The Incipient to Overt: Angiotensin II Blocker, Telmisartan, Investigation on Type 2 Diabetic Nephropathy (INNOVATION) study previously showed that treatment with telmisartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker, effectively reduced the transition from incipient to overt nephropathy in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients. However, that large study included both normotensive and hypertensive patients. In the present post hoc analysis, we aimed to assess whether or not telmisartan elicits beneficial effects on the progression of microalbuminuria in normotensive patients. We randomized 163 microalbuminuric (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio: UACR of 100 to 300 mg/g creatinine) normotensive type 2 diabetic patients to treatment with telmisartan (40 or 80 mg once daily) or placebo over 52 weeks. The patients treated with either dose of telmisartan showed lower transition rates from microalbuminuria to overt nephropathy compared to the placebo group. In addition, more patients on telmisartan reverted to normoalbuminuria (UACR<30 mg/g creatinine): 15.5% of the 40 mg group, 19.6% of the 80 mg group, and 1.9% of the placebo group. In normotensive patients treated with telmisartan, changes in UACR were not significantly correlated with changes in blood pressure. Side effects did not differ among the groups. The present study demonstrates that telmisartan prevents the progression of microalbuminuria (in some cases induces remission of albuminuria) in normotensive Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes. Telmisartan is shown to be safe and well tolerated in these patients.


Meta-analyses of chemotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer (MAC-HNC) showed that adding chemotherapy (CHT) to locoregional treatment improves the treatment outcome. However, it was observed only with concurrent administration of radiotherapy (RT) and CHT. Among many drugs used in this setting, cisplatin (CDDP) has most consistently been used as a single-agent with radical RT. The two most common administrations of CDDP included 100 mg/sqm every three weeks and 40 mg/sqm weekly, both during the course of RT. While a direct comparison of the two modes of CDDP administration in the definitive treatment of locally advanced squamous cell (SQC) HNC is basically lacking, recent summary brought somewhat conflicting results. Questions largely unexplored is the total CDDP dose deemed necessary when administered concurrently with radical RT. Subset analyses from various prospective randomized trials and meta-analyses seem to indicate that one may not need a total CDDP dose of significantly higher than 200 mg/sqm if at all higher than that, irrespective of the type of RT administered and seemingly unnecessary in HPV+ oropharyngeal cancer patients. Due to presumably lower but still effective threshold level of total CDDP given with RT may depend on other factors, such as frequency of CDDP administration or RT fractionation pattern and be closely interrelated with anticipated toxicity, researchers continue with their quest to find optimal approach in this setting. Large clinical trials should detect small differences between treatment options in an era when "old" but effective drugs still dominate the research arena of SQC HNC.


We explore the problem of resource allocation in a system made up of autonomous agents that can either carry out tasks individually or, when necessary, cooperate by forming physical connections with each other. We consider a group transport scenario that involves transporting broken robots to a repair zone. Some broken robots can be transported by an individual 'rescue' robot, whereas other broken robots are heavier and therefore require the rescue robots to self-assemble into a larger and stronger composite entity. We present a distributed controller that solves this task while efficiently allocating resources. We conduct a series of real-world experiments to show that our system can i) transport separate broken robots in parallel, ii) trigger self-assembly into composite entities when necessary to overcome the physical limitations of individual agents, iii) efficiently allocate resources and iv) resolve deadlock


A rat model of stroke shows that the rebuilding of spinal circuits in response to training is time-sensitive. Patients recovering from strokes often fight a long uphill battle, with mixed results. Studying the effect of physical training on regeneration from damaged nerves in a model of stroke in rats, Wahl et al. show that timing matters. First, the researchers gave the rats a stroke, which damaged their ability to reach for food pellets with their forelimbs. The researchers then gave them physical training and treated them with an antibody to encourage neural regeneration. The rats improved more when the researchers waited until after the antibody treatment to start the training. Damaged circuits, it seems, need a little time to regrow before being called into action. A. S. Wahl, W. Omlor, J. C. Rubio, J. L. Chen, H. Zheng, A. Schröter, M. Gullo, O. Weinmann, K. Kobayashi, F. Helmchen, B. Ommer, M. E. Schwab, Asynchronous therapy restores motor control by rewiring of the rat corticospinal tract after stroke. Science 344, 1250–1255 (2014). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Link streams model the dynamics of interactions in complex distributed systems as sequences of links (interactions) occurring at a given time. Detecting patterns in such sequences is crucial for many applications but it raises several challenges. In particular, there is no generic approach for the specification and detection of link stream patterns in a way similar to regular expressions and automata for text patterns. To address this, we propose a novel automata framework integrating both timed constraints and finite memory together with a recognition algorithm. The algorithm uses structures similar to tokens in high-level Petri nets and includes non-determinism and concurrency. We illustrate the use of our framework in real-world cases and evaluate its practical performances.


Era of rapid globalization and the current reform era have an impact on all aspects of life in society. The development of science and technology has brought a great impact especially on the culture, values and religion. Teenagers as one of the elements of society did not escape the changes taking place today. Changes in the values that occur in society have influenced the behavior of adolescents, especially adolescent sexual behavior. Adolescent sexual behavior such as courtship is now experiencing irregularities due to sexual activity with others who can drag the teenager to have sex before marriage, it demonstrates the problems in the aspect of adolescent sexual life is very alarming. The purpose of this study to find out and describe any factors that cause adolescents to premarital sexual behavior and also to find out how other forms of premarital sexual behavior. This study uses a case study approach in which this study focuses on a case of intensive, detailed and profound. Because of the nature of the detail and depth that case studies generally show unanimity of cases and the overall life cycle of interaction factors in the case. The results of this study apply only to the case itself research is directed to explain and explore the phenomenon or symptoms of premarital sexual behavior. Knowing about what factors are causing teens to do premarital sexual behavior and find other forms of premarital sexual behavior of adolescents. The subjects in this study consisted of three teenagers who were taken by way of providing a scale or a previous questionnaire given to 20 adolescents. Methods of data collection in this study using the interview method. The results showed that the factors that cause adolescents to premarital sexual behavior are internal factors and external factors, internal factors such as factors increasing sexual libido caused by the desire of the subject itself in choosing the court, the utilization factor of the spread of information through mass media, the desire factor for violate the norms of society regarding the prohibition to have sex before marriage, as well as external factors such as lack of information regarding the factors of sexual education from parents who cause the subject to find information themselves that information. As for other forms of sexual behavior ever conducted was the start of the walk together, holding hands, embracing, touching, kissing cheeks, forehead, and kissed her lips, having sex half body to attach the genitals, and to have sexual intercourse or sexual intercourse.


Effective prediction of diagnosis and prognosis in cancer is an important step for selection of a suitable treatment regimen. In this dissertation, the importance of using antibody microarray for effective diagnosis and prognosis of cancer was studied using bladder and gastric cancers.
In the first part of study, establishment of a protein signature to predict recurrence of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer was aimed at. Antibodies against cancer-related proteins were spotted and proteins from recurrent and non-recurrent non-muscle invasive bladder cancer tissues incubated. The protein profiles of the samples were analyzed for statistical significance and differential expression of proteins among the cancer groups. After a series of analysis using bioinformatic tools, a 20 protein-signature predicting recurrence of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer was identified along with important molecular mechanisms underlying recurrence.
High grade gastric adenocarcinomas are often lethal with metastasis and frequent recurrence. The second study concentrated on more personalized cancer medicine by direct comparison of healthy controls and gastric adenocarcinoma tissues from the same patient. Antibody microarray was used to study the protein profiles of gastric cancer by incubating protein samples from healthy controls in tandem with the cancer protein from the same patient. Statistically and clinically significant proteins were identified including a 16 protein signature for betterment of individual-based cancer treatment regimen. Identified biomarkers included known therapeutic targets such as VEGFA, S100A9 and newly identified markers like OCLN and TIA1.
The analyses on two cancer types revealed two different protein signatures with high specificity and sensitivity. Moreover, our findings were clinically relevant and superior to many other approved available methods for diagnosis and prognosis.


The central question of the theory of industrial ecology (IE) is: Whether IE is/will be a form of descriptive or prescriptive science? Some debate the same (more or less) question by asking whether IE is objective or normative? This author argues that in the case of the physical flows of matter and energy the description of the ecosystem flows can produce an important prescription for the industrial ecosystem overall goal and vision of ecological sustainability. However, the ecosystem cannot tell us what to do in practice and we cannot prescribe concrete solutions or practical measures for industrial ecosystems based on ecosystem description. In the case of the structural and organisational characteristics and properties of industrial ecosystems, it is very difficult (or impossible) to derive anything prescriptive for industrial ecosystems from ecosystem description. Responses to this contribution are encouraged for publication in future issues of Progress in Industrial Ecology: An International Journal (PIE).


