Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are implicated in diabetic complications. However, their role in beta-cell dysfunction is less clear. In this study we examined the effects of AGEs on islet function in mice and in isolated islets. AGE-BSA or BSA was administered ip to normal mice twice a day for 2 wk. We showed that AGE-BSA-treated mice exhibited significantly higher glucose levels and lower insulin levels in response to glucose challenge than did BSA-treated mice, although there were no significant differences in insulin sensitivity and islet morphology between two groups. Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by islets of the AGE-BSA-treated mice or AGE-BSA-treated normal islets was significantly lower than that by islets isolated from the BSA-treated mice or BSA-treated normal islets. Furthermore, AGE treatment of islet beta-cells inhibited ATP production, and glimepiride, a sulfonylurea derivative, restored glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Further investigation indicated that AGEs inhibited cytochrome c oxidase activity by inducing the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Blocking the formation of nitric oxide with an iNOS selective inhibitor aminoguanidine reversed the inhibitory effects of AGEs on ATP production and insulin secretion. We conclude that AGEs inhibit cytochrome c oxidase and ATP production, leading to the impairment of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion through iNOS-dependent nitric oxide production.


Naive discriminative learning (NDL) and linear discriminative learning (LDL) are simple computational algorithms for lexical learning and lexical processing. Both NDL and LDL assume that learning is discriminative, driven by prediction error, and that it is this error that calibrates the association strength between input and output representations. Both words' forms and their meanings are represented by numeric vectors, and mappings between forms and meanings are set up. For comprehension, form vectors predict meaning vectors. For production, meaning vectors map onto form vectors. These mappings can be learned incrementally, approximating how children learn the words of their language. Alternatively, optimal mappings representing the end state of learning can be estimated. The NDL and LDL algorithms are incorporated in a computational theory of the mental lexicon, the 'discriminative lexicon'. The model shows good performance both with respect to production and comprehension accuracy, and for predicting aspects of lexical processing, including morphological processing, across a wide range of experiments. Since, mathematically, NDL and LDL implement multivariate multiple regression, the 'discriminative lexicon' provides a cognitively motivated statistical modeling approach to lexical processing.


In light of the increasing globalization of the health sector, this article examines ways in which health services can be traded, using the mode-wise characterization of trade defined in the General Agreement on Trade in Services. The trade modes include crossborder delivery of health services via physical and electronic means, and cross-border movement of consumers, professionals, and capital. An examination of the positive and negative implications of trade in health services for equity, efficiency, quality, and access to health care indicates that health services trade has brought mixed benefits and that there is a clear role for policy measures to mitigate the adverse consequences and facilitate the gains. Some policy measures and priority areas for action are outlined, including steps to address the ''brain drain''; increasing investment in the health sector and prioritizing this investment better; and promoting linkages between private and public health care services to ensure equity. Data collection, measures, and studies on health services trade all need to be improved, to assess better the magnitude and potential implications of this trade. In this context, the potential costs and benefits of trade in health services are shaped by the underlying structural conditions and existing regulatory, policy, and infrastructure in the health sector. Thus, appropriate policies and safeguard measures are required to take advantage of globalization in health services.


The specific task of this thesis is to illustrate the complexity of a cooperation between civilian and military entities by examining Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and their role as an actor among others in the field in a war-torn Afghanistan. By using counterinsurgency strategy as an analytical framework it has been possible to examine the civilian and military contexts closer. Underlying structures concerning the norms and interpretation of reality of the PRTs has been partly revealed. Studies of the PRTs as one significant bearers of "the comprehensive approach", which includes a holistic approach regarding the use of civilian and military capabilities, new conclusions can be drawn on whether a general civil-military approach can be a part of the solution for current and future conflicts. Based on the counterinsurgency strategy, the author has identified three themes as bearing and thus appears through the thesis as a foundation. These are Coordination, Development and Security. The empirical material is filtered through these themes as they are central to counterinsurgency and there by affect the PRT-concept. This study leads to five conclusions regarding the integration of the civilian and military contexts. In summary the conclusions states that it seems to be no starting points for creating a robust culture for cooperation. The absence of common objectives regarding operation, competition between different narratives as well as parallel processes of development and security risks causing a counterproductive outcome. A single resonance must be allowed to emerge from a convergence of civil and military powers as to what should be the civilmilitary mission. With mutual trust and dialogue improved conditions can be shaped to build common ground and goals for what needs to be done in countries with similar problems like Afghanistan.


ProblemAging adults residing in assisted living facilities are vulnerable to the effects of cumulative chronic illness and increasingly sedentary lifestyle, both contributing to risk of functional decline over time. Participation in regular exercise appears to preserve functional status and may minimize the rate of functional decline. PurposeThis quasi-experimental study evaluated the longitudinal impact of regular participation in a wellness exercise program on functional status of residents in assisted living. MethodsThirty-six aging adults participating in a multimodal wellness program were evaluated on enrollment and after 12 months of participation. Cognitive status (Mini-Mental State Examination score), postural control/fall risk (Berg Balance Scale score), and cardiovascular endurance/mobility (6-Minute Walk Test distance) were examined on enrollment and at annual reassessment. Falls over 12 months were determined by tracking annual reported incidence of falls. Subjects were classified as "regular" or "nonregular" exercisers on the basis of participation frequency and adherence. Chi-square analysis and analysis of variance were used to screen for initial differences between groups. Repeated-measures analysis of variance evaluated differences in cognitive status, falls, and functional measures between groups at annual reassessment. ResultsMean age (SD) of participants was 85.5 (6.3) years (range = 72–96 years). There were no differences between groups at the time of enrollment. At annual reassessment, regular exercisers demonstrated better preservation of functional status and a lower rate of falling than nonregular exercisers. ConclusionRegular participation in an individualized wellness program as little as twice weekly for 9 of 12 months provides protection against functional decline and risk of falls in older adults in assisted living settings.


This paper focuses on the study of one of the most recent and successful technology-based startups, whose nature is the hospitality industry. Airbnb is part of the model peer to peer of the collaborative economy, which means it is participating in a Community market based on trust the host-guest experience for traveling richer than it would simply stay in a hotel. For the development of this work the research methods will be descriptive and analytical due to the interest of not only explain the origin and strategies that practices the company but also doing an analysis of the tendency of users, both the hosts and guests about their perception of the services offered and whether it will become the preferred way to rent a space. The trends show that the explosive growth since its inception continues to be a trend, as long as the regulations imposed by different governments are met and that trust between users stays strong.


Background: A Phase III randomized controlled trial investigating the addition of modulated electro-hyperthermia (mEHT) to chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer patients is being conducted in South Africa (Human Research Ethics Committee approval: M1704133; ClincialTrials.gov ID: NCT03332069). Two hundred and ten participants were randomized and 202 participants were eligible for six month local disease control evaluation. Screening 18F-FDG PET/CT scans were conducted and repeated at six months post-treatment. Significant improvement in local control was reported in the mEHT group and complete metabolic resolution (CMR) of extra-pelvic disease was noted in some participants. We report on an analysis of the participants with CMR of disease inside and outside the radiation field. Method: Participants were included in this analysis if nodes outside the treatment field (FDG-uptake SUV>2.5) were visualized on pre-treatment scans and if participants were evaluated by 18F-FDG PET/CT scans at six months post-treatment. Results: One hundred and eight participants (mEHT: HIV-positive n = 25, HIV-negative n = 29; Control Group: HIV-positive n = 26, HIV-negative n = 28) were eligible for analysis. There was a higher CMR of all disease inside and outside the radiation field in the mEHT Group: n = 13 [24.1%] than the control group: n = 3 [5.6%] (Chi squared, Fisher's exact: p = 0.013) with no significant difference in the extra-pelvic response to treatment between the HIV-positive and -negative participants of each group. Conclusion: The CMR of disease outside the radiation field at six months post-treatment provides evidence of an abscopal effect which was significantly associated with the addition of mEHT to treatment protocols. This finding is important as the combined synergistic use of radiotherapy with mEHT could broaden the scope of radiotherapy to include systemic disease.


Get the home of tomorrow, today! Absolute Beginner's Guide to Home Automation will help you turn your ordinary home into a high-tech haven. Want to schedule your lights to turn on while you're on vacation? Stuck late at work and want to start the roast you put in the crock pot this morning? You can make it all happen with the help of existing 110V electrical wiring in your home and this step-by-step tutorial. Through simple, do-it-yourself instructions, you will walk through the process of outfitting every room in your home with a network connection that you can control with a few clicks on your computer keyboard. Complete with illustrations and photographs, Absolute Beginner's Guide to Home Automation will have you riding the wave of the future in no time.


Cities are the places where changes in all platforms of cultural processes, political life and economical structure in the 21st century are the most intense. With the number of people heading to cities and the corresponding formation of urban space according to the ideological structure of consumer society, the consumption has increased and accordingly changes have begun in advertising and promoting services. In the process of globalization, as a result of digitalisation created by change and formation in technology, it is seen that in the city, which is the base of everything about human, identity, design and visual pollution problems have arisen. One of the elements of this visual pollution during the formation in city is LED boards. In this context, the process and the role of the presence of LED boards is studied argumentatively, with examples in the frame of graphic design, a sensible approach to daily life is aimed to achieve. Having an important place in the life of an urban resident, LED boards with their increasing number is determined to have some problematic figural issues on the colour they include, typography, font characteristics and word space considering their size on the shops and sidings, their positions, and their aggregation, sequence and their evaluation of hierarchal system. Concordantly, some analysis has been performed on pragmatic size of LED boards and some solutions have been intended to put forth. Again, in this part, while different disciplines have been blended, Urban study has been carried out with the graphic design discipline perspective.


