. Impact-echo testing was applied on concrete specimens affected by ASR and the corresponding results were analyzed to test the parameters sensitive to ASR. In this study two sets of experiments were used to accelerate ASR in concrete. First, three reactive concrete mixtures were cast using different percentages of silicate aggregates. Concrete specimens were kept at 80 °C (353.15 K) in a 1 mol ―1 sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. The results were obtained through consequent tests over eight months. In addition, other experiments were performed for three different mixtures, which were synthesized by using different types of silicate aggregates, as well as one mixture including non-reactive aggregates. All these mixtures were investigated six months after fabrication, and these specimens were kept at 38 °C (311.15 K) in a 1 mol ―1 NaOH solution. The applied technique, which is classified as a nondestructive testing (NDT) technique based on the impact-echo technique, may have the capability to inspect the development of ASR in concrete structures. Based on the observations in this study, petrographic inspection confirms that the damage was associated with ASR.


The biochemical composition of dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) in the ocean is dominated by phosphoesters (C-O-P and C-O-P-O-C bonds), which are hydrolyzed by a diverse group of alkaline phosphatases (PhoA, PhoD, PhoX), and by phosphonates (C-P bond), which are degraded by C-P lyases and hydrolases. We designed a bioinformatics pipeline and a statistical approach to recover and analyze the alkaline phosphatase and phosphonate utilization genes from a metagenomic database derived from water samples collected from 7 depths (between 10 and 4000 m) in the oligotrophic North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The alkaline phosphatase genes phoD and phoX were more abundant than phoA in the euphotic zone (10-130 m) and in deep waters (500-4000 m). The C-P lyase genes were most abundant in the euphotic zone at 70 m and were rare in deep water (≥500 m) where phosphate concentrations were relatively high. These observations indicate that phosphonates are utilized primarily as a phosphorus source by bacterial C-P lyases; this is consistent with the observation that C-P lyase genes are part of the pho regulon which is expressed upon phos- phorus limitation. In contrast, C-P hydrolase and alkaline phosphatase genes were often more abun- dant in deep waters, indicating that DOP serves mainly as a carbon and energy source in phosphate- rich deep waters which are depleted in bioavailable dissolved organic matter (DOM). The observed differences in depth distributions and presumed functions of C-P lyase and hydrolase genes indicate variability in the chemical composition of phosphonates between the euphotic zone and deep waters.


This report begins by describing the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund's (Fund's) history, current appropriations, and each of its programs. The next section of the report analyzes four policy considerations of congressional interest, regarding the Fund and the effective use of federal resources to promote economic development. Lastly, this report examines the Fund's programs and management to see if they represent an effective and efficient government effort to promote economic development in low-income and distressed communities.


High-energy neutrino astronomy is a key pillar of multi-messenger astronomy and has the potential to also advance fundamental neutrino physics. An accurate simulation of the neutrino interactions is key in any analysis of neutrino telescope data.
The currently available generator codes of neutrino interactions use leading order expressions for the differential cross sections which govern rate and kinematics of the events. These calculations are affected by well-known large theoretical uncertainties, hence the need of beyond leading order formalism. Also, a consistent use of modern Parton Density Functions, which are derived using NLO (or NNLO) frameworks, is required.
For this reason and others, the GENIE event generator of neutrino interactions, which is a standard tool in the few-GeV energy regime, has so far been stated to be valid up to only about 1 TeV.
The work reported here consists of a high-energy (up to 10$^{10}$ GeV) extension, which will be available in GENIEv4. It interfaces PYTHIA6 for the hadronization and employs a pragmatic method to assign the flavour of the struck and outgoing quarks, so that the heavy quark production, including bottom and top, is also correctly simulated.


Chris Warner led a team of experienced mountain climbers on an expedition to reach the summit of K2--the second-highest in the world. After failing to succeed on their first few attempts, Warner and his team brought together other teams hoping to reach the summit, and representing eight different countries, to work together for success. Their story is a narrative full of examples, where in some instances, a leadership point of view was taken, and other times it was not. The successes and failures of the expedition's approach makes for a story bursting with real-world examples and offers an exciting framework to house theoretical concepts about team-building and leadership. Although grounded in the written cases, the series also includes an optional a multimedia supplement offers compelling photos and video for students and instructors. After working together with several other international teams to reach the K2 summit, the descent becomes extremely dangerous. The B case finds the climbers in the midst of a raging blizzard. With a missing Italian mountaineer, a Czech climber suffering from hypothermia and cerebral edema, and the theft of a critical survival tool, Warner must decide whether to go look for the missing climber or try to get his expedition off K2 safely.