Allergen Specific Immunotherapy (ASI) in the form of subcutaneous route (SCIT) used over a century and is currently under used for management of IgE mediated allergy disorders. SCIT Meta analysis showed very promising results and sustained effect for a long period from 7 years to 12 years on stopping the therapy. The adverse events are not common and application for day to day practice currently restricted among trained physicians. Allergy prone subjects adherence to SCIT is very less and drop outs are more either due to invasive injections, the long term dosage, cumbersome to wait at the clinic after the injection or due to local and systemic reactions. Alternate route suggested by WAO, ARIA and EAACI is Sublingual (SLIT) for better compliance and to increase the adherence of the therapy. SLIT Meta analysis showed its efficacy is equivalent to SCIT with mild to moderate tolerable adverse events without discontinuation of dosage schedules.SLIT becomes successful in the hands of trained physicians who initiate the effective dose for effective response which is crucial. The quality of standardised allergen extracts and the appropriate dose is to generate clinical response is very important. Selection of allergens for therapy by taking care of proteolysis which degrade in combination of heterogeneous allergens and time of administration is very critical. SLIT is friendly with children less than 6 years, SCIT restricted below 6 years. SLIT in the form of drops, tablets and Stripe is currently used and SLIT kept below the tongue before food for 2 to 5 minutes and swallow. The prescribed tailor made dosage consumed on daily basis at a regular time shows better results. At present the SLIT is a personal Medicine. SLIT is popular among European countries and US FDA is in the process of evaluation of clinical trials.


This article examines what drives audience participation in interactive broadcast shows, with implications for the democratic potential of these shows as spaces of citizen engagement and public discussion. It makes three contributions, the first two to audience and media studies and the last to political communication. First, it provides evidence to fill a gap in empirical knowledge on what drives audience participation in interactive broadcasts in Africa. "Mediated sociability"—the ways in which audience members are socialized into thinking about interactive broadcast shows as a space in which people like them have a voice—emerges as a strong determinant of audience participation. Second, it then uses this evidence from a non-Western perspective to reinforce the importance of conceptualizing the interactive broadcast show as a convened social space that can enable active citizenship. Third, by advancing scholarship on audiences and publics, the article deepens our understanding on the democratic significance of interactive broadcast in Africa and beyond.


Background: With the advent of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), more information can be obtained about the anatomy of the middle ear, soft tissue pathologies, and the complications of middle ear disease process as compared to the conventional diagnostic methods. Aims: This study aims to study the spectrum of HRCT temporal bone findings in inflammatory middle ear diseases as well as correlate computed tomography (CT) with intraoperative findings. Settings and Design: This is a cross-sectional study including all consecutive patients presenting to the ear, nose, and throat department with a provisional diagnosis of inflammatory middle ear disease requiring surgical management and referred to department of radiodiagnosis for HRCT temporal bone. Materials and Methods: The HRCT findings of 58 such patients were compared with the intraoperative findings. Statistical Analysis Used: Interrater agreement Kappa was used to find agreement between CT and surgical findings. Diagnostic test was used to find out sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of CT taking surgery as gold standard. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: HRCT had high sensitivity for delineating the disease at most of the sites except for the facial canal and integrity of stapes. Correlative accuracy was highest in the region of the incus, labyrinth, scutum, sinus plate, inner ear, and jugular bulb. Conclusions: Our study showed moderate to very good correlation between HRCT temporal bone and operative findings. It also allowed early identification of complications enabling a better surgical approach and treatment plan.


The $^{40}\mathrm{Ar}$($\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}},{\ensuremath{\gamma}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$) photon scattering reaction was used to search for spin-flip $M1$ strength in $^{40}\mathrm{Ar}$. The nearly monochromatic, linearly polarized photon beam of HI\ensuremath{\gamma}S, in an energy region from 7.7 to 11 MeV, was employed in this study. 28 dipole excitations were observed. The azimuthal intensity asymmetry indicated that all of these states were $E1$ except for the state at ${E}_{x}=9.757$ MeV. Shell-model calculations were used to interpret this state as one fragment of the spin-flip $M1$ strength in $^{40}\mathrm{Ar}$.


This paper is forthcoming as a chapter in D. Kochenov (ed.), EU Citizenship and Federalism: The Role of Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2015). The central idea builds on the popular sociological concept of sexual citizenship, assuming its link to the cluster of specific sexual rights. Such sexual rights address multiple identities based on gender, sexual orientation and other broader aspects of sexuality (including, inter alia, consumption of pornography and sex work). The author applies this broad paradigm of sexual citizenship towards federalizing evolution of EU citizenship. The result of such a critical investigation demonstrates that EU citizenship offers not only a novel transnational vision of peoplehood. It equally entails governance of sexual rights as a part and parcel of mobile European project through vertical channels of EU sexual citizenship.


The creation of ocean crust by rapid injection of magma at mid-ocean ridges can lead to eruptions of lava onto the seafloor and release of "event plumes," which are huge volumes of anomalously warm water enriched in reduced chemicals that rise up to 1 km above the seafloor. Here, we use seismic data to show that seafloor eruptions and the release of hydrothermal event plumes correspond to diking episodes with high injection velocities and rapid onset of magma emplacement within the rift zone. These attributes result from high excess magma pressure at the dike source, likely due to a new influx of melt from the mantle. These dynamic magmatic conditions can be detected remotely and may predict the likelihood of event plume release during future seafloor spreading events.


IMPORTANCE
The prevalence of persistent diabetic macular edema (DME) after months of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy and its effect on visual acuity are unknown.

OBJECTIVE
To assess subsequent outcomes of eyes with DME persisting for 24 weeks after initiating treatment with 0.5 mg of ranibizumab.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
We performed post hoc, exploratory analyses of a randomized clinical trial from March 20, 2007, through January 29, 2014, from 117 of 296 eyes (39.5%) randomly assigned to receive ranibizumab with persistent DME (central subfield thickness ≥250 μm on time domain optical coherence tomography) through the 24-week visit.

INTERVENTIONS
Four monthly intravitreous injections of ranibizumab and then as needed per protocol.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Cumulative 3-year probabilities of chronic persistent DME (failure to achieve a central subfield thickness <250 μm and at least a 10% reduction from the 24-week visit on at least 2 consecutive study visits) determined by life-table analyses, and at least 10 letter (≥2 line) gain or loss of visual acuity among those eyes.

RESULTS
The probability of chronic persistent DME among eyes with persistent DME at the 24-week visit decreased from 100% at the 32-week visit to 81.1% (99% CI, 69.6%-88.6%), 55.8% (99% CI, 42.9%-66.9%), and 40.1% (99% CI, 27.4%-52.4%) at the 1-, 2-, and 3-year visits, respectively. At 3 years, visual acuity improved in eyes with and without chronic persistent DME through the follow-up period, respectively, by a mean of 7 letters and 13 letters from baseline. Among 40 eyes with chronic persistent edema through 3 years, 17 (42.5%) (99% CI, 23.1%-63.7%) gained 10 letters or more from baseline, whereas 5 (12.5%) (99% CI, 2.8%-31.5%) lost 10 letters or more from baseline.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
These data suggest less than half of eyes treated for DME with intravitreous ranibizumab have persistent central-involved DME through 24 weeks after initiating treatment. Among the 40% that then have chronic persistent central-involved DME through 3 years, longer-term visual acuity outcomes appear to be slightly worse than in the 60% in which DME does not persist. Nevertheless, when following the treatment protocol used in this trial among eyes with vision impairment from DME, long-term improvement in visual acuity from baseline is typical and substantial (≥2-line) loss of visual acuity is likely uncommon through 3 years, even when central-involved DME chronically persists.


The objectives of this study were to validate the Survey Work-Home Interaction - Nijmegen (SWING), to assess its item bias and construct equivalence for different language groups; and to analyse the differences in workhome interaction among various demographic groups of workers. A eross-sectional survey design was used. Random samples (n = 326) were taken of workers employed in the eanhmoving equipment industry in eight provinces of South Africa. An exploratory factor analysis showed that the SWING consists of four factors, namely Negative Work-Home Interference, Negative Home-Work Interference, Positive Work-Home Interference, and Positive Home-Work Interference. The four factors showed acceptable internal consistencies. No evidence was found for uniform or non-uniform bias of the items of the SWING for different language groups. Exploratory factor analysis with target rotations confirmed the construct equivalence of the work-home interaction construct. Males experienced practically significant higher negative Work-Home Interference than females.


Ensembling is a well-known technique in neural machine translation (NMT) to improve system performance. Instead of a single neural net, multiple neural nets with the same topology are trained separately, and the decoder generates predictions by averaging over the individual models. Ensembling often improves the quality of the generated translations drastically. However, it is not suitable for production systems because it is cumbersome and slow. This work aims to reduce the runtime to be on par with a single system without compromising the translation quality. First, we show that the ensemble can be unfolded into a single large neural network which imitates the output of the ensemble system. We show that unfolding can already improve the runtime in practice since more work can be done on the GPU. We proceed by describing a set of techniques to shrink the unfolded network by reducing the dimensionality of layers. On Japanese-English we report that the resulting network has the size and decoding speed of a single NMT network but performs on the level of a 3-ensemble system.


Coincident with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, unprecedented numbers of Kemp's ridley sea turtles ( Lepidochelys kempii ) stranded on northern Gulf of Mexico beaches and the number of nests recorded on the primary nesting beaches plummeted far below expected levels. High levels of strandings have continued since 2010 and the number of nests recovered to approximately 2009 levels in 2011, and improved slightly in 2012. A stock assessment conducted in 2012 indicated that a mortality event occurred in 2010, and that the number of nests should once more exhibit an increasing trend from 2013 and beyond. This has not happened; rather, the number of nests declined sharply in 2013. We conducted a new stock assessment to evaluate additional scenarios, including 1) three stock-recruitment options; 2) the potential that a new source of ongoing mortality is present; and 3) the potential that the number of nests-per-adult-female is dependent on the size of the age-2 þ benthic population. The latter model provided the best fit to the data. Further, the preliminary estimate of actual nesting in 2014 is consistent with model projections. The reduction in reproductive output could be due to the combination of a large population and reduced prey levels. Together these may have increased the remigration interval or reduced the number of nests per female. However, research is needed to evaluate this and other plausible hypotheses. Nesting may be highly variable in the future depending on feeding conditions on the foraging grounds.