While prospects for scientific and technological development vary across Asian countries, most states in the region see science and technology as critical for the achievement of national goals and are developing new policies for research and innovation. This chapter examines indicators of the upward trend of technological development in Asia, and interprets these in light of the globalization of science and technology, the growth of global production networks in high technology fields, and the emergence of new science-based industries. Of special note is the growing international importance of China and India, and increasing intra-regional cooperation in science and technology. These developments create new challenges for the United States in reconciling the security interests of the war on terrorism with long-term interests in maintaining international leadership in science and engineering. 458 • Strategic Asia 2004–05


The three-dimensional plasma boundary displacement induced by long-lasting core magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities has been measured in JET, MAST and NSTX. Only saturated instabilities are considered here since transient rapidly growing modes which degrade confinement and act as potential triggers for disruptions bring more fundamental concerns than boundary displacements. The measured displacements are usually small, although in extreme cases in MAST when the rotation braking is strong, a significant global displacement can be observed. The instability most likely to saturate and exist for many energy confinement times whilst distorting the boundary of ITER is the saturated internal kink, or helical core, which can be found in plasmas with a wide region of low magnetic shear such as the hybrid scenario. This mode can lead to non-negligible boundary displacements. Nonetheless, the boundary displacement resultant from core MHD instabilities in ITER is predicted to be less than ±1.5% of the minor radius, well within tolerable limits for heat loads to plasma-facing components.


This study uses an archive of publicly broadcast speech to investigate whether speakers are linguistically stable throughout adulthood. A sample of twelve speakers with recorded speech spanning at least thirty years were analyzed with regard to the variable production of syllable-initial (wh). Each speaker's production at single points in time was contrasted with their production at other times; the analysis shows that the speakers generally show stability in their production of the variable. However, a majority of the speakers have at least one point in time in which their production deviates significantly, and often to a large degree, leading to the conclusion that we cannot simply assume that individuals are linguistically stable throughout their adult lives.


There exists a wide variety of tax treatments of pensions across the world. And the reasons for such a range of regimes are not clear. This note reviews the general principles of pension taxes and analyses the theoretical foundations of why pension incomes ought to be taxed specifically. To do this, one has to distinguish between public and private pensions. The design of public pensions cannot be separated from the one of taxation. Regarding private pensions, the key issue is whether or not pension saving ought to be treated differently from other forms of saving.


AN EVALUATION OF PMTCT AND FOLLOW-UP INFANT HIV TESTING IN KWAZULUNATAL, SOUTH AFRICA. Juliana Chen. Edendale Hospital, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. (Sponsored by Brian Forsyth, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine). Background: The primary cause of pediatric HIV infection is mother-to-child transmission, which can be reduced significantly by interventions that include highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxis. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs serve as critical entry points for the provision of HIV testing and treatment, though often remain poorly implemented and underutilized. Such programs are especially critical in resource-limited settings that have a heavy burden of HIV infection. Methods: Data were collected via retrospective medical record review of pregnant women who accessed antenatal services at a public sector PMTCT program from December 2006 to June 2007. A supplementary review of pregnant women with no prior history of HIV testing was conducted to evaluate HIV testing at delivery. Finally, an analysis of infant PCR testing was conducted to assess rates of follow-up testing among HIV-exposed infants. Results: High rates of testing reveal that half of women presenting for antenatal care were HIV positive. Rates of repeat testing during pregnancy and testing at delivery were low. There were high rates of ARV prophylaxis among mothers and infants, though less than two-thirds of eligible mothers initiated HAART. At most, only half of HIV-exposed infants returned for HIV testing by twelve weeks of age. Of those tested, over 16% were found to be HIV positive. Discussion: Despite significant enrollment in PMTCT and high acceptance of HIV testing in pregnancy, gaps in service delivery and/or failures in documentation result in multiple missed opportunities. An inability to link mother-infant pairs, poor follow-up of HIV-exposed infants, and a lack of coordination of services further limit overall PMTCT program effectiveness. More effective regimens will have limited success without fundamental improvements in service delivery. Improved training and protocols for care, as well as the development of uniform data collection tools, are critical to overall PMTCT program effectiveness.


"Biology: An Australian Focus reflects on worldwide biological research and knowledge to provide a global outlook with Australian examples and cases woven throughout. Students are able to connect with what they're learning and better understand Australian flora/fauna and most importantly ecology & ecosystems, using this accessible and engaging learning resource. Available in a traditional textbook form or as a SmartBook, this fifth edition combines authoritative, peer-reviewed content with superior educational technology. Including a Connect package with interactive activities, animations,conceptual testbank and a full suite of instructor resources, and a newly developed, fully localised LearnSmart for a truly adaptive and personalised learning experience. The rich pedagogical layout layout of this text adds to the accessibility of the Biology: An Australian focus learning package. As well as Concept Checks to provide students with the essential takeaway points for each section and help with exam revision, this edition also includes; Self-Assessment and Review and Analysis to test the students' understanding; Evaluation and Application to develop and test critical evaluation skills; and boxed case studies separated into Research, Application, Hot Topics and Focus features, to delve deeper into topics. Biology: An Australian focus offers a complete learning package for all Australian biology students"--Publisher's summary


CONTENTS: FOREWORD Oana – Andreea ION This volume contains the academic contributions elaborated and presented by researchers who participated at the conference Research methods for analysing governance networks. Using academic research in the policy-making process organized between the 27th of May and the 1st of June 2013 in Bucharest, Romania, by the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration through the Department of International Relations and European Studies and the Centre for European Studies. THE NEED OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN EVALUATING THE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN THE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES IN ROMANIA Cătălin HUIDUMAC and Ștefan STĂNCIUGELU The present paper aims at highlighting the opportunity of applying the principles of corporate governance of state enterprises. Considering the state of the research field and management created around corporate governance, two theoretical and methodological components are concerned: (i) a brief analysis of the literature that assesses the importance of corporate governance; (ii) setting a methodology for configuring an interdisciplinary governance index at the level of corporate enterprises controlled by the state. In general, concerns for the construction of such an index have been concentrated in private companies, listed on the stock exchange. Building an index by which to be evaluated for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) corporate governance is not only a theoretical challenge, but also a practical one, knowing the size of the corporate sector in the former socialist states and its implications for the overall functioning of the economy. Key words: Corporate governance, public sector, state owned-enterprises, governance index, interdisciplinary methodology GOVERNANCE APPROACH TO FISHERIES POLICY Daniela MARIA One of the most important policies of the European Union that became separated from agricultural policy is the fisheries policy, developed to ensure the future of fishing industry as well as environmental protection. These are the main reasons I chose the subject; secondly, I'm interested in the way the policy is implemented in member states, related to governance approach. The Romanian territory is characterized by the presence of many rivers, lakes and, of course, the Black Sea and the Danube Delta; all these elements represent a considerable amount of fish. To be applied in Romania, governance approach to fisheries policy requires a significant number of partnerships at national, regional and local level, and also the existence of consultation with other ministries, institutions, research institutes, associations, NGOs and other factors involved in governance. The main conclusion of my paper is that fisheries management decisions have to be taken involving fishermen and stakeholders, and must take into account national particularities and specific features of this area. Even if governance theory and practice have their critics, I think it also brings many arguments that support the idea mentioned before and a well implemented policy through a set of governance parameters leads to a long-term balance and sustainable use of living aquatic resources. Keywords: Decisional cooperation; decision levels; accountability; sustainability fisheries policy; environmental policy THE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: A GOVERNANCE MODEL? Ana Maria PANDELE The Environmental Policy was in its prime during the 1980s but after the 1990s, as several economic problems appeared, the countries did not have the strength to support this policy anymore. However the environmental issues still remain pressing due to the changes in society. Is there a governance model in the environmental policy? At first sight we would say it is due to the multiplicity of actors that shape the decisions at the European and national level that we can observe a governance model but we will see if this conclusion overlaps with the result of the research. We insist first of all on the Drinking Water Directive and afterwards on the Water Framework Directive. Keywords: Governance, multi-level governance, network governance, environmental policy, water framework directive, Romania, cooperation MULTI-LEVEL AND NETWORK GOVERNANCE IN ROMANIA. THE CASE OF THE EUROPEAN ENERGY POLICY Mădălina Maria PREDA The working paper aims to detail the structure and practice of European governance in the energy field, by looking at evidence of multi-level governance in Romania's policy sector. The study case explores to what extent are multi-level governance patterns applied in Romania by looking at the structural elements (vertical and horizontal distribution of the institutional actors' responsibilities) and the regulatory style (hierarchical versus cooperative procedures). Previous research in Romania's government patterns show high incidence of hierarchical procedures, rather than cooperative ones. However, after becoming a member of the European Union in 2007, Romania's national structures acknowledged the advantages of a more governance-centred system of government. The paper deals with this change in focus and whether the European Energy Policy in Romania can be described as multi-level governance. In the end, the author proposes a series of suggestions for solving the most common governance issues in Romania's Energy Policy by looking at the procedures implemented in other EU member states. Keywords: Multi-level governance, energy policy, renewable energy, European Union, Romania GOVERNANCE APPROACH TO EUROPEAN TRANSPORT POLICY Maria Mirabela STĂNICĂ Transport is fundamental to every society and to every economy. That is why, in the European Union, many investments are focused on transport and infrastructure in order to generate jobs, to make work and travel easier for European citizens and to facilitate businesses. By cooperating and working together at different EU levels of decision (European, national, regional, local, transnational), these objectives of transport policy will be achieved more easy and the policy output will be a legitimate one. For a better understanding of a Governance Approach to European Transport Policy, my essay will focus on a particular case – Danube Bridge II. In March 2000 an agreement was signed between Romania and Bulgaria to build a new bridge over Danube due to the intense and constantly increasing traffic between the border regions of the two countries. The new bridge is part of the Pan-European Transport Corridor IV and it will significantly shorten the distance between the Western and the South-Eastern Europe. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that different levels of decision were involved in building the second bridge over Danube and how did these levels cooperate. Keywords: Levels of decision, public/non-public actors, cooperation, network, governance CREATING A LINKAGE BETWEEN ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND POLICY-MAKING Luiza Soare There is a consensus in literature that the process of policy-making should be based on strong evidence in order to increase quality, credibility and relevance of a policy. Academic research is one of the most important contributors to the process of collecting, analyzing and providing data for stakeholders. In this paper I analyze the relationship between research and the process of policy-making, in order to demonstrate that the latter will benefit from academic research. For this purpose, I will divide my analysis in four chapters as following: the first one will contain a short history about the moment when this problem was first brought into question and arguments about the importance of the research for policy-making process, along with the clarification of the main terms that I will use in my analysis. The second chapter will be dedicated to the main problems that both policy-makers and academic researchers faced when it comes to work together in the decision making process. In describing these constrains I will use a politician perspective as well as a researcher one. In my third chapter I emphasize some recommendations and actions that can be implemented in order to surmount the limits, and in the final chapter I will try to provide a vision upon the case of Romania and the relationship between academic research and policy-making in our country. Keywords: Public policy, evidence-based policy-making, decision-makers, academic research, communication, culture Book Review. Daniel BIRO (coord.). 2013. Relaţiile internaţionale contemporane: teme centrale în politica mondială (Contemporary International Relations: Core Themes in World Politics). Iaşi: Polirom, 336 p. Alexandru VOICU