Many robots are composed of interchangeable modular components, each of which can be independently controlled, and collectively can be disassembled and reassembled into new configurations. When assembling these modules into an open kinematic chain, there are some discrete choices dictated by the module geometry; for example, the order in which the modules are placed, the axis of rotation of each module with respect to the previous module, and/or the overall shape of the assembled robot. Although it might be straightforward for a human user to provide this information, there is also a practical benefit in the robot autonomously identifying these unknown, discrete forward kinematics. To date, a variety of techniques have been proposed to identify unknown kinematics; however, these methods cannot be directly applied during situations where we seek to identify the correct model amid a discrete set of options. In this paper, we introduce a method specifically for finding discrete robot kinematics, which relies on collision detection, and is inspired by the biological concepts of body schema and evolutionary algorithms. Under the proposed method, the robot maintains a population of possible models, stochastically identifies a motion which best distinguishes those models, and then performs that motion while checking for a collision. Models which correctly predicted whether a collision would occur produce candidate models for the next iteration. Using this algorithm during simulations with a Baxter robot, we were able to correctly determine the order of the links in 84% of trials while exploring around 0.01% of all possible models, and we were able to correctly determine the axes of rotation in 94% of trials while exploring <; 0.1% of all possible models.


This study examines the extent to which ARL academic libraries collect graphic novels. Using a core list of 176 titles developed from winners of major comics industry awards and a library-focused "best of" list, the holdings of 111 ARL academic libraries were searched using the libraries' online catalogs. Results suggest that most of the libraries studied do not aggressively collect graphic novels. Also examined were associations between date of publication, prior serialization, overall collection size, monograph budget, and ARL ranking and graphic novel holdings. To better serve scholarly research in this area of increasing interest, libraries will need to reexamine their collecting policies.


How does employer market power affect workers? We compute the concentration of new hires by occupation and commuting zone in France using linked employer-employee data. Using instrumental variables with worker and firm fixed effects, we find that a 10% increase in labor market concentration decreases hires by 12.4% and the wages of new hires by nearly 0.9%, as hypothesized by monopsony theory. Based on a simple merger simulation, we find that a merger between the top two employers in the retail industry would be most damaging, with about 24 million euros in annual lost wages for new hires, and an 8000 decrease in annual hires.


PURPOSE
The types of teaching experiences offered in academia in pharmacy residency programs affiliated with or offered through colleges of pharmacy throughout the United States were evaluated.

METHODS
Two 15-item questionnaires were developed, one for programs that offer a concentrated rotation in academia and one for programs that offer longitudinal opportunities in academia. These questionnaires were developed to assess the activities incorporated into the different learning experiences, the number of residents completing concentrated rotations, the residency director's perception of the benefit to the residents, and barriers that exist for institutions that do not offer concentrated rotations. The questionnaires were distributed electronically to pharmacy residency directors at academic medical centers and colleges of pharmacy in the University HealthSystem Consortium listserver. The responses were analyzed with descriptive statistics.

RESULTS
Of the 154 institutions identified for survey distribution, 86 were academic medical centers and 68 were colleges of pharmacy and affiliated programs. Program directors from 99 institutions completed a questionnaire (response rate, 64.3%), representing 434 postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and 290 postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) residency positions. Thirty-six percent (n = 36) of respondents offered a concentrated rotation in academia, and 64% (n = 63) offered longitudinal opportunities in academia. Sixty-six institutions offered a teaching certificate program; however, it was mandatory in only 42% of programs.

CONCLUSION
The majority of PGY1 and PGY2 residency programs surveyed did not offer concentrated rotations in academia but did offer longitudinal opportunities for residents to gain teaching experience. The majority of programs that did not offer these experiences did want formal training on how to provide these opportunities.