8 The assessment of sustainability performance has become a topic widely discussed by 9 business practitioners. The complexity of this issue is highlighted by the incorporation of a 10 large number of criteria. Several methods under the context of Multiple Criteria Decision 11 Analysis (MCDA) have been employed to facilitate the aggregation of various criteria and to 12 provide a guideline for decision making. As most MCDA methods assume that each criterion 13 plays a role equal to its weight, this paper investigates the weight of each criterion in 14 evaluation of corporate sustainability by focusing on the sugar industry in order to respond to 15 the lack of MCDA and sustainability studies in this sector. The weighting is analysed by 16 means of the relative importance based upon interviews and the direct rating technique. 17 Statistical analysis is also conducted. The results from this empirical research indicate 18 priorities of sustainability criteria and demonstrate the diversity of concerns within the 19 industry when deciding on sustainability policies and strategies. This encourages practitioners 20 to incorporate uncertain weights of sustainability criteria into decision making. Possible 21 reasons for variations or changes in weights have been also discussed, and this enables 22 practitioners to perform a sensitivity analysis in a more realistic way. 23


In Lautsi v. Italy, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the display of crucifixes in Italian state schools. Somewhat differently, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld state-sponsored displays of symbols such as creches or menorahs, and of religious texts such as the Ten Commandments, but only outside the school setting, and only if they are accompanied by other elements giving the overall display a secular message. In both instances, the high courts in question found that the displays could co-exist with religious liberty. But given the negative effects that such displays can have on dissenters and on social peace, the public argument for them would be much stronger if they do not merely co-exist with religious liberty but can actually promote it. This paper, for a symposium comparing state-sponsored displays in Europe and America, offers ways in which such displays can actually support a vigorous conception of religious liberty for all faiths. They can communicate important messages of limited government and transcendent freedoms, including freedom for religion to be relevant to public life, not confined to private, insular settings. I then, however, acknowledge and revisit some of the problems with such official displays, and I briefly suggest ways in which the vigorous conception of religious liberty can be recognized and promoted without them. The crucial thing is to cultivate the spirit I have described of limited government, transcendent rights, and a religious freedom whose scope extends to public settings.


Through examination of transcripts of the first five leadership succession discussions that occurred in a work group designed to empower teachers we explored dynamics and dilemmas associated with women leading a women's group based on feminist principles. We addressed three research questions: How is leadership, as reflected in leadership succession processes, experienced in such a group? What dynamics are associated with leadership succession in this type of group? What are outcomes of the process for members?Results indicated that the experience of leadership shifted considerably during the first six years of the group, with reflective images of leadership moving from the mythical to the pragmatic, from the powerful to the less powerful. Dynamics evolved in ways that were partially consistent and partially inconsistent with organizational life-cycle literature.The group experienced ambivalence and tension surrounding the type of authority given to designated leaders. Members dealt with discomfort by shifting the focus of the group coordinator's attention to external relations and by rotating internal leadership responsibilities. This approach resolved tensions associated with authority and increased members' senses of their own power, even as it decreased the range of initiative-taking that was implicitly allowable within the group.This analysis of leadership succession in a women's group with an empowerment agenda offers a salient case for the study of dilemmas likely to be present in many change efforts. Its results suggest that attempting to resolve contradictions and tensions is less helpful than acknowledging them and working within them.


Background: Parents of infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are at risk of psychological distress and NICU-related stress. However, parents of infants admitted to NICU for cardiac surgery are an under-researched population. Aims: Identify levels of NICU-related stress, and levels of psychological distress, reported by parents of infants admitted to the NICU for cardiac surgery. Study Design: Observational study. Subjects: 69 parents of infants admitted to the NICU for cardiac surgery (cardiac group) and 142 parents of healthy infants (control group). Outcome Measures: Questionnaire packs provided to parents prior to discharge (time-point 1), and at six and 12 months corrected age included: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations, and Family Support Scale. The Parental Stressor Scale:NICU was administered to the cardiac group at time-point 1. Results: The cardiac group reported (i) that parental role alteration was the most stressful aspect of the NICU and (ii) higher scores for anxiety and depression than the control group at all three time-points, with the highest levels reported during the NICU stay. Correlation analyses indicated (i) stress associated with the sights and sounds of the NICU, and the appearance and behaviour of the infant in the NICU, had a significant positive association with anxiety and depression, and (ii) a significant negative relationship between anxiety and task-focused coping.


Developing environmentally related strategies is difficult as resource issues enable and constrain strategic planning. These issues affect the levels of awareness, knowledge, and actions of sport and recreation managers. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the strategic planning process developed for internal cross-functional sustainability teams to oversee environmental issues within sport and recreation organizations (i.e., the sustainability team). Analysis of the strategic construction of this team is examined using a conceptual strategic planning framework grounded in a resource based view of the organization (Hart, 1995; Wernerfelt, 1984). Key elements of the development process include selecting individuals to serve on a sustainability team, utilization of tangible and intangible organizational resources, culture, size, roles, and leadership and management issues related to governing the sustainability team.


The nonlinear Talbot effect, in which self-images are formed by generated parametric light from the nonlinear optical process, is presented in this paper. The comparison is made between the conventional Talbot effect and the newly observed nonlinear case. The essence of such nonlinear self-images is provided and future work on this effect is also discussed. The conceptional extension achieved here not only opens a door for broader scopes of applications in imaging techniques but also offers a way for other research fields such as visualizing various ferric domains and subwavelength lithography.


For more than seven decades, the multilateral trading system has played an essential role in promoting international cooperation on trade policymaking and dispute resolution. As theWTOis being pushed toward the verge of irrelevance, it falls upon us, who believe in the utility of the WTO and multilateralism in general, to defend its legitimacy and significance. Taking theoretical and doctrinal approaches as well as case studies, this article expounds on the fundamental function of the system as being to discipline the use of protectionist policy instruments for trade or non-trade objectives and draws on the significance of the Theory of Distortions and Welfare in providing powerful economic guidance for how the system may operate to achieve a proper balance between the regulation of protectionist instruments and the preservation of policy space. Furthermore, this article shows how the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism, particularly the Appellate Body, has served the underlying function of the system by contributing to disincentivizing governments from responding to protectionist demands of special interest groups but leaving sufficient latitude of discretion for governments to accommodate nontrade interests. This article cautions that if theWTOdoes collapse and potential adverse economic and political ramifications materialize, then the political need for international trade cooperation and rulesbased dispute resolution will quickly return. By then, the best way to address that need in pursuit of long-term peace and prosperity would be to rebuild a multilateral trading system.
WTO, Trade War, Protectionism, Multilateral trading system, Non-trade values, Dispute Settlement, Appellate Body, Economic efficiency.


If different languages orient the speaker toward different aspects of experience, then translation can be seen as a passage between lived worlds. This paper traces out some key moments in the history of translation theory in the modern West and argues that translation and ethnography require each other. Free of the constraint that professional translators produce easily digestible texts for the target audience, anthropologists are particularly well placed to carry out translations that take context seriously into account, as well as ethnographies centered on texts. Such "ugly" translations (Ortega y Gasset) can force the reader to work to reorient him- or herself, to cross a boundary into what is potentially another world, initially another language-world. Through the history, we seek to distinguish the translation of referential content, something that is always possible, and translating stylistic and indexical (contextual) elements, something that has often been declared impossible. The paper draws some of the implications of these arguments on the basis of text-artifacts constructed from Central Himalayan oral traditions.


Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect and represents nearly 40% of all deaths caused by congenital anomalies.1 Critical congenital heart disease (CCHD), which encompasses the more severe forms, is present in 2.5 to 3 in 1000 live births.2 In general, prenatal ultrasound or physical examination alone can easily miss newborns with CCHD.3,4 Failure to diagnose CCHD early in life can result in high morbidity and mortality rates, because symptoms frequently present after closing of the pulmonary ductus arteriosus, after nursery discharge. Pulse-oximetry screening is a low-cost, painless, noninvasive test that increases the ability to identify newborns with CCHD before they clinically decompensate.5,–,8

In 2009 the American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics published a scientific statement regarding the role of pulse oximetry in examining newborns for CCHD.9 Despite presenting strong support for this method, they stopped shy of recommending universal screening and called for further studies on implementation. In September 2010, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children recommended that CCHD be added to the uniform screening panel. However, …

Address correspondence to Sandra Cuzzi, MD, Division of Hospitalist Medicine, Children's National Medical Center, 111 Michigan Ave NW, Washington, DC 20010. E-mail: scuzzi{at}childrensnational.org


Molecular membrane dynamics in living cells are often obscured from the observer because of the limited spatial resolution of conventional far-field optical microscopy. The superior spatial resolution of stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy provides new insights into the dynamic processes within the plasma membrane. In combination with the high temporal resolution of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), we record and characterize the diffusion of membrane constituents within nanoscale observation areas.