Aim Physicians may face occupational accident risk due to sleep problems. The aim of study was the evaluation of association of sleepiness and sleep quality with occupational accidents. Method In this descriptive study, data was collected among 312 (53.7%) residents in a medical faculty hospital through a questionnaire to investigate sociodemographic and occupational characteristics, sleepiness mode with Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and sleep quality with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and having an occupational accident. Results Average age was 27.95 (SD=2.86) and females constituted 52.6% of residents while 10.6% expressed their general health, 36.6% expressed their mental health as average and lower, 24.9% had diagnosed disease. Of them, 3/4 had night shift and 88.9% had no rest cycle after night shift. Some declared sleep related features were: sufficient sleep period (35.9%), snoring (16.5%), increased sleepiness (29.0%) and decreased sleep quality (60.8%). Of the residents, 26.9% had at least one occupational accident during last month and the most common accident was needlestick (52.5%). According to PSQI 36.5% of residents with low sleep quality, and according to ESS 38.0% of residents with high sleepiness perception had occupational accident during last month (p<0.001 and p=0.005, respectively), and 48.3% declared that accident was their fault. Conclusion Occupational accidents of residents could have serious consequences. Measures are needed to increase sleeping period and sleep quality of residents and decrease sharp object injuries.


This contribution argues that despite the fact that the United Nations Refugee Convention does not cover persons subject to climate change induced displacement, these people should be protected by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This is the case because UNHCR's own Executive Committee has incorporated the broader African definition of a refugee that does include climate refugees into their protection mandate. We therefore conclude that UNHCR should exercise protection activities over climate refugees to be consistent with the mandate given to this United Nations programme by international law. To arrive at this conclusion we first briefly introduce the question about the protection of climate change induced displacement in the social science debate. We examine the legal definitions of refugees, agreeing with the most common interpretations of both United Nations and regional instruments. We then indicate how, by expressly extending its mandate, UNHCR itself has taken on the responsibility for the protection of people subject to climate change induced displacement. Finally, we report how, despite this mandate, UNHCR is still refusing to exercise its mandate properly, and that if it were to do so, a significant step could be taken in ensuring the protection of people subject to climate change induced displacement.


This study explored the lived experiences of twelve mental health care clinicians working therapeutically with suicidal clients and following client suicide. The participants included six mCounselling Psychologists, two Consultant Psychiatrists, three Community Psychiatric Nurses and a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist from an opportunity sample. The study took place within a National Health Service Mental Health Trust located in the South East of England. All the participants worked with suicidal clients. Nine had experienced the suicide of one or more clients. Employing interpretative phenomenological analysis, four key themes emerged: Being with suicidal clients, Impact of client death, Subsequent influential experiences and Evolving. Therapeutic intervention with suicidal clients emerged as being a source of anxiety for some participants, while others felt confident in wanting to explore the clients' concerns in depth. Following client suicide, shock, initial disbelief, fear, guilt and anger were apparent. Therapeutic relationships were influential in the participants' interpretations and understandings of the death. The attachment to the client was considered, by some, as being almost shameful, while others had tenuous therapeutic relationships. Some participants expressed potent feelings of grief arising from the loss. Past experience of bereavement by suicide emerged as shaping the views taken of suicidal clients and the responses to client suicide. Subsequent events, including involvement in an investigation into the cause of the death, were considered as being influential factors in the overall experience. Relationships with others which provided comfort and affirmation were considered to be a protective factor. While several participants gained support from clinical supervision, others felt that it did not meet their needs. An attempt was made to offer explanatory frameworks in order to situate the participants' experiences. Together with the effects of a loss, some participants' perceptions of failing as a competent professional added some support to the notion of threatened identity, due to rupture of the 'continuity' of professional identity. Transformative processes included gains, such as being considered as an 'expert.' The changes that are described are consistent with the reflexive practitioner position of Counselling Psychologists. The implications of the findings include Counselling Psychologists' involvement in the development of support systems. Finally, a suggested method of providing information to clinicians (Appendix 11) has been drafted as a result of the study outcomes.


We discuss the motion of spin in inertial and gravitational fields. The coupling of spin with rotation and the gravitomagnetic field has already been extensively studied; therefore, we focus here on the inertial and gravitational spin-orbit couplings. In particular, we investigate the classical and quantum aspects of spin precession and spin-orbit coupling in an arbitrary translationally accelerated frame of reference as well as the exterior Schwarzschild spacetime. Moreover, in connection with Einstein's principle of equivalence, we clarify the relation between the inertial and gravitational spin-orbit couplings.


The present status of the different molluscan fisheries of India and their potentials are discussed in the
paper. Molluscs of commercial importance are all essentially marine and broadly come under two major
categories, viz., (i) edible and (ii) ornamental. Squids, mussels, oysters, clams, etc., which are used for
human consumption come under the edible molluscan fisheries. Of these the most widely distributed is the
squid fishery. The mussel fishery is of considerable local importance in rocky areas especially along the
West Coast. Backwater oysters, clams, etc., form sustenance fisheries of limited importance in some localities.
Most of the edible molluscs are consumed by the poor class of people along the coastal areas. Special reference
is made regarding the scope for the development of the mussel fishery in certain parts of India. Under
ornamental molluscan fisheries, pearl oyster, chank, window-pane oyster, Trochus, Turbo and a variety of curio
shells are included. In addition to the above, dead shells and shell products are used for a variety of purposes
including the manufacture of lime and cement.


This article calls for a more evolutionary understanding of the "birth of the modern travel guide" by contextualizing the guidebooks of Murray and Baedeker within the wider genre and by focusing on their lesser-known predecessors. An analysis of British travel guides to and accounts of "Belgium" from the period 1815–1870 reveals that the division between the "travel account" and the "travel guide" was not always clear-cut, as both genres were closely intertwined. It demonstrates that the process of gathering travel information became less transnational during the period 1815–1870 and increasingly reliant on internal borrowing from other travel guides and accounts published in English. We therefore need a more nuanced assessment of the use of travel literature as a source for the study of intercultural representation, imagery, and stereotypes—an assessment in which there is ample room for a transnational focus.