Previous studies have indicated the effect of memory for both context and targets on search in 2D images of naturalistic scenes. However, recent results in 3D immersive environments failed to show much effect of context (Li et al., JOV, 2014). To examine whether this reflects differences between 2D vs. 3D environments, we ran a 2D experiment designed to parallel our previous 3D virtual reality environment. Subjects viewed 2D snapshots taken from the two rooms in the 3D immersive environment and then searched those images for a series of targets. The number of fixations required to locate the targets improved rapidly and was similar in both 2D and 3D environments. Interestingly, most of the improvement reflects learning to choose the correct room to look for a given target. Once in the correct room, search is very rapid and objects were located within 3-5 fixations in either environment. Previous exposure (one minute) to the context did not facilitate subsequent search. This was true for both 2D and 3D. In addition, there was little or no effect of experience with the environment on subsequent search for contextual objects in the scene. Even after 24 search trials, the number of fixations required to locate contextual objects in the room was close to values found with no experience. Incidental fixations made during previous trials also do not seem to benefit search much (though a small effect is detectable). Thus, search in both 2D and 3D environments is very comparable, and the primary effect of experience on search depends on task relevance (i.e., previously searched objects are easily remembered but not otherwise). We speculate that the effects of context either require much more extensive experience, or else a pre-exposure that immediately precedes the search episode. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


The overall question for this dissertation is: Why is it that scholars and experienced teachers take part in a controversy on initial reading instruction with such intensity and anger?This study focuses on the reading controversy as it appears in three polarized debates in a Swedish teachers' magazine, Larartidningen/Svensk Skoltidning, 1977-78, 1981 and 1986.The backgrounds to the controversy in the U.S. and the efforts made there to solve the problem by means of research as well as to: the Swedish context of the debates are presented.The analysis of the texts is based on a model of controversy analysis used in Sweden for analyzing 'scientifically-based' controversies. The aim is to reach beyond the factual level and get an understanding of the forces behind the controversy. The conclusions are that the root of the controversy lies in different opinions about thecharacter of the reading process and of the process in initial reading. Political-ideological, socio-psychological and personal factors are all suggested as explanations of the dynamics in the debates.The perspective of practising teachers includes other concerns than those of the theorists but during the period of time covered in this study there is a tendency for the polarization of the controversy among researchers to spread to the field of practice.The final part refers to connections between this controversy and the controversy of dyslexia.


Neoliberalism has not given rise to a sustained profit-led growth process, but to a finance-dominated accumulation regime in which growth relies either on financial bubbles and rising household debt ('debt-driven growth') or on net exports ('export-driven growth'). The financial crisis that began in the market for derivatives on the US subprime mortgage market has translated into the worst recession since the 1930s. In Europe the crisis has been amplified by an economic policy architecture (the Stability and Growth Pact) that aimed at restricting the role of fiscal policy and insulating monetary policy and central banks from national governments. The crisis has thus led to a sharp economic divergence between core and peripheral countries. Contrary to the situation in the (export-driven) Germanic core of Europe, the crisis is escalating in the (debt-driven) southern countries of Europe. The paper interprets the policy regime as the outcome of national elites' attempt to use European integration as a means to constrain nation states. The result is a policy regime that has fatally weakened nation states as regards their fiscal and monetary capacities without creating a European state.


From 1924 to 2001, federal estate tax laws included a credit for state death taxes paid by a decedent's estate. The 1954 version of the Internal Revenue Code codified this state death tax credit in section 2011, providing a dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal estate tax for state death taxes paid up to specified limits. As of 2001, all fifty states collected a state estate tax calculated with reference to the maximum state death tax credit. Such taxes, known as pick-up taxes, enabled state governments to share in federal estate tax revenue without imposing any additional tax burden on their residents' estates. In 2001 Congress passed, and President Bush signed into law, The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA). This legislation provided in relevant part for the elimination of the state death tax credit over a period of 4 years. As the state death tax credit was eliminated, so too was the state estate tax in every state with a pick-up tax. In response, state legislatures across the country acted to establish separate state estate taxes that operate independently of the federal estate tax system. The result is a seemingly non-stop progression of new state estate tax laws, often enacted with concern only for preserving state revenue and without adequate consideration for the complexities that result. This Article is organized in three sections. The first is an analysis of EGTRRA as a piece of estate tax legislation, focusing on the repeal of the state death tax credit as a stealth revenue measure hidden within a tax cut. Second is a survey of the multitude of state legislative responses, seeking to both explain and to categorize these new state estate taxes emerging in response to EGTRRA. Last is a study of the impact of these different state responses to EGTRRA, both from the vantage point of state revenue considerations and from the perspective of estate planning and administration.