In the first part of the thesis, we compare STED-FCS data of various fluorescent lipid analogs and proteins in the plasma membrane of living cells. Our results reveal distinct modes of diffusion which can be differentiated according to the chemical structure of the molecules. Phosphoglycerolipids diffuse freely and only weakly interact with other membrane constituents. Sphingolipids exhibit a strong molecular confinement due to the formation of hydrogen bounds within the ceramide backbone or between large polar head groups. Transmembrane proteins corral in compartments built by the cellular cytoskeleton. We implement Monte-Carlo simulations to support and explain our experimental results.

In the second part of the thesis, we enhance the experimental STED-FCS setup by the integration of a fast scanning unit. This newly developed concept not only enables us to perform calibration-free measurements of slowly diffusing particles but also visualizes spatial diffusion heterogeneities along the scan trajectory.


Most SQL texts attempt to serve as an encyclopedic reference on SQL syntax -- an approach that is counterproductive, since this information is readily available in online references published by the major database vendors. For SQL beginners, it's more important for a book to focus on general concepts and offer clear explanations and examples of what the various statements can accomplish. This is that beginner book. A number of features make The LANGUAGE OF SQL unique among introductory SQL books. First, you will not be required to download software or sit with a computer as you read the text. The intent of this book is to provide examples of SQL usage that can be understood simply by reading them. Second, topics are organized in an intuitive and logical sequence. SQL keywords are introduced one at a time, allowing you to build on your prior understanding as you encounter new words and concepts. Finally, this book covers the syntax of three widely used databases: Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and Oracle, with special "Database Differences" boxes that will show you any differences in the syntax among those three databases, as well as instructions on how to obtain and install free versions of the databases. This is the only book you'll need to gain a working knowledge of SQL and relational databases.


An extensive U.S. research program to further develop wood utilization in transportation structures is currently in progress as a joint effort of the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. This research is funded primarily by U.S. legislation and involves cooperative research with universities, government agencies, and private industry. Within the program, research is divided into six areas: system development and design, lumber design properties, preservatives, alternate transportation system timber structures, inspection and rehabilitation, and technology and information transfer. This paper presents a brief summary of selected research program highlights within each of these areas and includes a listing of recent publications.


: Social scientists have long examined the changing role of the individual, and the influence of individualism in social and economic arrangements as well as behavioral decisions. With respect to co-operative behavior among farmers, however, the ideology of individualism has been little theorized in terms of its relationship to the longstanding virtue of independence. This paper explores this relationship by combining analysis of historical literature on the agricultural cooperative movement with the accounts of contemporary English farmers. I show that the virtue of independence is deployed to justify a variety of cooperative (formal and informal) and non-cooperative practices and that, despite apparently alternative interpretations, independence is most often conflated with individualistic premises. That conflation, I argue, leads farmers to see their neighbors as natural competitors: as those from whom which independence must be sought. This has the effect of masking the structural dependencies which farmers face (such as lenders and large purchasers) and limits the alternatives available to them to realize a view of independence that is maintained, rather than opposed, by interdependent collective action. Thus perceived, individualism is an ideological doctrine that succeeds by appealing to the virtue of independence, while simultaneously denying its actual realization.


Robert K. Landers. An Honest Life: The Life and Times of James T. Farrell. Encounter Books, 2O04. 562 pages; $29.95. The Father of Us All On Wednesday evening, February 25, 2004, Norman Mailer-pushing hard on his two wooden canes-gingerly navigated the four steps leading to a small platform located in the south court of the New York Public Library. For the eighty-one-year-old author of The Naked and the Dead, this was not an easy climb, but his wide, boisterous smile, to his many fans, low-keyed the obvious pain. Soon he was seated next to Arthur Schlessinger, Pete Hamill, and Kevin McCarthy, and moments later, the evening's program was called to order. Here, in this famous literary hall, with hundreds of admirers jammed into the audience, these four luminaries gathered to celebrate the centennial birthday of a man they considered a mentor, friend, and muse-the author of over fifty books, hundreds of essays, and an outspoken social critic and political gadfly, James T. Farrell. As always, Mailer blended style and conviction. "Farrell," he reflected, "was the man who taught me that I could become a writer. He was the first author I encountered who wrote about real people living simple lives, full of drudgery and despair. His Studs Lonigan trilogy convinced me there was more to literature than Scaramouch." Minutes later, Schlessinger, Hamill, and McCarthy echoed similar praise. Farrell was a premier novelist, they concurred, who portrayed the Chicago, Irish-American, Catholic milieu without rose-colored glasses. Reading Farrell, they averred, was the same as walking through ones own blighted neighborhood, peeping into a kaleidoscopic world of ennui, frustration, and disenchantment. Finally, the audience joined in with numerous comments and anecdotes about their favorite author-who died in 1979-and his literary legacy. Ideas and arguments bounced back and forth: was the Danny O'Neill pentalogy a better representation than Studs Lonigan? How about the Bernard Clare trilogy? Do not forget Ellen Rogers. Why didn't Farrell receive the Nobel Prize for literature, an honor he richly deserved? As a cultural event, this gathering sparkled with Farrell devotees and news of future conferences concluded the evening. This May, the Chicago Newberry Library hosted a centennial symposium in Parrel 1's native city, while in June another celebration took place in Paris to complement a new French translation of GCW House McGinty. Clearly, 2004 is the year of James T. Farrell. So it is no coincidence that an elaborate biography, written by a Smithsonian scholar, continues to honor the writer whom Kurt Vonnegut proclaimed, "The father of us all." Now Robert K. Landers tells the story of a man who wrote in the same manner that he talked, with words pouring out of him like water, a man who could write books the way other people chewed gum, a man who spent his literary career dodging hundreds of slings and arrows from outrageous critics, religious fanatics, and-on more than one occasion-municipal Comstockery. Born and raised in Chicago's Irish-Catholic south side, James T. Farrell's youthful obsession with baseball occupied much of his adolescent years and his dreams of someday playing on a professional team brightened this shy, bespectacled varsity letterman's imagination with fantasies of glory aided by his 1924 graduating yearbook's prophesy that the nineteen-year-old senior would be elected to the Athlete Hall of Fame. But after high school, these aspirations seemed unattainable as Farrell, working at some entry-level jobs, started to read serious books and-two years later-enrolled at the University of Chicago where, in a matter of days, he would recall almost a quarter of a century later, he overturned the values of his boyhood and became a rebellious young man. Here, in his on-again, off-again stint with academic studies, Farrell vowed that literature, not sports, was his true vocation, and someday his novels, depicting everyday life, would become world famous. …


In two decisions of the Israel Supreme Court concerning family relations, the meaning of traditional concepts has come to play a vital role in the debate. The first concerned a lesbian couple who were Israeli citizens. While residing for two years as students in Los Angeles, California, one of them gave birth following artificial insemination. The other spouse adopted the child. Both were entered in the LA civil register as the child's parents. Upon their return to Israel, they each applied to be registered as 'mother' of the child (the Israeli civil register admits the registration of 'father' and 'mother' but has no neutral category of 'parent,' as in LA). The State authorities declined, arguing that they can enter the name of only one woman as being a child's 'mother' in the civil register. In the second case, several Israeli homosexual couples, who had entered into civil marriage in Toronto, Canada, applied to be registered as married in Israel. The State authorities declined, arguing that, to be registered as such in Israel, a 'marriage' must be between a man and a woman. Other 'forms,' recognized abroad, do not fit within the existing concepts of Israeli law. A same-sex relationship can only be regarded in Israel as a 'social form' with some legal consequences, but not as a 'legal form.' The Supreme Court rejected the State's linguistic and other claims, creating, in the first case, new substantive concepts of parenthood and, in the second, pretending that the registration is only a matter of state statistics (a pretext refuted by the single dissenting opinion). These are by no means the first cases in which the Court has broken with traditional concepts of family relations, giving them different meanings to fit alternative forms.Israeli family law could easily have become the archetype of cultural conservatism. Key aspects of family law, i.e. those defined as 'matters of personal status,' are subject to the personal law of the persons concerned. For Israeli citizens or residents, this is their religious law, for non-resident foreigners – the law of their nationality (unless that law imports the law of their domicile, in which case the latter shall be applied). For Jews, jurisdiction in matters of marriage and divorce is entrusted to the rabbinical courts, for Muslims – to the shari'a (Islamic) courts etc. Instead of having a concept of marriage of its own, Israeli law makes reference to personal religious laws which do not foresee mixed (interfaith) marriages. The law does not provide for civil marriage or divorce. In other matters of personal status,' the family courts and the religious courts have concurrent jurisdiction. However, the family court must also apply, ex officio, religious law in matters which are not regulated by secular legislation.It is precisely here that the Israel Supreme Court has been able to help people who could not have a religious ceremony (because the spouse was of another faith, or due to religious impediments prohibiting marriage) or did not wish to have one, to avail themselves of Israeli private international law rules in order to have recognized and enforced at home most effects of their marriage entered into abroad. Simultaneously, the Court expanded the rights and obligations of reputed spouses (cohabitants who live as husband and wife) to help out couples who did not travel outside Israel to procure a marriage.It might be thought that the Court has thus made the law fit the wishes and needs of the individual members of society, helping each to achieve self-fulfilment according to their private views, rather than making them shape their relationships in line with the concepts and truths dictated by society through its legislature. But this depiction seems to be elusive. The following exposition of the different 'legal forms,' which spouses may choose to shape their family relations, shows that the situation is in fact far from satisfactory. The time has come for the Knesset to do its share.