STAGE AND SCREEN Opera's Orbit: Musical Drama and the Influence of Opera in Arcadian Rome. By Stefanie Tcharos. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. [xiv, 320 p. ISBN 9780521116657. $95.] Music examples, illustrations, bibliography, index. Musical genres are thorny things. Repre - senting artifacts of the classifying imagination, generic designations defy categorization along clear-cut lines, let alone transhistorical definition. Witness the example of Joseph Haydn's early keyboard works, many of which were originally designated as divertimenti or partitas by their creator, but were soon renamed sonatas. Or consider the origins of Mozart's two-act serenata Il Re Pastore (1775) in a three-act dramma per musica (1751) by Pietro Meta - stasio. Of course, as Stefanie Tcharos acknowledges, "categorizations and genre titles were seminal and effective," if only within their own cultural context and "in spite of their inability to hold any real consistency, categorical protectionism, and enclosure" (p. 13). It is the modern scholar's task to come to grips with the "multiple manifestations of form and presentation" (p. 162) of each genre by redressing its social dimensions as performative event. Stefanie Tcharos boldly accepts this challenge in Opera's Orbit: Musical Drama and the Influence of Opera in Arcadian Rome, but whether she succeeds in her daunting quest remains to be seen. Tcharos's work area is the lateseventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century Roman stage, which she does not understand as an "actual stage of a particular theater or a context in which a given composer's works were performed" (p. 1), nor as a "collection of discrete formal texts" (p. 2), but rather as a "metaphorical and symbolic" stage, and a "highly problematic" (p. 1) one at that. As she stresses throughout her opening chapter, "Enclosures, Crises, Polemics: Opera Production in 1690s Arcadian Rome" (pp. 20-45), opera lived an uncertain existence in the transitory decades at hand, now enjoying unrestricted freedom under such bons vivants as Alexander VIII, then facing outright proscription under Innocents XI and XII. But "despite the conventional wisdom which argues that the upheavals of papal policies regarding opera . . . were to the detriment of Roman theatrical life," Tcharos asserts that the "city's peculiar predicament and necessary pocketing of opera culture into various private corners had creative advantages," allowing "for a variety of opera models" and a "change from the more singular adherence to the institutionalized formulas that dominated Venice's theater scene" (p. 22). Opera's "sphere of influence" or "orbit" (the term is Mikhail Bakthin's) thus reached further than the actual dramma per musica; it also encompassed the three genres Tcharos turns to in the central chapters of her book: the oratorio, serenata, and cantata. The first of these chapters, "Disrupting the Oratorio" (pp. 46-97), combines an interpretation of Arcangelo Spagna's Discorso intorno a gl'oratorii (1706) with discussions of Pietro Ottoboni's Il martirio di Sant'Eu - stachio (1690) and Alessandro Scarlatti's two Giuditta oratorios (1694 and 1697) to argue that the late-seventeenth-century Roman oratorio tended to be "resolutely 'anti-opera' in official function," while at the same time being "intimately bound with conceptions of the theatrical" (p. 46). Notwithstanding their mission to "erase all that opera signified morally and socially" (p. 46), various oratorios in fact incorporated theatrical features, including stage decorations and dance in the case of Sant'Eustachio. Unfortunately, Tcharos omits several aspects that could have helped her chart the inextricable ties between the Roman oratorio and opera with more historical depth and precision than happens to be the case. It is a mystery, for instance, why she ignores the long tradition of the mystery play and sacra rappresentazione, many examples of which-reports and drawings tell us-enacted martyrs' lives in equally "theatrical" and musical fashion as Ottoboni's Sant'Eustachio did. …


Biological evidence originating from saliva can be of considerable significance to criminal investigations. However, the localisation of saliva is inherently challenging, due to the fact that saliva, and its associated stains, do not contain readily visible constituents. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to adopt screening techniques in order to isolate potential saliva stains. There are a limited number of screening tools available for this purpose; currently, the state DNA forensic laboratory of Western Australia (PathWest) utilises alternate light source technology. However, this method has demonstrated ineffectiveness, with a fail rate of 40% or greater. Thus, PhadebasR paper has been suggested as an alternative. This test detects the activity of the α- amylase enzyme, which is present in high concentrations in saliva. The limitations of PhadebasR paper for use as a presumptive screening tool need to be understood for the correct interpretation and inclusion of test results in forensic investigations. Thereby, the following review aims to assess the suitability of PhadebasR paper as a presumptive screening test for saliva. In this review, current screening techniques for saliva have been examined, as well as the reported sensitivity and specificity of PhadebasR paper. Furthermore, the factors affecting sensitivity and specificity have been explored. The use of PhadebasR paper in the greater context of forensic examination has also been considered. Finally, suggestions have been made pertaining to experimental design and methodology for studies concerning this topic; recommendations for future studies have also been advised. This review found that the limitations of PhadebasR paper as a presumptive screening tool are poorly reported and attempts to validate this test lack scientific rigour. Consequently, five crucial areas have been identified for consolidation; specifically, the sensitivity, specificity, effects of temperature on sensitivity and specificity, detection of saliva in mixed body fluid stains, and influence of the substrate on PhadebasR paper need to be subjected to experimental validation.


This chapter examines the racial anxieties at work in the Australian women's movement in the early 1900s, focussing on campaigns and organisations aimed at increasing and 'improving' the white population on the one hand and discussions of the 'Aboriginal problem' on the other. It particularly examines the activities of the National Council of Women, the largest women's group of this period, and the Australian Federation of Women Voters, a smaller but highly influential organisation, as well as local groups which emerged to further these causes. Specifically, it explores efforts to promote immigration from Britain, which went alongside eugenic measures to exclude 'unfit' white migrants as well, and various schemes aimed at producing 'well born' white children. As I hope to show, these seemingly disparate activities were informed by a single racial imperative. The racial interests of the movement coalesced around anxieties about the need for a large and healthy white population to secure the nation's future. Indeed, their racially based reforming campaigns revolved almost entirely around anxieties internal to whiteness. While the women's movement showed remarkably little interest in the 'Aboriginal problem', or the 'peril' of Asian immigration, their vigorous campaigns around improving the quality and quantity of the white population reveal how racialised thinking in fact permeated the movement and animated many of its endeavours. And women's work was presented as essential to implementing these vital racial programs.


In this article we discuss the sexual harassment that occurs within academic institutions between academic staff and students. Our interest is in analysing the ways that sexism and sexual harassment are enabled and sustained in the university environment. In particular, we are interested in interrogating the power that occurs in these relationships, and how the nature of this relation makes it difficult for students to name and refuse the harassment that occurs. We argue that sexism conceals itself through its continual movement, and that sexual harassment is perpetuated within universities through tactics that relocate the problem away from the individual and the institution. In this way, sexual harassment disappears: the problem never appears as a problem of sexual harassment. Instead, it appears as a number of other shifting problems which include the problem of the women who complain and the harm caused to academic reputations. The slipperiness of sexism means it comes to be re-circulated through social and institutional structures that keep sexual harassers in place, because sexism and sexual harassment appear always out of reach. Mechanisms within the institution set up to address sexual harassment work not only to distance the institution from responsibility for the harassment, but also to hide the harassment even in the moment when women and their allies are insistently working to try to make it appear.


This article gives an introduction to agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS). After a general discussion about modeling and simulation, we address the basic concept of ABMS, focusing on its generative and bottom-up nature, its advantages as well as its pitfalls. The subsequent part of the article deals with application-oriented aspects, including selected tools and well-known applications. In order to illustrate the benefits of using ABMS, we focus on several aspects of a well-known area related to simulation of complex systems, namely traffic. At the end, a brief look into future challenges is given.


Cloud networking is an integral part of interconnected data centres operated in cloud environment. Cloud users heavily rely on cloud networking to transmit to and receive data from data centres. In this context, we explore how to provide cloud users with more controls so that they could ensure confidentiality of their data without using extensive public key encryption in cloud networking or sharing secret keys. We propose an approach for secure transmission of matrix multiplication over cloud networking using randomisation, column-row shuffling and size alteration of matrices. The main philosophy of this approach is to equip cloud users with more controls of ensuring confidentiality of their data without using any additional overhead computation. In this approach, the cloud users hold the entire secret values, without sharing with or depending on other parties for secret key generation, sharing and storing.


Micromorphology of pejibaye leaflets Bactris gasipaes (Arecaceae) var. diamonds-10. Bactris gasipaes is widely cultivated for the consumption of palm hearts and fruits. The present work describes the micro morphological characteristics of leaflets from adult plants of B. gasipaes , thornless variety Diamantes-10, collected in the Diamantes Experimental Station in Guapiles, Costa Rica. We collected 25 leaflets and analyses were performed with a combination of microscopy techniques: light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to study their structure. Our results showed that leaflets have abundant epicuticular wax on adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Analyses from the epidermis indicated that it is composed of isodiametric cells, and it is also evident that hypodermis cells have rectangular shape and are larger than the other epidermal cells. We observed stomata on both surfaces, but they were more abundant in the abaxial surface. On the other hand, the epidermis showed the presence of trichomes with three different morphologies. In the parenchyma, cells are large and not well defined, and we observed the presence of astroesclereids, and compact groups of fiber bundles between parenchyma cells. The central vein has several vascular bundles, arranged in a continuous manner, and they are surrounded by sclerotic tissue; some of these fibers presented live protoplasts. All minor veins showed the same anatomy as the central vein. In these veins, the vessel elements of protoxylem and metaxylem showed scalariform ornaments on their walls. Phloem is located towards the adaxial surface of the vein and we observed sieve and companion cells surrounded by fibers and parenchyma cells. The companion cells presented branched plasmodesmata attached to a sieve element, and in these elements we found protein bodies called P-protein. The main anatomical difference in the leaflets of the var. Diamantes-10, compared to the other varieties of B. gasipaes K, is the lack of thorns; the other morphological features seem to be conserved. Rev. Biol. Trop. 64 (3): 1273-1285. Epub 2016 September 01.