This is a consortium that seeks to develop, and integrate ICT technologies into a unified system to allow: (1) personalized health and disease management, (2) the increase of the patients' responsibility concerning their own health, (3) the improvement of the quality of chronic disease treatment, (4) efficiency increase in the operation of the health care institution in financial and professional terms, and (5) continuous professional development of the care personnel.


Van Dale have used and experimented with automated procedures in the dictionary making process. This paper describes and discusses three examples of the reuse of existing lexical material for new (editions of) dictionaries. 1. Distribution of fixed phrases (where will the user find the phrase national anthem: under the article anthem, national or both?); Sorting word meanings; in a relational database, the order oflexical items like word meanings is not necessarily fixed, whereas a dictionary is always ordered in a particular way; 2. We maintain two data files/dictionaries for each language pair, for example English-Dutch and DutchEnglish. It would of course be ideal to have a single data set from which both dictionaries can be generated. We investigated the possibility ofreversing and integrating the existing files. Our preliminary conclusion is that the dictionary producing process could be much faster and better ifprevious work is recycled. Creating circumstances under which existing material can be reused in a useful and costefficient manner is a complicated matter that requires serious investment. The reason we should do it anyway is that in a rapidly changing environment it is impossible to say which properties make dictionaries fit for survival in an uncertain future. The best option therefore is to be flexible.


On average, U.S. farmers choose to apply nitrogen fertilizer at a rate that exceeds the ex post agronomically optimal rate. The technology underlying the yield response to nitrogen rewards producers who over apply in years when rainfall is excessive. The overapplication of nutrients has negative environmental consequences because the nitrogen that is not taken up by the plant will typically volatilize causing N2O emissions, or leach causing water pollution. We present a nonlinear offset program that induces farmers to reduce their nitrogen applications to the level that will be consumed by the plant in a typical year and, as a result, reduce N2O emissions from agriculture. The offset program is nonlinear because of the nonlinear relationship between N2O and nitrogen application rates. We assume that the farmer solves an expected utility maximization problem, choosing the optimal nitrogen application rate. The key contribution is a set of simulations that shows that modest offset payments will induce participation in the program and will have a significant impact on both expected and actual N2O emissions without having a significant impact on actual or expected yields. We also find that more risk-averse farmers will reduce emissions by a greater amount than less risk-averse farmers. Finally, we show the distribution of emission reductions induced by this nonlinear offset scheme.


Objectives To assess whether the use of firearms explains rural-urban differences in suicide rates. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis on all 6196 well-characterized adult suicides in Maryland from 2003 through 2015. We computed rate ratios by using census data and then stratified by sex, with adjustment for age and race. Results Suicide rates were higher in rural compared with urban counties. However, the higher rural suicide rates were limited to firearm suicides (incident rate ratio [IRR] = 1.66; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.20, 2.31). Nonfirearm suicide rates were not significantly higher in rural settings. Furthermore, 89% of firearm suicides occurred in men and the higher rural firearm suicide rate was limited to men (IRR = 1.36; 95% CI = 1.09, 1.69). Women were significantly less likely to complete suicide in rural areas (IRR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.43, 0.94), regardless of method. Conclusions Male firearm use drives the increased rate of suicide in rural areas. The opposite associations between urbanicity and suicide in men and women may be driven by the male preference for firearms as a method for committing suicide.


In this paper, a discrete wavelet transform (DWT) based approach is proposed for power system frequency estimation. Unlike the existing frequency estimators mainly used for power system monitoring and control, the proposed approach is developed for fundamental frequency esti mation in the field of energy metering of nonlinear loads. The characteristics of a nonlinear load is t hat the power signal is heavily distorted, composed of harmonics, inter-harmonics and corrupted by noise. The main idea is to predetermine a se ries of frequency points, and the mean value of two frequency points nearest to the power system frequency is accepted as the approximate solution. Firstly the input signal is modulated with a series of modulating signals, whose frequencies are those frequency points. Then the modulated si gnals are decomposed into individual frequency bands using DWT, and differences between the maximum and minim um wavelet coefficients in the lowest frequency band are calculated. Similarities among power syste m frequency and those frequency points are judged by the differences. Simulation results have proven high immunity to noise, harmonic and inter-harmonic interferences. The proposed method is applicable for real-tim e power system frequency estimation for electric energy measurement of nonlinear loads.