Purpose - This paper aims to better understand the cultural-philosophical significance of microblogging. In this way it seeks to inform evaluations of this new medium and of the culture and society it co-shapes and in which it is rooted.

Design/methodology/approach - Engaging in philosophical reflection inspired by philosophy of technology, political philosophy, and cultural history, this paper identifies and discusses some structural features of microblogging such as Twitter.

Findings - This paper discusses the following structural features of microblogging as a medium: an emphasis on activity, the rule of opinion, emphasis on the ordinary and on the self, blurring of the private/public distinction, the primacy of the present, and the paradox of distance and proximity. The discussion also suggests that microblogging remediates 'older' media such as letters, e-mails, texting, diaries, and newspaper writings. Finally, the paper explores some strategies to cope with the new medium, including 'hacking' it in order to widen the spectrum of possibilities it offers.

Research limitations/implications -

Practical implications - The paper assists users and policy makers to reflect on how new media such as microblogging might change the way we live and think. It helps them to better understand the medium and to evaluate its use.

Originality/value - Although there are data available now on the use of Twitter and other microblogging technologies, there has been very little philosophical reflection on the phenomenon. This paper begins to bridge this gap and makes novel connections between ideas from different academic fields


This thesis has two philosophical positions as its targets. The first is 'scientific realism' of the form defended by Boyd, (the early) Putnam, and most recently Psillos. The second is empiricism in the vein of Mill, Mach, Ayer, Carnap, and Van Fraassen. My objections to both have a rather Popperian flavour. For I argue that 'confirmation' is a misnomer, that so-called 'ampliative inferences' are heuristics at best, and that naturalism and subjectivism are regressive doctrines. At the heart of genuine realism, I argue, is a stance on the issues of perception and conception. In particular, I hold that to be a realist is to reject the notion that there are representations which have some sort of epistemic priority. And along related lines, I maintain that the closely aligned doctrine of physicalism cannot simply be presupposed. What this amounts to is that the search for some sort of 'solid foundation' for knowledge' is a futile enterprise. Such a foundation would be unimportant, even if there were to be one, and we ought to be free to critically examine any claim we like. So rather than sapere aude, I would have 'dare to err', and place an intersubjective emphasis on inquiry. And this goes for metaphysics, logic, and mathematics, as well as for natural science. Yet I also advocate the view that we ought to be optimistic about our ability to find the truth, ceteris paribus. And to this end, I argue that we should accept that our faculty of conception is sufficient to allow us to connect with the possibilities of being, whereas our faculty of sense is sufficient to allow us to connect with that which is actual; this, given considerable critical struggle on our parts, both individually and collectively. I urge that it is methodologically advisable to behave as if this is so, if we are not to асһieve only the self-paralysis of the Pyrrhonist. In a nutshell, destructive realism says that natural science progresses by ruling out possibilities, in particular by ruling out possible worlds as candidates for the actual world, but that this is a two-stage process, involving both an a priori (metaphysical) and an a posteriori (observational) component. The aim of natural science is to eliminate false theories. Its aspiration is truth.


Prion protein is central to Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) pathogenesis. Characteristically prion is resistant to conventional methods of sterilization and the most effective means of its degradation are incineration and alkaline hydrolysis. These methods are limited by environmental acceptability, application compatibility, cost and loss of reusable materials. Enzymatic degradation provides a viable alternative for decontaminating animal carcasses, specified risk materials, as well as surgical and dentistry instruments. The objective of this research was to isolate and characterise microbial keratinases and to investigate their ability to degrade keratinaceous materials and possibly scrapie prions. Microbial isolates from farmyard waste were grown on feather meal medium and the synthesised keratinase characterised by MALDI-MS and SDS-PAGE. Keratinolytic activity was determined using keratin azure, casein and melanised feather as substrates. Degradation of scrapie prion was evaluated by western blotting analysis. One specific isolates, identified as a strain of Bacillius licheniformis, demonstrated considerable promise. The molecular weight of the enzyme produced by this bacteria was found to be ≈28KDa, with optimum pH and temperature at 8.0 and 50 °C respectively. This novel keratinase demonstrated significant activity on keratin azure (11 U/mL) and casein substrates, and completely degraded melanised feather within 48h. Western blotting analysis shows significant reduction in prion signal and immunoreactivity for scrapie infected mouse (ME7) brain homogenate after incubation with this keratinase. Inclusion of a biosurfactant also further enhanced degradation of scrapie prion. The ability of this novel bacterial keratinase to degrade keratin materials and scrapie prion suggests its potential use as an environmental alternative in prion decontamination and other applications.


About a hundred dust impacts per day were detected during the first week in December 1995 by Galileo during its approach to Jupiter. These impacts were caused by submicrometer-sized particles that were just above the detection limit. After the closest approach to Io on 7 December, impacts of these small particles ceased. This effect is expected for dust grains emitted from Io that exit the field of view of the instrument after the flyby. The impact rate of bigger micrometer-sized dust grains continued to increase toward Jupiter. These dust particles are in orbit about Jupiter or are interplanetary grains that are gravitationally concentrated near Jupiter.


A global transcriptional co-activator, the SNF/SWI complex, has been characterized as a chromatin remodeling factor that enhances accessibility of the transcriptional machinery to DNA within a repressive chromatin structure. On the other hand, mutations in some human SNF/SWI complex components have been linked to tumor formation. We show here that SYT, a partner protein generating the synovial sarcoma fusion protein SYT-SSX, associates with native human SNF/SWI complexes. The SYT protein has a unique QPGY domain, which is also present in the largest subunits, p250 and the newly identified homolog p250R, of the corresponding SNF/SWI complexes. The C-terminal region (amino acids 310–387) of SSX1, comprising the SSX1 portion of the SYT-SSX1 fusion protein, binds strongly to core histones and oligonucleosomes in vitro and directs nuclear localization of a green fluorescence protein fusion protein. Experiments with serial C-terminal deletion mutants of SSX1 indicate that these properties map to a common region and also correlate with the previously demonstrated anchorage-independent colony formation activity of SYT-SSX in Rat 3Y1 cells. These data suggest that SYT-SSX interferes with the function of either the SNF/SWI complexes or another SYT-interacting co-activator, p300, by changing their targeted localization or by directly inhibiting their chromatin remodeling activities.


John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) stands among the greatest of watercolor painters, along with J.M.W. Turner, Winslow Homer, and other masters of this difficult medium. Watercolor was more than a distraction from the portrait and mural commissions Sargent labored over; after 1900, watercolor became central to his artistic vision. His aquarelles are, simply stated, masterworks. Portraits, interiors, landscapes, architectural studies--Sargent's work in watercolor offers a great variety of subject matter, ranging from Arab gypsies to World War I soldiers, to masterful depictions of Venetian churches, to Florida swamp alligators. Sargent carried his watercolors on his travels; They were ideally suited to capturing the scene, the light, the air, wherever he found himself. This book serves as a record of his travels, featuring the paintings he produced in Palestine, Northern Africa, the Canadian Rockies, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and Greece. Among specific locales were the islands of Majorca and Corfu; Florence, Venice, Carrara, Lake Garda, and Rome; the Alps; Lake O'Hara; the coast of Maine and the Miami River. Sargent's bold and often experimental use of the medium, which sometimes led to semi-abstract images, compels admiration among contemporary painters as well as museum goers today. In addition to placing Sargent's accomplishments in the context of his life and time, Carl Little discusses the artist's extraordinary watercolor technique.


Genomic and environmental sciences represent two poles of scientific data. In the first, highly parallel sequencing facilities generate large quantities of sequence data. In the latter, loosely networked remote and field sensors produce intermittent streams of different data types. Yet both genomic and environmental sciences are said to be moving to data intensive research. This paper explores and contrasts data flow in these two domains in order to better understand how data intensive research is being done. Our case studies are next generation sequencing for genomics and environmental networked sensors. Our objective was to enrich understanding of the 'intensive' processes and properties of data intensive research through a 'sociology' of data using methods that capture the relational properties of data flows. Our key methodological innovation was the staging of events for practitioners with different kinds of expertise in data intensive research to participate in the collective annotation of visual forms. Through such events we built a substantial digital data archive of our own that we then analysed in terms of three traits of data flow: durability, replicability and metrology. Our findings are that analysing data flow with respect to these three traits provides better insight into how doing data intensive research involves people, infrastructures, practices, things, knowledge and institutions. Collectively, these elements shape the topography of data and condition how it flows. We argue that although much attention is given to phenomena such as the scale, volume and speed of data in data intensive research, these are measures of what we call 'extensive' properties rather than intensive ones. Our thesis is that extensive changes, that is to say those that result in non-linear changes in metrics, can be seen to result from intensive changes that bring multiple, disparate flows into confluence. If extensive shifts in the modalities of data flow do indeed come from the alignment of disparate things, as we suggest, then we advocate the staging of workshops and other events with the purpose of developing the 'missing' metrics of data flow.