Background
Temporary population mobility, moves of more than one night's duration that do not entail a change
in usual residence, are an important feature of the Australian population surface. The ABS Census of
Population and Housing (Census) provides a snapshot of temporary movements one night every five
years.
Aims
This paper examines the intensity, age and spatial patterns of temporary movements captured at the
2016 Census, and creates a classification of regions based on the age profile of movers on Census nights.
Data and methods
2016 Census data were extracted using ABS TableBuilder Pro. Summary metrics were calculated to
measure the intensity and age profile of movements. Origin–destination flows were derived from a
cross-classification of data on Place of Usual Residence and Place of Enumeration. A classification of
regions (SA4s) was constructed from the age profile of movers at origins and at destinations.
Results
1,142,005 individuals (about 5 per cent of the Australian population) were enumerated away from
home on Census night 2016. Mobility peaked in younger (20–30) and older (65–70) age groups. Most
movements were between capital city regions; however, resource regions and coastal areas were
also implicated. The mobility surface was segmented by age: younger people dominated visits to
cities and older movers comprise the majority of visitors to coastal areas, while remote areas had a
significant proportion of visitors in the peak working ages.
Conclusions
Temporary population mobility is selective by age and sex and geographically segmented by these
characteristics. Improved understanding of the attribute of visitors to regions can assist to formulate
and validate estimates of temporary populations from emerging data sets.


An optical power splitter with one input and three output ports is proposed and demonstrated for near infrared applications in the wavelength range from 2.3 to 2.5 microns. The device operates on the principle of directional coupling by introducing photonic crystal line-defect waveguides. Its functionality and performance have been numerically investigated and simulated by finite-difference time-domain method. Required optical power from each of the output waveguide can be easily controlled by adjusting the coupling length of interaction for photonic crystal line-defect waveguides. The total length of the 1*3 power splitter is 30 microns, which is significantly less than conventional non-photonic crystal power splitter. This is a promising device for future ultracompact and large-scale nanophotonic integrated circuits.


We investigated the transport and production of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in an alpine lake in the Colorado Front Range during snowmelt and the summer ice‐free season by employing a new approach for distinguishing between three pools of DOM based on fractionation and spectroscopic characterization. Reactive transport modeling results confirm that terrestrially derived sources of humic DOM are dominant during snowmelt and that microbially derived humic and nonhumic DOM are produced in the lake in the summer, when rates of primary productivity are highest. DOM characterization and modeling results support the interpretation that losses of terrestrially derived humic DOM are dependent on photochemistry and indicate that the decay of nonhumic and microbially derived humic DOM is more influenced by heterotrophic degradation. Results suggest that production of nonhumic DOM can be directly related to chlorophyll a concentrations and that microbially derived humic DOM can be produced through condensation reactions. Furthermore, fluorescence and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) of DOM suggest that the rate of decay of microbially derived humic DOM decreases as the redox state of quinone‐like moieties of the DOM becomes more oxidized. This study quantifies the influence of DOM source on the chemical and biological reactivity of DOM in lakes. The methods presented in this study provide a framework for testing hypotheses related to the effects of a changing climate on lake ecosystem structure and function.


This Review makes two claims. The first is that Paul Horwitz's excellent book, "First Amendment Institutions," depicts the institutionalist movement in robust and provocative form. The second is that it would be a mistake to assume from its immersion in First Amendment jurisprudence (not to mention its title) that the book's implications are limited to the First Amendment. Professor Horwitz presents First Amendment institutionalism as a wide-ranging theory of constitutional structure whose focus is as much on constraining the authority of political government as it is on facilitating expression. These are the terms on which the book's argument — and, to a large extent, the leading edge of contemporary institutionalist thinking — ought to be received, understood, and evaluated.


Anaphylaxis is an acute, potentially life-threatening allergic multisystemic hypersensitivity reaction. Although the anaphylaxis incidence is not clearly known, serious reactions are seen at a rate of approximately 1-3 per 10,000. Drugs are among the most common causes of anaphylactic reactions. Triptorelin acetate treatment aims to alleviate the clinical symptoms of early pubertal development, the psychological consequences and the effects on growth. Triptorelin acetate is major long-acting gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue. Our case diagnosed with central precocious puberty was being followed up by the pediatric endocrinology department when anaphylaxis occurred following an injection at the 18th month of treatment. Anaphylaxis with Triptorelin acetate has been reported in only two cases in the literature. Although the risk of anaphylaxis with this drug is low, the possibility should be considered and appropriate measures taken.


Ethanol consumption is one of the common causative agents implicated in gastric ulcer development. Oxidative stress plays a major role in the induction and development of gastric ulceration. NADPH oxidases (NOXs) and Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) are key players in ethanol-induced ulcers. High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a ubiquitous nuclear protein, mediates various inflammation functions. However, the role of HMGB1 in ethanol-induced gastric ulcer is not yet elucidated. Raspberry Ketone (RK) is a natural phenolic compound with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In the present study, absolute ethanol (7.5 ml/kg) was used to induce gastric ulceration in rats. Raspberry Ketone (RK) (50 mg/kg) was given orally one hour before the administration of absolute ethanol. Interestingly, ethanol-induced gastric ulcer was associated with Nrf2 downregulation, which was correlated with NOX-1, 2 NOX-4, and HMGB1 upregulation, and was significantly reversed by RK pre-treatment. RK pre-treatment provided 80% gastroprotection. Gastroprotective properties of RK were mediated via antioxidant, anti-inflammatory (suppression of NF-kB and tumor necrosis factor-α), and antiapoptotic activities (reduction of Bax/Bcl2 ratio). Gastroprotective properties of RK were confirmed by histopathological examination. In conclusion, this study is the first to provide evidence to the role of HMGB1 in ethanol-induced gastric ulcer, and the crosstalk of Nrf2, NOXs and HMGB1. It also demonstrates that RK represents a promising gastroprotective activity comparable to omeprazole.


This paper investigates the effects of limited speech data in the context of speaker verification using a probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) approach. Being able to reduce the length of required speech data is important to the development of automatic speaker verification system in real world applications. When sufficient speech is available, previous research has shown that heavy-tailed PLDA (HTPLDA) modeling of speakers in the i-vector space provides state-of-the-art performance, however, the robustness of HTPLDA to the limited speech resources in development, enrolment and verification is an important issue that has not yet been investigated. In this paper, we analyze the speaker verification performance with regards to the duration of utterances used for both speaker evaluation (enrolment and verification) and score normalization and PLDA modeling during development. Two different approaches to total-variability representation are analyzed within the PLDA approach to show improved performance in short-utterance mismatched evaluation conditions and conditions for which insufficient speech resources are available for adequate system development. The results presented within this paper using the NIST 2008 Speaker Recognition Evaluation dataset suggest that the HTPLDA system can continue to achieve better performance than Gaussian PLDA (GPLDA) as evaluation utterance lengths are decreased. We also highlight the importance of matching durations for score normalization and PLDA modeling to the expected evaluation conditions. Finally, we found that a pooled total-variability approach to PLDA modeling can achieve better performance than the traditional concatenated total-variability approach for short utterances in mismatched evaluation conditions and conditions for which insufficient speech resources are available for adequate system development.


Epibiosis was studied in dominant mangrove crustacean species in several areas in Malaysia. The observed basibionts were the crustaceans Mesopodopsis orientalis, Acetes japonicus, Acetes sibogae, Acetes indicus and Fenneropenaeus merguiensis and the epibionts found were the protozoan ciliates Acineta branchicola, Lagenophrys eupagurus, Conidophrys pitelkae and Zoothamnium duplicatum. Basibionts from the open sea area (Acetes japonicas) and from a sandy beach of Penang (Mesopodopsis orientalis) showed the lowest epibiont densities. Considering all the colonized anatomical units each basibiont species had a distinct epibiotic distribution and the epibiont species presented a significantly different distribution over each of the basibiont species. In the basibiont M. orientalis a significant difference was observed in epibiotic distribution between populations from different geographical areas. Species sampled on mangrove and offshore areas also differed in this respect The different epibiont species varied among locations according to the structure of the community. We also report on the pattern of epiobiont distribution over the anterioposterior axis of the basibiont, on the influence of physiological characteristics of basibiont and epibiont and on the influence of environmental conditions on the epibiont communities.


The question of how an individual firm's environmental performance impacts its firm risk has not been examined in any empirical UK research. Does a company that strives to attain good environmental performance decreases its market risk or is environmental performance just a disadvantageous cost that increases such risk levels for these firms? Answers to this question have important implications for the management of companies and the investment decisions of individuals and institutions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate environmental performance and firm risk in the British context. Using the largest dataset so far assembled, with Community and Environmental Responsibility (CER) rankings for all rated UK companies between 1994 and 2006, we show that a company's environmental performance is inversely related to its systematic financial risk. However, an increase of 1.0 in the CER score is associated with only a 0.02 reduction in firm's risk and cost of capital.