Bacterial persistence due to antibiotic tolerance is a critical aspect of antibiotic treatment failure, disease latency, and chronic or reemergent infections. The levels of persisters is especially notable for the opportunistic Gram-negative pathogens from the Burkholderia and Pseudomonas genera. We examined the rate of drug tolerant persisters in Burkholderia pseudomallei, Burkholderia thailandensis, Burkholderia cepacia complex organisms, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at mid-log growth in LB broth culture. We found that a fraction of the antibiotic-sensitive cells from every species were tolerant to a 24 h high-dose antibiotic challenge. All tested Burkholderia strains demonstrated a drug tolerant persister population at a rate that was at least 100–500 times higher than P. aeruginosa. When challenged with at least a 10X minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) 24 h exposure to three different antibiotics with different modes of action we found that in B. pseudomallei Bp82 each of the tree antibiotics revealed different persister fractions at each of two different growth states. This observation suggests that our assay is detecting heterogeneous persister subpopulations. Persistence in B. pseudomallei Bp82 was highly dependent on growth stage, with a surprisingly high persister fraction of >64% of the late stationary phase cells being antibiotic tolerant to 100XMIC cefotaxime. Adaptation of B. pseudomallei to distilled water storage resulted in a population of drug tolerant cells up to 100% of the non-drug-challenged viable cell count in the same cefotaxime assay. Cultivation of B. pseudomallei with a sub-inhibitory concentration of several antibiotics resulted in altered persister fractions within the population relative to cultures lacking the antibiotic. Our study provides insight into the sensitivity of the persister fraction within the population of B. pseudomallei due to environmental variables and suggests diversity within the persister population revealed by different challenge antibiotics.


Within the United States, falls
are the largest category of adverse events reported in hospitals.
Injuries associated with falls include increased costs, extended
length of stays, increased mortality and morbidity, and liability
to hospitals. The purpose of this study was to discover, describe,
and systematically analyze universal and diverse care meanings and
expressions of adults experiencing a fall while hospitalized. The
research was conceptualized with the ethnographic theoretical
framework of Culture Care Diversity and Universality (Leininger
2001, 2006). Data collection took place in a large academic medical
center, over a five month period and included 24 participants:
eight adult inpatients experiencing a fall event and sixteen
registered nurses with direct knowledge about the adult inpatient
fall event. Observation, participation, and ethnographic interviews
were used to collect data in the research context of the
participants. A systematic, rigorous, and in-depth data analysis
was completed using the Data Analysis Guide (Leininger 2001, 2006)
along with the Ethnograph qualitative software program (Qualis
Research, 2006). Three themes emerged from the data regarding the
culture of care of adults experiencing a fall while hospitalized:
blaming despite vulnerability, mitigating risk, and diversity in
the efficacy of staffing patterns. These findings were embedded
within the social structure dimension of the hospital setting.
These findings and their sociocultural influences have implications
for nursing practice, administration, and
education.


Hedge funds are major players in the international financial system and nimble investment strategies including the use of leverage allow them to build up large positions. Yet the monitoring of systemic risks posed by the build-up of leverage is hampered by incomplete information on hedge funds' balance sheet positions. This paper describes how an extension of "regression-based style analysis" and publicly available data on fund returns yield an indicator of the average amount of funding leverage used by hedge funds. The approach can take into account non-linear exposures through the use of synthetic option returns as possible risk factors. The resulting estimates of leverage are generally plausible for several hedge fund families, in particular those whose returns are well captured by the risk factors used in the estimation. In the absence of more detailed information on hedge fund investments, these estimates can serve as a tool for macro-prudential surveillance of financial system stability.


Shifted surface spline is a frequently used radial function for scattered data interpolation. The most frequently used error bounds for this radial function are the one raised by Wu and Schaback in [17] and the one raised byMadych and Nelson in [14]. Both are O(dl) as d → 0, where l is a positive integer and d is the well-known fill-distance which roughly speaking measures the spacing of the data points. Then RBF people found that there should be an error bound of the form O(ω 1 d ) because shifted surface spline is smooth and every smooth function shares this property. This only problem was that the value of the cucial constant ω was unknown. Recently Luh raised an exponential-type error bound with convergence rate O(ω 1 d ) as d → 0 where 0 < ω < 1 is a fixed constant which can be accurately computed [11]. Although the exponential-type error bound converges much faster than the algebraic-type error bound, the constant ω is intensely influenced by the dimension n in the sense ω → 1 rapidly as n → ∞. Here the variable x of both the interpolated and interpolating functions lies in Rn. In this paper we present an error bound which is O(√dω′1d ) where 0 < ω′ < 1 is a fixed constant for any fixed n, and is only mildly influenced by n. In other words, ω′ → 1 very slowly as n → ∞, and ω′


Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a subtype of stroke that is caused by a bleeding into the subarachnoid space. Cerebral ischemia develops early after the bleeding and has a negative influence on outcome in patients. The underlying pathophysiology triggering early ischemia has not been characterized in detail. Suggested pathomechnisms are pial microvasospasm, endothelial dysfunction and microthrombosis. The aim of the current thesis was to characterize and reveal the pathophysiology of microcirculatory perfusion deficits early after subarachnoid hemorrhage. The main hypothesis was that pericytes constrict upon subarachnoid hemorrhage and thereby induce capillary spasm and hamper parenchymal blood flow dynamics.

We found that pial arterioles constrict in three different characteristic patterns and that spastic vessel segments were continuously covered with vascular smooth muscle cells. Superficial microvasospasm was associated with reduced blood flow velocity and significant reduction of endothelial intracellular Ca2+ concentration which may be a trigger for endothelial dysfunction. Reduced blood flow velocity in combination with reduced vessel diameter diminished total blood volume that reached the parenchymal microcirculation via penetrating arterioles. This led to a severe reduction of perfused capillary volume in the cortex. Leukocyte numbers that were sticking in capillaries and venules were increased after subarachnoid hemorrhage but their numbers were too low to explain severe perfusion deficits.

Capillaries revealed a significantly reduced vessel diameter after subarachnoid hemorrhage, however vessel narrowings were not co-localizing with sites where pericytes were associated to capillaries. Furthermore pericytes neither underwent cell death nor migrated away from capillaries within 24 hours after the bleeding.

In conclusion we showed that microvasospasm on the brain surface lead to severe perfusion deficits in the parenchyma. Microvasospasm are probably induced by vascular smooth muscle cells and are accompanied by reduced intracellular Ca2+ concentration in endothelial cells. Pericytes do not play a major role in the pathophysiology of early ischemia after subarachnoid hemorrhage: they neither migrate, nor die or induce capillary spasm.


This book offers an introductory account of the central theories of truth. A wide range of theories, from those of correspondence and coherence to Tarski's semantic conception of truth are presented and assessed in order to profit from that which is of value in them. The authot proposes a new account which it is asserted is adequate to meet the legitimate demands made on the theory of truth.


Background Sedentary behaviour has been identified as a distinct risk factor for several health outcomes. Nevertheless, little research has been conducted into the underlying mechanisms driving these observations. This study aimed to investigate the association of objectively measured sedentary time and breaks in sedentary time with markers of chronic low-grade inflammation and adiposity in a population at a high risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods This study reports data from an ongoing diabetes prevention programme conducted in Leicestershire, UK. High risk individuals were recruited from 10 primary care practices. Sedentary time (<25counts per 15s) was measured using Actigraph GT3X accelerometers (15s epochs). A break was considered as any interruption in sedentary time (≥25counts per 15s). Biochemical outcomes included interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), leptin, adiponectin and leptin:adiponectin ratio (LAR). A sensitivity analysis investigated whether results were affected by removing participants with a CRP level >10 mg/L, as this can be indicative of acute inflammation. Results 558 participants (age = 63.6±7.7years; male = 64.7%) had complete adipokine and accelerometer data. Following adjustment for various confounders, sedentary time was detrimentally associated with CRP (β = 0.176±0.057, p = 0.002), IL-6 (β = 0.242±0.056, p = <0.001), leptin (β = 0.146±0.043, p = <0.001) and LAR (β = 0.208±0.052, p = <0.001). Associations were attenuated after further adjustment for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with only IL-6 (β = 0.231±0.073, p = 0.002) remaining significant; this result was unaffected after further adjustment for body mass index and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c). Similarly, breaks in sedentary time were significantly inversely associated with IL-6 (β = −0.094±0.047, p = 0.045) and leptin (β = −0.075±0.037, p = 0.039); however, these associations were attenuated after adjustment for accelerometer derived variables. Excluding individuals with a CRP level >10 mg/L consistently attenuated the significant associations across all markers of inflammation. Conclusion These novel findings from a high risk population recruited through primary care suggest that sedentary behaviour may influence markers associated with inflammation, independent of MVPA, glycaemia and adiposity.