Transformation needs to be carried out by various scales of business including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Cultive Apparel is one of the clothing MSMEs that has experienced a decline in business performance since digital development. This study aims to analyze the causes of the gap between actual and expected conditions, identify and map business environmental factors, and formulate digital business strategies. Data analysis use spider web, IFE and EFE analysis (PESTEL and 5 Forces Porter), IE matrix, and QSPM Matrix. The results show a gap in the lack of product promotion activities in the digital. The main strength lies in the product brands that are known by consumers. The biggest weakness is the limited human resources. The greatest opportunities for a price match with suppliers and consumer loyalty. The biggest threat to suppliers who carry out direct retail sales to consumers and price wars. IE matrix shows the company is in quadrant II. Strategies that can be carried out in this quadrant are intensive and integrative strategies. QSPM matrix showed that the company should develop the market. Managerial implications are carried out by improving digital infrastructure, improving operational capabilities, developing market segments, and increasing the intensity of digital marketing.
Keywords: business digitalization, fashion, industry 4.0, market development


I. INTRODUCTION In 2005, New York joined six other states in announcing their plan to implement the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative ("RGGI"), the first ever mandatory cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide. (1) Cap and trade refers generally to regulatory programs that set an overall emissions cap and then allocate allowances, or portions of that cap, to emitters. (2) Those emitters must hold enough allowances to cover the actual amount of C[O.sub.2] emitted during a compliance period. (3) The participating states signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to implement the RGGI and began the rulemaking process to implement the RGGI regulations within each of their states. (4) With the exception of New York, each of the RGGI states enacted or modified legislation specifically to provide for the implementation of the RGGI. (5) In contrast, New York is implementing its RGGI program, known as the C[O.sub.2] Budget Trading Program, by the promulgation of regulations by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC") through its authority under the Air Pollution Control Act (the "Act"). (6) Public comments received by the DEC on the draft RGGI regulations questioned the DEC's authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions through the proposed cap-and-trade program without authorization from the legislature. (7) Furthermore, one of the regulated entities filed suit against the DEC (among other defendants), alleging among other things that the DEC's promulgation of the RGGI regulations was ultra vires. This note analyzes the DEC's statutory authority to implement the C[O.sub.2] Budget Trading Program under its authority to regulate air pollution provided by the Act. The landmark case of Boreali v. Axelrod (8) provides the framework for this analysis. The outcome of the Boreali analysis turns primarily on whether or not carbon dioxide can be classified as an air pollutant. Finding that this classification is reasonable, this note concludes that the DEC does in fact have the statutory authority to implement the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Part I provides background information regarding the growing sense of crisis over climate change, including the development in recent years of a scientific consensus that humans are changing the earth's temperature and the increasing public pressure to take steps to address climate change. Part II provides an overview of one of the major efforts to address climate change in the United States-the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative--and in particular, New York's RGGI program, known as the C[O.sub.2] Budget Trading Program. In addition, Part II details the basis of the challenge to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's authority to implement the C[O.sub.2] Budget Trading Program. Part III provides an overview of the Boreali approach to analyzing whether an administrative agency has exceeded its statutory authority, and applies each of the four Boreali factors to the DEC's exercise of its regulatory powers to implement the C[O.sub.2] Budget Trading Program. Finally, Part IV summarizes the results of the Boreali analysis and concludes that the DEC does in fact have the statutory authority to implement the RGGI under the Air Pollution Control Act. II. THE EMERGING CRISIS OF CLIMATE CHANGE Growing consensus among scientists that the earth's climate is changing has, over the past few years, resulted in great concern among policy makers and the public over the anticipated impacts of climate change and the role that humans are playing in causing or accelerating climate change. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ("IPCC") concluded that "[w]arming of the climate system is unequivocal." (9) The United States Supreme Court echoed that concern in its landmark decision of Massachusetts v. EPA. (10) In fact, data suggest that climate change is already impacting the environment. …


BACKGROUND
Blood culture is important for the determination of the etiologic agent of bacteremia. Analysis of blood culture results and antimicrobial susceptibility trend can provide clinicians with relevant information for the empirical treatment of patients.

METHODS
The species and antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates from blood cultures at the Severance Hospital during 1994-2003 were analysed. Blood specimens were cultured for 7 days using tryptic soy broth and thioglycollate medium. Identification of organism was based on conventional methods or commercial kit systems. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by a disk diffusion method.

RESULTS
Of 536,916 blood specimens cultured, 24,877 (4.6%) from 13,102 patients were positive. Among the isolates, 93.1% were aerobic or facultative anaerobic bacteria, 3.3% anaerobes, and 3.6% fungi. Escherichia coli was isolated most frequently, followed by Staphylococcus aureus, alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus, Enterococcus spp., and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The proportion of patients with Enterococcus faecium and K. pneumoniae gradually increased during this study. Enterococcus, S. aureus and alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus were frequently isolated from the age group of less than 2 yr. E. coli, Enterococcus spp., K. pneumoniae and S. aureus from the age group of over 50 yr. Oxacillin-resistant S. aureus decreased, whereas vancomycin-resistant E. faecium and imipenemresistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii increased.

CONCLUSIONS
E. coli was the most common cause of bacteremia and S. aureus, alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus, and K. pneumoniae were frequently isolated pathogens. The bacteremia due to Enterococcus, K. pneumoniae, fungi, vancomycin-resistant E. faecium, and imipenem-resistant P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii gradually increased during this period.


Inventory constitutes the part and parcel of every business domain and therefore its control is one of the key areas for driving optimization initiatives in an organization. Different inventory control policies have received attention in recent times as they affect the overall cost, quality and service of organizations which faces threat from the dynamic business environment. Inventory policies are characterized on the basis of various attributes which may not be precise and lack proper information. Multiattribute decision making problems are often confronted with the innate problem of selection, evaluation or ranking of alternatives that are typically characterized by multiple and conflicting attributes. This paper is an attempt to develop a new methodology for solving multi-attribute inventory control policies using the concept of intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS).The theory of IFS provides a structure to deal with information of the real world which lack clarity and are imperfect and/or imprecise. This very concept can be seen as an alternative option to describe a fuzzy set in situations when the existing information is not enough to define a usual fuzzy set. The technique involves in developing a fuzzy linear programming for multidimensional analysis of preference (LINMAP) under intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) environment that reflects the relative preference of the factors that the decision maker adheres to. The DM's preferences are arranged through pair-wise comparisons of alternatives and the one that has the shortest distance to the positive ideal solution (PIS) is considered the best solution


Economists have begun to recognize the role that higher order risk preferences play in a variety of settings. As such, several experiments have documented the degree of prudence, temperance, and to a lesser extent, edginess and bentness that laboratory subjects exhibit. More recently, researchers have argued that higher order risk preferences generally conform to mixed risk averse and mixed risk loving patterns that arise from a preference for disaggregating or aggregating harms, respectively. This paper examines the robustness of this pattern in three ways. First, it attempts to directly replicate previous results with compound lotteries over monetary outcomes. Second, it compares behavior in compound lotteries with behavior in reduced form lotteries. And third, it evaluates choices over monetary and non-monetary risks. While previous results are replicated for compound lotteries over monetary outcomes and aggregate behavior with reduced form lotteries has a similar pattern, individuals clearly treat compound and reduced form lotteries differently. Further, behavior differs between monetary and non-monetary outcomes.


Celebrating over 50 years of publication, the Southern Quarterly is an internationallyknown scholarly journal devoted to the interdisciplinary study of Southern arts and culture. For SoQ, "the arts" is defined broadly, and includes painting, sculpture, music, dance, poetry, photography, and popular culture. We also publish studies of Southern culture from such disciplines as literature, folklore, anthropology, and history. "The South" is defined as the region from the Mason Dixon Line to Central America. Regular features include reviews of books and films, periodic reviews of exhibitions and performances, as well as interviews with writers and artists.


Diagnostics based on fluorescence imaging of biomolecules is typically performed in well-equipped laboratories and is in general not suitable for remote and resource limited settings. Here we demonstrate the development of a compact, lightweight and cost-effective smartphone-based fluorescence microscope, capable of detecting signals from fluorescently labeled bacteria. By optimizing a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) based fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay, we demonstrate the use of the smartphone-based microscope for rapid identification of pathogenic bacteria. We evaluated the use of both a general nucleic acid stain as well as species-specific PNA probes and demonstrated that the mobile platform can detect bacteria with a sensitivity comparable to that of a conventional fluorescence microscope. The PNA-based FISH assay, in combination with the smartphone-based fluorescence microscope, allowed us to qualitatively analyze pathogenic bacteria in contaminated powdered infant formula (PIF) at initial concentrations prior to cultivation as low as 10 CFU per 30 g of PIF. Importantly, the detection can be done directly on the smartphone screen, without the need for additional image analysis. The assay should be straightforward to adapt for bacterial identification also in clinical samples. The cost-effectiveness, field-portability and simplicity of this platform will create various opportunities for its use in resource limited settings and point-of-care offices, opening up a myriad of additional applications based on other fluorescence-based diagnostic assays.