The nitrogen to carbon (N/C) and nitrogen to oxygen (N/O) ratios are the most sensitive quantities to mixing in stellar interiors of intermediate and massive stars. We further investigate the theoretical properties of these ratios as well as put in context recent observational results obtained by the VLT-FLAMES Survey of massive stars in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds. We consider analytical relations and numerical models of stellar evolution as well as our own stellar atmosphere models, and we critically re-investigate observed spectra. On the theoretical side, the N/C vs N/O plot shows little dependence on the initial stellar masses, rotation velocities, and nature of the mixing processes up to relative enrichment of N/O by a factor of about four, thus this plot constitutes an ideal quality test for observational results. The comparison between the FLAMES Survey and theoretical values shows overall agreement, despite the observational scatter of the published results. The existence of some mixing of CNO products is clearly confirmed, however the accuracy of the data is not sufficient for allowing a test of the significant differences between different models of rotating stars and the Geneva models. We discuss reasons (for the most part due to observational bias) why part of the observational data points should not be considered for this comparison. When these observational data points are not considered, the scatter is reduced. Finally, the N/C vs N/O plot potentially offers a powerful way for discriminating blue supergiants before the red supergiant stage from those after it. Also, red supergiants of similar low velocities may exhibit different N enrichments, depending on their initial rotation during the main-sequence phase.


In the Indo-European languages where a definite article exists, it is historically derived from a demonstrative pronoun. The hypothesis of this paper is that the origin of the definite article is the creation of noun phrase structure by the subordination of a noun to a demonstrative pronoun. This process is described for the Romance languages and Danish. In languages where an indefinite article exists, it is historically derived from the numeral 'one'. This origin of the indefinite article points out two possible directions for its further evolution: it can continue as a quantifier or it can become a classifier. The quantifier road is illustrated by the plural of the indefinite article in Old French and Spanish, the classifier use by the two indefinite articles of Modern French. Definite and indefinite articles thus have different functions and values: definite articles are pronominal heads, indefinite articles are quantifiers or classifiers.


In late November 2002, Russia's largest oil company, Lukoil, created a flurry of speculation over its decision to withdraw from the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), a major Caspian oil consortium. Given Lukoil's prominence in economic and political circles, much of this speculation quickly acquired a geopolitical and even Machiavellian nature. Although the complex and often conspiratorial nature of such explanations makes them inherently difficult to falsify, none of them are convincing, at least as primary reasons for Lukoil's decision. Instead, it will be argued that the main reason for Lukoil's move is related to the company's broader strategic retrenchment and debt consolidation, as reflected in a number of steps it has taken elsewhere, partly in response to pressures of private rating and investment agencies. Contrary to various rumors, Lukoil's pullout from this arrangement has no implications for Russian geopolitics, or even for the company's own long-term involvement in the Caspian region.


Background On study of athletes, science has been devoted focusing on athletic performance. However, more recently, researchers have been concerned with other aspects that transcend obtaining results such as the health and well being of high-performance athletes. Objective To investigate the occurrence of pain and associated factors and its relation to the quality of life in elite athletes of various sports. Design An observational, cross-sectional and analytical study. Setting Level of competition: International, World and Olympic. Participants The study population was composed of 86 high-performance athletes: 13 of judo, 42 of swimming, 22 of parachuting, and 9 of volleyball. Risk factor assessment The risk factors were: training aspects (sports practice time in years, number of training hours accumulated per week) and complementary training (stretching, resistance exercises and functional training). The evaluation was made by self-reported questionnaires. The occurrence of pain was assessed as a risk factor for quality of life. Main outcome measurements The prevalence of pain (primary outcome) was estimated by self-reported questionnaire referring to anatomical region that occurred. Quality of life (secondary outcome) was investigated using the WHOQOL-Brief. Results Sports practice time and gender were not associated with the occurrence of pain. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that sport (Figure 1) and age were associated with the outcome (P<.05). Pain was associated with lower quality of life in domains physical, psychological and environmental. Figure 1 Prevalence of pain according to sport. . Conclusions The occurrence of pain can affect the amount of training supported by the athlete, resulting in decreased performance. Therefore it is imperative the monitoring for reducing pain in elite athletes. These are highly demanded both psychologically and physically; that's why it is equally important that they also be assisted to improve their perceived quality of life.


This survey is motivated by the major changes that have been occurring both within the financial sector and in the relationships between financial and other markets. These changes have complicated both monetary analysis and the practice of monetary policy. Monetary models based on simple aggregative relationships are not well equipped to analyse issues of structural change. Monetary policy has been forced to rely more on "judgement" and less on the application of these models and their suggested policy rules. One obvious example of this is the demise, or at least downgrading, of monetary targets in major western economies. This survey examines some of the main strands in the development of monetary economics in the past two decades. It argues that much of the policy prescription of monetary economics – especially reliance on monetary targeting – depends on simple "stylised facts" about the behaviour of regulated economies. These prescriptions cannot therefore be applied directly to economies where the regulatory structure is changing. Policy approaches such as Australia's current use of a "check list" of indicators are discretionary to the extent that they involve judgements about the relative importance of different indicators. But it is argued that this discretionary approach develops, rather than overthrows, the previous approach.


Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is a heterogeneous neoplasm and patients with relapsed/refractory disease exhibit resistance to standard therapies. We have previously demonstrated that the Mucin 1 C-terminal subunit (MUC1-C) plays a critical role in protection from oxidative stress in CTCL cells. Targeting of MUC1-C with a pharmacologic inhibitor, GO-203, was associated with apoptosis in CTCL. However, disease responses were incomplete underscoring the need for combinatorial strategies that could exploit the vulnerability of CTCL cells to oxidative signals. Cell lines, primary samples, and xenograft models of CTCL were used to assess synergy of GO-203 with decitabine, a hypomethylating agent. Present studies demonstrate that exposure of CTCL cells to decitabine in combination with GO-203, increased the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and decreased levels of scavenger molecules, NADP, NADPH, glutathione, and TIGAR, critical to intracellular redox homeostasis. Dual exposure to GO-203 and decitabine resulted in marked downregulation of DNA methyl transferases demonstrating significant synergy of these agents in inducing global and gene specific hypomethylation. Accordingly, treatment with decitabine and GO-203 upregulated the ROS generating enzymes, NADPH oxidase 4 and dual oxidase 2 potentially due to their effect on epigenomic regulation of these proteins. In concert with these findings, exposure to decitabine and GO-203 resulted in heightened apoptotic death in CTCL cell lines, patient-derived primary samples and in a murine xenograft model. These findings indicate that decitabine intensifies MUC1-C inhibition induced redox imbalance and provides a novel combination of targeted and epigenetic agents for patients with CTCL. Mol Cancer Ther; 16(10); 2304–14. ©2017 AACR.


Foreclosure affects not only the foreclosing homeowner but also the surrounding residential neighborhood. Prior work has found that the negative neighborhood impacts of foreclosed properties that remain as real-estate-owned (REO) properties persist until the property is resold. Furthermore, negative neighborhood price externalities are more substantial the longer a home spends in REO stock. This article used foreclosure data from Dallas County, Texas, to examine how both housing and neighborhood characteristics are related to the possibility of the sale of a foreclosed property out of REO stock. The findings from the Cox proportional hazard model indicate that homes in low-income minority neighborhoods and homes with property characteristics associated with a need for more preventative maintenance were slower to sell. Results have the potential to provide insight into how housing and neighborhood characteristics might help to explain part of the uneven geographic distribution of foreclosure impacts following the 2007–2009 financial recession.


Versican is a large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan belonging to the lectican family. Alternative splicing of versican generates at least four isoforms named V0, V1, V2 and V3. We have shown that the versican V1 isoform not only enhanced cell proliferation, but also modulated cell cycle progression and protected the cells from apoptosis. Futhermore, the V1 isoform was able to not only activate proto-oncogene EGFR expression and modulate its downstream signaling pathway, but also induce p27 degradation and enhance CDK2 kinase activity. As well, the V1 isoform down-regulated the expression of the pro-apoptotic protein Bad. By contrast, the V2 isoform exhibited opposite biological activities by inhibiting cell proliferation and down-regulated the expression of EGFR and cyclin A. Furthermore, V2 did not contribute apoptotic resistance to the cells. In light of these results, we are reporting opposite functions for the two versican isoforms whose expression is differentially regulated. Our studies suggest that the roles of these two isoforms are associated with the subdomains CSβ and CSα, respectively. These results were confirmed by silencing the expression of versican V1 with small interfering RNA (siRNA), which abolished V1-enhanced cell proliferation and V1-induced reduction of apoptosis.


It's a SIRT Intense attention has focused on the SIRT1 deacetylase as a possible target for anti-aging drugs. But unexpected complications in assays of SIRT1 activity have made it unclear whether compounds thought to be sirtuin-activating compounds (STACs) are really direct regulators of the enzyme. Further exploration of these effects by Hubbard et al. (p. 1216; see the Perspective by Yuan and Marmorstein) revealed that interaction of SIRT1 with certain substrates allows activation of SIRT1 by STACs and identified critical amino acids in SIRT1 required for these effects. Mouse myoblasts reconstituted with SIRT1 mutated at this amino acid lost their responsiveness to STACs. An interaction of the deacetylase SIRT1 with its substrate offers a possible explanation for some effects on aging. [Also see Perspective by Yuan and Marmorstein] A molecule that treats multiple age-related diseases would have a major impact on global health and economics. The SIRT1 deacetylase has drawn attention in this regard as a target for drug design. Yet controversy exists around the mechanism of sirtuin-activating compounds (STACs). We found that specific hydrophobic motifs found in SIRT1 substrates such as PGC-1α and FOXO3a facilitate SIRT1 activation by STACs. A single amino acid in SIRT1, Glu230, located in a structured N-terminal domain, was critical for activation by all previously reported STAC scaffolds and a new class of chemically distinct activators. In primary cells reconstituted with activation-defective SIRT1, the metabolic effects of STACs were blocked. Thus, SIRT1 can be directly activated through an allosteric mechanism common to chemically diverse STACs.


Against the background of a still controversial debate over participatory governance, the intention of this issue is to scrutinise critically central aspects of this controversy. In particular, the papers here explore regular, routine forms of participatory governance in the heart of political power, namely in administrative procedure. By contrast, political sciences and sociology often focus on new, alternative procedures, including citizen juries, consensus conferences, scenario workshops, and public consultation exercises. Normal forms of participatory governance in constitutional democracy are inevitably governed by rule of law such that a legal framework lies behind participants' concrete actions or communications.


Several epidemiologic studies have suggested a role of tomato products in protecting against cancer and chronic diseases. In nine adult women, we evaluated whether the consumption of 25 g tomato puree (containing 7 mg lycopene and 0.3 mg beta-carotene) for 14 consecutive days increased plasma and lymphocyte carotenoid concentration and whether this was related to an improvement in lymphocyte resistance to an oxidative stress (500 micromol/L hydrogen peroxide for 5 min). Before and after the period of tomato intake, carotenoid concentrations were analyzed by HPLC and lymphocyte resistance to oxidative stress by the Comet assay, which detects DNA strand breaks. Intake of tomato puree increased plasma (P <0.001) and lymphocyte (P<0.005) lycopene concentration and reduced lymphocyte DNA damage by approximately 50% (P<0.0001). Beta-carotene concentration increased in plasma (P<0.05) but not in lymphocytes after tomato puree consumption. An inverse relationship was found between plasma lycopene concentration (r = -0.82, P<0.0001) and lymphocyte lycopene concentration (r = -0.62, P<0.01) and the oxidative DNA damage. In conclusion, small amounts of tomato puree added to the diet over a short period can increase carotenoid concentrations and the resistance of lymphocytes to oxidative stress.


Any information represented in the brain holds the potential to influence behavior. It is therefore of broad interest to determine the extent and quality of neural processing of stimulus input that occurs with and without awareness. The attentional blink is a useful tool for dissociating neural and behavioral measures of perceptual visual processing across conditions of awareness. The extent of higher-order visual information beyond basic sensory signaling that is processed during the attentional blink remains controversial. To determine what neural processing at the level of visual-object categorization occurs in the absence of awareness, electrophysiological responses to images of faces and houses were recorded both within and outside the attentional blink period during a rapid serial visual presentation stream. Electrophysiological results were sorted according to behavioral performance (correctly identified targets vs. missed targets) within these blink and nonblink periods. An early index of face-specific processing (the N170, 140- to 220-msec poststimulus) was observed regardless of whether the participant demonstrated awareness of the stimulus, whereas a later face-specific effect with the same topographic distribution (500- to 700-msec poststimulus) was only seen for accurate behavioral discrimination of the stimulus content. The present findings suggest a multistage process of object-category processing, with only the later phase being associated with explicit visual awareness.


ABSTRACT:This paper analyses the transformations of international intervention in Mali since the crisis that burst in March 2012. It shows that the crisis in Mali generated interesting debates about international intervention in Mali and debates within the Bamako-based donor community in 2012 and 2013. Attempts at stopping doing "business as usual" were short-lived, but major changes in Mali's transnational government have occurred under the influence of "new" stakeholders (emergency NGOs, the military, UN blue helmets and civilian staff), agendas (the war on terror, "stabilization", peace and state-building) and practices (for instance, the UN "cluster" approach). This has created a renewed competition and a negotiated division of labour between different categories of international actors. This entails no "merging" between logics and practices of security and development (as argued by Mark Duffield, 2001). The presentation draws on empirical evidence accumulated through eight months of field-work, policy documents, non-participant observation and over 200 interviews carried out in Bamako since 2007.


[1] We compare middle atmospheric water vapor measurements from the HALogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE), Water Vapor Mm-wave Spectrometer (WVMS), and Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurements (POAM) instruments. Coincident WVMS and HALOE data are compared at the Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) sites at Mauna Loa, Hawaii (19.5N, 204.4E), from 1996–2002 and at Lauder, New Zealand (45.0S, 169.7E), from 1994–2002. We find that, at most altitudes, there is no significant instrumental drift between the HALOE measurements and the measurements obtained from the two WVMS instruments over these time periods. We also find that at altitudes below ∼60 km, where the solar cycle effects are unimportant, there were no significant trends in either the HALOE or WVMS data sets over the periods of intercomparison. This is in marked contrast to the early 1990s where large trends (2%/year) were obtained from both HALOE and WVMS measurements. Similarly, we compare the HALOE data with the high-latitude 1998–2002 POAM data set at equivalent latitudes from 45N–55N. Again, the trends are small, and the instrumental trend differences are at most only slightly >1σ. We also look at the HALOE water vapor and H2O + 2CH4 data globally and find that, after a large increase from 1991–1995, there is almost no trend below ∼60 km from 1996–2002. The water vapor trend over the entire HALOE measurement period (1991–2002) is <1%/year. The unusual stratospheric dynamics at the beginning of the 1990s caused large changes in upper stratospheric and lower mesospheric water vapor that were unrelated to the amount of water vapor entering the stratosphere, hence in this region the less dynamically sensitive quantity H2O + 2CH4 probably provides a better measure of water vapor entering the stratosphere during this period. The trend in H2O + 2CH4 over the 1991–2002 HALOE measurements period is ∼0.5%/year.


In recent years, the number of recombinant proteins used for therapeutic applications and industry has increased dramatically. Recombinant proteins are produced in many host organisms (microbial, insect, plant and mammalian cells). There are many factors to consider when choosing the optimal system for protein expression and purification including the mass, purity or solubility of the recombinant protein, its number of disulphide bonds, the types of post-translational modifications desired, the destination of the expressed protein, the cost and simplicity of the recombinant protein production system and finally regulatory aspects in the case of pharmaceutical production. If a soluble, non-toxic protein needs to be produced, bacteria are the first choice. However, if a complex post-translational modification is required, eukaryotic cells have to be the expression host. E. coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mammalian cell lines containing Baby Hamster Kidney (BHK), Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) and hybridoma cells are main host systems for production of most antibodies and proteins for diagnostic and therapeutic use. There is not general expression host system to act optimally for all recombinant proteins. Therefore, several expression host system must be experimentally evaluated for each recombinant protein. Correspondence: Golam Reza Sharifi-Sirchi, PhD. Agriculture and Natural Resources College, University of Hormozgan. Bandar Abbas, Iran Tel:+98 9131951969 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


This article contributes to a better understanding of the syntax-phonology interface. It offers a prosodic trigger for extraposition which accounts for the following asymmetry: While extraposition of subject, adjunct and attributive clauses is optional in German, object clauses must appear in the right periphery of the clause. It is argued that the constituents following an object clause in its preverbal base-position cannot be a parsed into phonological phrases. Such a configuration causes a defective prosodic clause structure. This deficiency is resolved by extraposition, which derives a structure where the formerly unparsed constituents now incorporate into the preceding prosodic constituent. Extraposition is thus considered a last resort strategy.


Fourteen styles of viticulture are defined: Astute Business Grower; Experimentalist Grower;
Industry-Endorsed Early Adopter; Professional Scientific Manager; Experienced Manager; Labour-Efficient
Grower; Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture Grower; Traditional Grower; Ethnic Grower; Conventional Grower;
Retiree Grower; Hobby Grower; Sea-Change Grower; and Marginal Grower. The methodology to identify these
farming styles included 6 focus groups in Mildura, Victoria, a face-to-face interview with 142 grape-growers in the
Sunraysia region of Victoria, and qualitative interviewing with industry personnel and extension staff. Problems of
social desirability response bias, the lack of self-identification by growers with styles, and literacy and other
methodological issues meant that qualitative, participatory (emic) methods for identifying styles were not reliable.
Following considerable immersion in the field, the researchers identified, on the basis of expert judgment
(etic classification), the 14 farming styles in viticulture which they regard as a typology of ideal types. Benefits of
the identification of farming styles in viticulture in terms of extension are discussed.