"Measures of Success" is a practical, hands-on guide to designing, managing, and measuring the impacts of community-oriented conservation and development projects. It presents a simple, clear, logical, and yet comprehensive approach to developing and implementing effective programs, and can help conservation and development practitioners use principles of adaptive management to test assumptions about their projects and learn from the results.The book presents a systematic approach to improving the focus, effectiveness, and efficiency of projects, with specific guidelines and advice on: designing a realistic conceptual framework based on local site conditions developing clearly defined goals, objectives, and activities creating a monitoring plan that can be used to assess whether goals and objectives are being met integrating social and biological science techniques to collect the most relevant and useful data in the most cost-effective way using the information obtained through the monitoring plan to modify the project and learn from the resultThe text is developed in eight chapters that follow the structure of a planning process from conception to completion, with the chapters linked by four scenarios that serve as teaching case studies throughout the book. Examples from these scenarios illustrate the processes and tools discussed, and each scenario case study is presented in its entirety in an appendix to the volume. The approach has been developed and field tested by practitioners working in many different projects in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and their experience and input ensure that the guide is both practical and useful."Measures of Success" is the only work of its kindcurrently available, and represents an invaluable resource for field-based practitioners, project managers, and local community leaders, as well as for international NGO staff, college and university teachers and students, researchers, and government officials.


In recent years, several controversial judicial decisions have pushed the use of foreign and international law sources for domestic constitutional interpretation to the forefront of scholarly discussion. Many legal scholars debate whether the use of these sources is proper in the context of constitutional interpretation. (1) Legal scholars have also discussed many pragmatic issues surrounding the use of foreign law, such as how judges can determine which foreign or international laws are reliable sources, and whether American judges can understand the scope and context of foreign laws. (2) In the last decade, decisions of the United States Supreme Court have added to this important debate. In some of its most controversial decisions interpreting the U.S. Constitution, the Court has referred to foreign and international laws. For example, in Atkins v. Virginia, the Court held that the Eighth Amendment bars states from executing murderers who are mentally retarded. (3) Writing for the Court, Justice Stevens noted that "within the world community" the execution of the mentally retarded is "overwhelmingly disapproved." (4) The Court declared in Lawrence v. Texas that a state criminal law prohibiting consensual homosexual sodomy violated the Fourteenth Amendment. In that case, Justice Kennedy observed that many other countries have accepted sexual liberty as "an integral part of human freedom." (5) Justice Ginsburg, in Grutter v. Bollinger, relied on international law in explaining why affirmative action does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment. (6) In Roper v. Simmons, the Court, with Justice Kennedy writing, declared unconstitutional the execution of murderers who committed their crimes while under the age of eighteen and lamented that the United States stood "alone in a world that has turned its face against the juvenile death penalty." (7) In their public comments, some Justices have defended their reliance on foreign and international law. Justice O'Connor has called for increased reliance on international law in the new era of global interdependence. For instance, before her retirement, Justice O'Connor stated that "conclusions reached by other countries and by the international community, although not formally binding upon our decisions, should at times constitute persuasive authority in American courts." (8) Justice Breyer also has discussed publicly his perspective that the Court should consider foreign materials in domestic judicial opinions. (9) Not every member of the Court agrees with this practice. In his dissenting opinion in Atkins, Justice Scalia, for example, stated that the "practices of the 'world community'" are "irrelevant." (10) Justice Scalia stated: "[W]here there is not first a settled consensus among our own people, the views of other nations, however enlightened the Justices of this Court may think them to be, cannot be imposed upon Americans through the Constitution." (11) This panel will discuss this issue from several perspectives. It will address both the history and practice of using foreign and international sources of law. This panel also will discuss when, if ever, it is appropriate for American judges to refer to these sources. (1.) See, e.g., Steven G. Calabresi, Lawrence, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Supreme Court's Reliance on Foreign Constitutional Law: An Originalist Reappraisal, 65 OHIO ST. L.J. 1097, 1097 (2004) ("[F]oreign constitutional law is most relevant to good policy-making or to assessments of reasonableness and least relevant to questions of interpretation. …


The existing literature on return migration has resulted in several studies analysing the impact of foreign work experience on the returnees' earnings or their decision to become self-employed; however, in this paper we analyse the less studied effect on occupational mobility – how the job in the home country after returning compares to the job held before migration. The effect of temporary migration on occupational mobility is analysed using unique data from an Estonian online job search portal covering approximately 10–15% of the total workforce, including thousands of employees with temporary migration experience. The focus on data from a Central and Eastern European country is motivated given that the opening of labour markets in old EU countries to the workforce of the new member states has led to massive East-West migration. We did not find any positive effect of temporary migration on upward occupational mobility and in some groups, such as females, the effect was negative. These results could be related to the typically short-term nature of migration and occupational downshifting abroad as well as the functioning of the home country labour market.


Antioxidants had been proven to play an important role in the regulation of a vast array of physiological and pathological processes. They principally contribute to the protection of cells and tissues against deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species and other free radicals. Plants play an important role in the maintenance of human health primarily via nutrition and also contribute greatly to the management of various ailments. The therapeutic potential of Indigofera tinctoria was evaluated by paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Male albino Wistar rats were orally treated with Indigofera tinctoria (75, 150 and 300 mg/kg body weight) or silymarin (25 mg/kg) daily with the administration of paracetamol (3 gm/kg body weight- po) only one day. Paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity and significantly increased the activities of lipid peroxidation (TBARS), decreased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and reduced glutathione (GSH) in kidney as compared with the control group. Treatment with Indigofera tinctoria or silymarin consecutively for twenty eight days could significantly decrease the activity of TBARS where as enhance the activities of SOD, CAT and GSH in the kidney when compared with paracetamol alone treated rats.


Abstract Microstructural, finite strain and vorticity analyses of quartz-rich mylonites were used in order to investigate kinematics of rock flow and deformation temperature in the Sirjan thrust sheet exposed in a structural window within the Sanandaj–Sirjan High Pressure – Low Temperature (HP–LT) metamorphic belt that forms part of the hinterland of the Zagros orogenic belt of Iran. A dominant top-to-the-SW sense of shear in the study area is indicated by several shear sense indicators such as asymmetric boudins, rotated porphyroclasts, mica fish and S/C fabrics. Quantitative analyses reveal approximately plane strain deformation conditions with Rxz values ranging from 2.5 to 4.3 and increasing towards the Sirjan thrust. Opening angles of quartz c-axis fabrics and recrystallization regimes suggest deformation temperatures vary from 430 to 625 ± 50°C in the hanging wall rocks. Oblique grain shape and quartz c-axis fabrics were used to estimate the degree of non-coaxiality during deformation. The obtained vorticity profile indicates a down-section increase in kinematic vorticity number (Wm) from 0.6 to 0.89. This range of vorticity numbers confirms contributions of both simple (41–68 %) and pure shear (32–59 %) deformation components. The structural characteristics of the study area ultimately were controlled by oblique motion of the Afro-Arabian plate relative to the Iranian plate.


Surface mine planning involves the results of algorithmic numerical calculations being used by engineers to make informed decisions relating to the design. The Department of Mining Engineering at the Unversity of Nottingham has in the past been involved in developing modular algorithmic packages. The emphasis of the computer research has now altered. Smaller specialised systems are now being developed to cover individual aspects of the design process. Artificial intelligence techniques are being introduced into the mining environment to solve the planning problems often associated with the large amounts of uncertain information needed by the engineer. This thesis is concerned with the development of MINDER, a decision support system capable of assisting the mine planner in the complex task of optimum surface mining equipment selection. An expert system shell has been used to create a series of individual application modules, each containing a multi-level knowledge base structure. An information handling system has been developed which is capable of storing consultation information and transfering it between knowledge bases and between application modules. Once an effective method of information handling had been achieved the flow of control between the system knowledge bases was rapid and followed complex inferencing routes.

Most of the commercially available packages mathematically model a deposit, calculate volumes and simulate operations. One of the aims of the MINDER system was to integrate with other software, for example MINDER is capable of reading volumetric and material information from Surpac mine planning software.

Geological data and manufacturer's equipment specifications are stored in DbaseIV databases. The expert system is capable of writing macros based on the consultation and performing complex relation operations involved in the elimination and ranking of equipment. In a similar manner macros are written to control the simulation package GPSS which used to simulate operations using the selected equipment. A range of 'in-house' Pascal software is used for numerical calculations and matrix manipulation, an example of this is the fuzzy logic software used to handle uncertain information.

Another aspect of the project is an investigation into the use of machine learning techniques in the field of equipment selection. Knowledge induction software has been used to induce new rules and check those produced in the MINDER system. Various experiments have been carried out using neural network software to produce equipment selection models. Training data taken from the mining industry was used on both these systems and the results were tested against MINDER consultation results.


Water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions can interrupt diarrhoeal disease transmission and reduce the burden of morbidity and mortality associated with faecal-oral infections. We know that rapid response of effective WASH infrastructure and services can prevent or lessen the impact of diarrhoeal outbreaks that can exacerbate the human suffering accompanying humanitarian crises. In this review summary, we present an overview of current knowledge about what works to prevent disease in emergency WASH response. We know that providing safe water, safe excreta disposal, and basic hygiene measures such as hand washing with soap are effective interventions both within emergency settings as well as in longer-term development, but innovation and further research are needed to make WASH response more effective. We propose key areas for critical research to support the evidence base for WASH interventions in emergencies and promote innovation.