¥ithin two years of its transformation from a pilot project to an on-going savings programme for smallholders, the Cooperative Savings Scheme's balances increased from Sh 2 million to almost Sh 37 million', and the number of depositors exceeded 110,000. By the close of 197^ these balances will no doubt exceed Sh 60 million, belonging to 150,000 cooperators. Cooperative Savings Scheme balances have a considerable impact on cooperative finance and at the close of 1973 exceeded by Sh 22 million the amount of loans outstanding on the books of participating societies under the Cooperative Production Credit Scheme, a companion programme. The Cooperative Savings Scheme operates in rural areas only and most depositors are members of primary coffee marketing societies. The Cooperative Savings Scheme exhibits several operational and management problems and cannot yet be considered mature. However, its performance during a period of generally favourable conditions in the smallholder coffee sector suggests that considerable rural savings capacity exists among small cash crop farmers and that this capacity is not tapped by financial institutions other than cooperatives. Savings is defined simply as deferred consumption, and the financier's view of savings as a funds flow phenomenon is more relevant to rural development than are considerations of savings as an institutional phenomenon motivated by long run considerations,


This article examines the manifestations of sexual ambiguity in Japan and in the West. It traces the history of the juvenile style called kawai and the shojo, or female adolescent culture, and explores certain of its aspects as shown in the streets and in Japanese comic books, the mangas. The frontier between the kawai and the Lolitas is vague. The girls transform their appearance, act seductively, dress as transvestites and read mangas whose wide-eyed characters have great appeal. The article advances several hypothesis for this insistence on the infantile in the search for sexual identity and on the efforts to cope with its confusions and anxieties.


From a system developer's perspective, designing a spoken dialogue system can be a time-consuming and difficult process. A developer may spend a lot of time anticipating how a potential user might interact with the system and then deciding on the most appropriate system response. These decisions are encoded in a dialogue strategy, essentially a mapping between anticipated user inputs and appropriate system outputs. To reduce the time and effort associated with developing a dialogue strategy, recent work has concentrated on modelling the development of a dialogue strategy as a sequential decision problem. Using this model, reinforcement learning algorithms have been employed to generate dialogue strategies automatically. These algorithms learn strategies by interacting with simulated users. Some progress has been made with this method but a number of important challenges remain. For instance, relatively little success has been achieved with the large state representations that are typical of reallife systems. Another crucial issue is the time and effort associated with the creation of simulated users. In this thesis, I propose an alternative to existing reinforcement learning methods of dialogue strategy development. More specifically, I explore how XCS, an evolutionary reinforcement learning algorithm, can be used to find dialogue strategies that cover large state spaces. Furthermore, I suggest that hand-coded simulated users are sufficient for the learning of useful dialogue strategies. I argue that the use of evolutionary reinforcement learning and hand-coded simulated users is an effective approach to the rapid development of spoken dialogue strategies. Finally, I substantiate this claim by evaluating a learned strategy with real users. Both the learned strategy and a state-of-the-art hand-coded strategy were integrated into an end-to-end spoken dialogue system. The dialogue system allowed real users to make flight enquiries using a live database for an Edinburgh-based airline. The performance of the learned and hand-coded strategies were compared. The evaluation results show that the learned strategy performs as well as the hand-coded one (81% and 77% task completion respectively) but takes much less time to design (two days instead of two weeks). Moreover, the learned strategy compares favourably with previous user evaluations of learned strategies.


Spanish Heritage Bilingual Perception of English-Specific Vowel Contrasts John B. Nielsen Department of Linguistics and English Language, BYU Master of Arts Theories of lexical storage differ in how entries are encoded in the lexicon. Exemplarbased accounts posit that lexical items are stored with detailed acoustic information, while abstract accounts argue that fine acoustic detail is removed and an item is stored in more basic phonological units. These separate accounts make distinct predictions about cross-linguistic and bilingual perception. Studies asking participants to compare non-native vowels have shown that people tend to associate multiple non-native phonemes to a single L1 phoneme when the contrast between the two does not exist in the L1. However, several studies have shown that the ability to discriminate sounds is never lost. A line of research has focused on how bilinguals perceive contrasts in their second language. One such study, Pallier et al. (2001) looked at early bilinguals of Spanish and Catalan, testing whether the native Spanish speakers, who were highly proficient in Catalan, perceived certain Catalan minimal pairs as homophones. Importantly, the contrasts of these minimal pairs were exclusive to Catalan. The native Spanish bilinguals heard pairs such as /neta/-/nɛta/ in an audio-only lexical decision task (LDT), and showed responses to the second item that were not significantly different from actual item repetitions (i.e., /neta/-/neta/). These results were taken as evidence in favor of abstractionist models of lexical storage. This study was based on Pallier et al, (2001), examining instead the perceptions of heritage speakers of Spanish (HSSs) in the U.S., children of native Spanish speakers who get early and sustained exposure to their second language, English. Unlike the bilinguals studied in Pallier et al., heritage bilinguals receive little linguistic or social support for development of their first language. The L1 proficiency of adult heritage bilinguals varies considerably. In this study, a group of these HSSs participated in an LDT testing their perception of English-exclusive phonemic vowel contrasts (i.e., peak-pick). It was hypothesized that, like Pallier et al.'s highly proficient bilinguals, HSSs would show responses to the second item of these minimal pairs as if it were a repetition of the first. Results of the LDT did not confirm the hypothesis. The heritage Spanish speakers did not perform significantly differently from the native English controls on English-specific contrasts (p = .065), and it was found that the native English speakers showed higher priming on these minimal pairs than HSSs. These results run counter to those of previous studies, and may disfavor an abstract account of lexical storage. At the very least, the construct validity of this methodology is questionable when the control and experimental participants reverse hypothesized behavior.


Globalisation is influencing foreign language education at universities worldwide. People now live in an increasingly multicultural world where different cultural practices have blended. Thus, intercultural awareness has now become a vital part of foreign language learning.
The aim of the study was to investigate teachers' and students' beliefs and understandings of the significance of intercultural awareness in foreign language teaching and learning in a university context. As the study was situated within the Tasmanian context, it sought to provide contextual information and implications meaningful and appropriate to the local language learning environment. The investigation focused on three areas: generalising the participants' perceptions of the importance of intercultural awareness in general; examining their intercultural experiences, personally and professionally, especially in relation to language teaching and learning; and identifying the factors that influenced the way they teach and learn.
The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research approaches for data collection and analysis. It included two phases: questionnaire survey and subsequent interview. The statistical data were analysed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) software version 20.0. The textual data collected from the interviews were analysed using the NVivo qualitative data software version 10.0. Thematic analysis was used in the qualitative data analysis.
The results of this study indicated strong recognition of the key role that intercultural awareness plays in foreign language teaching and learning. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications and directions for further research were also addressed. The findings suggested that language learners should cultivate intercultural awareness in the process of their language learning as it is considered the major goal of foreign language learning. Meanwhile, teachers' intercultural awareness could influence their language teaching methodology and course design. A paradigm shift from a traditional to an intercultural stance in language education poses a challenge for both language teachers and students if they wish to meet the goals of foreign language education for the global context.


Common-law marriage is about to go the way of the buggy whip. In 2005, Pennsylvania abolished common-law marriage and other state legislatures are considering following Pennsylvania's lead. Even if common-law marriage is abolished in all states, the problem of unmarried cohabitants seeking property rights arising from their relationships will still challenge the courts. In particular, since most claimants are women, the perception of them as either an "adventuress" or a "virtuous wife" will often determine whether they will attain shared property rights. This article uses the California experience as an illustration of the evolution of the law from the abolition of common law marriage in 1895 to the re-evaluation of cohabitant rights in the landmark case of Marvin v. Marvin in 1976. Post-Marvin litigation in both California and Washington State provide a paradigm for dealing with cohabitant property claims in the 21st century. In essence, common-law marriage has been revived in another form today. The emergence of the concept of a "committed intimate relationship" for determining whether a cohabitant can attain shared property rights is instructive. A committed intimate relationship is one that resembles common-law marriage with the additional requirement of intertwined financial affairs. An analysis of common-law marriage cases in the 19th century and present-day cohabitant cases shows that the main determinant is still whether the cohabitant is cast in the role of "adventuress" (or adventurer) or has fulfilled the role of "virtuous wife."


We present recent work on a method for depositing silicone nanofilament coatings on surfaces under mild conditions in the gas or solvent phase. The coating shows exceptional properties in an application as a superhydrophobic coating. It can be applied to a variety of substrates, is optically transparent and intrinsically superhydrophobic with typical water contact angles of more than 160° and sliding angles below 20°. It shows exceptional long term stability towards solvents and aqueous solutions of varying pH as well as natural and artificial weathering. We review the coating techniques as well as the results of our studies on the structure and properties of a silicone nanofilament coating.


Various machine learning and data mining tasks in classification require abundant data samples to be labeled for training. Conventional active learning methods aim at labeling the most informative samples for alleviating the labor of the user. Many previous studies in active learning select one sample after another in a greedy manner. However, this is not very effective because the classification models has to be retrained for each newly labeled sample. Moreover, many popular active learning approaches utilize the most uncertain samples by leveraging the classification hyperplane of the classifier, which is not appropriate since the classification hyperplane is inaccurate when the training data are small-sized. The problem of insufficient training data in real-world systems limits the potential applications of these approaches. This paper presents a novel method of active learning called manifold regularized experimental design (MRED), which can label multiple informative samples at one time for training. In addition, MRED gives an explicit geometric explanation for the selected samples to be labeled by the user. Different from existing active learning methods, our method avoids the intrinsic problems caused by insufficiently labeled samples in real-world applications. Various experiments on synthetic datasets, the Yale face database and the Corel image database have been carried out to show how MRED outperforms existing methods.