This paper proposes a new approach to palmprint verification based on the gradient, in which a palm image is considered to be a three-dimensional terrain. Principal lines and wrinkles make deep and shallow valleys on a palm landscape. Then the steepest slope direction in each local area is first computed using the Kirsch operator, after which an orientation map is created that represents the dominant slope direction of each pixel. In this study, three orientation maps were made with different scales to represent local and global gradient information. Next, feature matching based on pixel-unit comparison was performed. The experimental results showed that the proposed method is superior to several state-of-the-art methods. In addition, the verification could be greatly improved by fusing orientation maps with different scales.


Now that Article 50 has officially been triggered, the process of untangling the UK from the European Union can begin in earnest. In her letter to Donald Tusk, Mrs May asked for "a deep and special partnership" between Britain and Europe, and promised to come forward in due course with "detailed proposals for deep, broad and dynamic cooperation". Although there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding those proposals and what the future relationship between the UK and the EU will look like, some elements are coming into focus. In this Discussion Paper, Andrew Duff looks at the latest developments in the Brexit saga, and discusses the different aspects of the upcoming Brexit process, including the debate on possible rescinding Article 50, the European Council and the European Parliament's guidelines for the negotiations, the legacy of EU citizenship, the fate of the UK's financial contributions to the EU, the future of that new 'deep and special partnership', how to manage the transition gracefully, and potential loose ends that will need to be tied up.


Abstract. Thawing of permafrost and the associated release of carbon constitutes a positive feedback in the climate system, elevating the effect of anthropogenic GHG emissions on global-mean temperatures. Multiple factors have hindered the quantification of this feedback, which was not included in climate carbon-cycle models which participated in recent model intercomparisons (such as the Coupled Carbon Cycle Climate Model Intercomparison Project – C4MIP) . There are considerable uncertainties in the rate and extent of permafrost thaw, the hydrological and vegetation response to permafrost thaw, the decomposition timescales of freshly thawed organic material, the proportion of soil carbon that might be emitted as carbon dioxide via aerobic decomposition or as methane via anaerobic decomposition, and in the magnitude of the high latitude amplification of global warming that will drive permafrost degradation. Additionally, there are extensive and poorly characterized regional heterogeneities in soil properties, carbon content, and hydrology. Here, we couple a new permafrost module to a reduced complexity carbon-cycle climate model, which allows us to perform a large ensemble of simulations. The ensemble is designed to span the uncertainties listed above and thereby the results provide an estimate of the potential strength of the feedback from newly thawed permafrost carbon. For the high CO2 concentration scenario (RCP8.5), 33–114 GtC (giga tons of Carbon) are released by 2100 (68 % uncertainty range). This leads to an additional warming of 0.04–0.23 °C. Though projected 21st century permafrost carbon emissions are relatively modest, ongoing permafrost thaw and slow but steady soil carbon decomposition means that, by 2300, about half of the potentially vulnerable permafrost carbon stock in the upper 3 m of soil layer (600–1000 GtC) could be released as CO2, with an extra 1–4 % being released as methane. Our results also suggest that mitigation action in line with the lower scenario RCP3-PD could contain Arctic temperature increase sufficiently that thawing of the permafrost area is limited to 9–23 % and the permafrost-carbon induced temperature increase does not exceed 0.04–0.16 °C by 2300.


Does democratic governance expand wealth and prosperity? There is no consensus about this issue despite the fact that for more than half a century, rival theories about the regime-growth relationship have been repeatedly tested against the empirical evidence, using a variety of cases, models and techniques. To consider the issues, Part I of this paper reviews and summarizes theories why regimes are expected to influence economic growth directly, either positively or negatively. After considering these debates, Part II discusses the technical challenges facing research on this topic and how it is proposed to overcome these. Part III presents the results of the comparative analysis for the effects of democratic governance on economic growth during recent decades. The descriptive results illustrate the main relationships. The multivariate models check whether these patterns remain significant after controlling for many other factors associated with growth, including geography, economic conditions, social structural variables, cultural legacies, and global trends. The evidence supports the equilibrium thesis suggesting that regimes combining both liberal democracy and bureaucratic governance are most likely to generate growth, while by contrast patronage autocracies display the worst economic performance. The conclusion considers the implications.


The emergence of any new educational technology is often accompanied by inflated expectations about its potential for transforming pedagogical practice and improving student learning outcomes. A critique of the rhetoric accompanying the evolution of 3D virtual world education reveals a similar pattern, with the initial hype based more on rhetoric than research demonstrating the extent to which rhetoric matches reality. Addressed are the perceived gaps in the literature through a critique of the rhetoric evident throughout the evolution of the application of virtual worlds in education and the reality based on the reported experiences of experts in the field of educational technology, who are all members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group. The experiences reported highlight a range of effective virtual world collaborative and communicative teaching experiences conducted in members' institutions. Perspectives vary from those whose reality is the actuation of the initial rhetoric in the early years of virtual world education, to those whose reality is fraught with challenges that belie the rhetoric. Although there are concerns over institutional resistance, restrictions, and outdated processes on the one-hand, and excitement over the rapid emergence of innovation on the other, the prevailing reality seems to be that virtual world education is both persistent and sustainable. Explored are critical perspectives on the rhetoric and reality on the educational uptake and use of virtual worlds in higher education, providing an overview of the current and future directions for learning in virtual worlds.


Most cities in major agglomerations in Europe started to address the rise of short-term accommodation rentals by introducing regulation designed to protect the local housing stock. The momentum behind the widespread introduction of such regulations can be attributed to qualitative and quantitative factors. This article examines selected fields related to short-term rentals in order to uncover the (structural) triggers or conditions that are necessary and sufficient for municipalities to initiate the regulation of their housing market. The study is based on the systematic examination of the effects of those triggers and their combinations using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). With this method, we explore the implementation or non-implementation of regulation on a sample of major German cities. The results suggest a universal set of conditions covering three central fields: housing market situation, accommodation market conditions and tourism accommodation demand.


After a definition of the parameters to be measured, a possible reasoning is presented for the construction of a weighing lysimeter. A number of factors have to be taken in account: the soil inertia, the sensitivity of the whole data acquisition system (from the sensors to the recorder), the disturbance of the medium by the equipment, and, finally, the manufacturing and installation costs of the lysimeter. The final design depends on the importance attributed to each of these factors. After testing various weighing system such as floating on a zinc chloride solution, hydraulic systems (with rubber bolsters) and an entirely electronic system, we decided, in the end, to use only the last one. The lysimeter was made up of: 1/ An outer iron tank forming a watertight container and supporting bottom. 2/ A double triangular frame for holding three load cells (one on each corner of the triangles). 3/ An inner iron tank filled with the soil to be weighed. 4/ Initially a strip-chart recording system and currently a more sensitive digital recorder For improved sensitivity and precision we also used a mechanical-electronic weighing system.


While the Unified Approach reallocates taxing rights to market jurisdictions irrespective of the existence of any physical presence therein, such new taxing rights are subject to various qualifications and carve-outs. Concerns have already been raised that these scope limitations may complicate the reform and lead to double taxation. Ultimately, the issue of the scope limitation boils down to the policy rationale of the new taxing right for which this article submits a narrowly-construed benefit theory as a conceptual basis. Based on this benefit theory and relevant market theories, the authors argue that the scope limitations of the new taxing right should be based on the nature of transactions rather than the nature of products (services). In this way, various carve-outs proposed in the Unified Approach documents can be simplified to one business type, specifically, most of business-tobusiness (B2B) sales. Accordingly, a positive delineation of in-scope business can be drawn: business-to-consumer (B2C) sales and sales through routine-function intermediaries. Franchise arrangements also accord with the purpose of the new taxing right, however, franchise fees can be dealt with through the provisions of royalties in income tax treaties.
Unified approach, benefit principle, user participation, significant economic presence, consumer engagement, digitalization of the economy.


Steam distillation is the most widely accepted process for the large scale production of volatile essential oils from herbaceous material and is also regarded as the standard practice throughout the flavour and fragrance industry. A mobile essential oil distillation unit for the extraction of oils from herbaceous materials would be extremely valuable to the essential oil industry in South Africa. Using a mobile platform, the extraction technology could be taken to rural areas where essential oil crops are grown in order to extract and then analyse the oils produced. Existing systems in South Africa are static distillation units which are usually owned by commercial growers that are generally positioned large distances away from the rural areas. The objective of this project was to design, construct and test a prototype mobile distillation unit for the extraction of essential oils from herbaceous materials. The unit was to have a charge vessel capacity of approximately 250 kg of plant material and should be able to perform in-field distillations in areas where electricity is not available. A literature review on all the essential oil extraction methods, the theory behind steam distillation and oil isolation and the effect that each of the distillation components have on the distillation process was performed. A small test distillation unit was set up in a laboratory in order to investigate the effects of varying steam flow . rates on the distillation time, oil yield and oil quality. A double charge vessel unit was designed, constructed and mounted onto a frame which in turn was fixed onto a trailer to be hauled by a light delivery vehicle (LDV). The steam generator with all its ancillary equipment was fixed onto a separate trailer. The unit could thus be easily transported and in-field distillations on various crops could be conducted. Field distillations were conducted with two crop types, namely rose geranium and lemon grass. Satisfactory results were obtained as the oil yields were within the expected oil yield range.